USA > Arkansas > A pictorial history of Arkansas, from earliest times to the year 1890. A full and complete account, embracing the Indian tribes occupying the country; the early French and Spanish explorers and governors; the colonial period; the Louisiana purchase; the periods of the territory, the state, the civil war, and the subsequent period. Also, an extended history of each county in the order of formation, and of the principal cities and towns; together with biographical notices of distinguished and prominent citizens > Part 42
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The movement of the army had thus far been as if to reach St. Louis, but now their course was turned northwest. Heavy engagements took place at Boonville, Independence and Westport, with sharp skirmishing taking place almost every day, until finally they reached Marais des Cygnes ("the lake of the swans") in Kansas, where they sustained a con- siderable reverse. A number of general and field officers, with about 300 men, were made prisoners. This was the farthest point reached by the expedition. From here the Confederates turned back toward Arkansas, and reached their camp in the lower part of the State in the latter part of October.
This was the last considerable effort of the war in Arkan- sas, as the surrender followed soon after. The general result of the raid had been fruitless.
Not a great while after the capture of Little Rock proceed- ings were begun looking to the establishment of a State Government. One of the first movements in this direction, was a Union meeting, held in Little Rock, October 30th, 1863, at which Dr. John Kirkwood was made President of the meeting, and Dr. E. D. Ayers, Secretary. A Committee of Five, consisting of Isaac Murphy, W. M. Fishback, C. V. Meador, E. W. Crowl and E. P. Filkins was appointed to draft resolutions assuring the President of their desire to have
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a State Government established as soon as possible, and to affirm their loyalty to the Government of the United States.
On the 3d of December, 1863, President Lincoln had issued a proclamation, in which he set forth that full pardon and amnesty was thereby extended to all persons who had taken part in the rebellion, conditioned only upon their tak- ing an oath of allegiance to the Government of the United - States, excepting such Confederates as had held office under the United States, above certain ranks.
In pursuance of the terms of this proclamation, citizens from certain counties which were in Federal possession held a meeting at Fort Smith, and took measures for the election of Delegates to a convention to frame a State Constitution. Dele- gates chosen in this election assembled at Little Rock, Jan- uary 4th, 1864, and held a convention for that purpose, re- maining in session until January 23d. Delegates were in attendance from 23 counties. John McCoy, of Newton county, was chosen President of the convention, and Robert J. T. White, Secretary.
The following were the Delegates :
Crawford county, L. C. White, J. Aus- tin, J. Howell, C. A. Harper.
Clark county, M. L. Langley, J. M. Stapp, Charles T. Jordan, J. Bur- ton.
Columbia county, John H. Hiflin.
Dallas county, R. H. Stanfield, A. J. Eden. Drew county, William Cox.
Hot Spring county, T. Whitten, W. H. Davis.
Independence county, C. C. Bliss. Jackson county, John Box.
Jefferson county, Horace B. Allis, Peter Finnerty, Thomas W. Clegg, Jr. Madison county, G. W. Seamans.
Montgomery county, J. C. Priddy, R. Lamb.
Newton county, John McCoy.
Ouachita county, R. T. Turner, Ralph Seats.
Phillips county, J. A. Butler, J. B. Miles, Thomas M. Jacks, Thomas Pearce.
Pike county, W. Jones, L. D. Cantrell. Polk county, James Huey, Thomas Young.
Pope county, William Stout.
Pulaski county, Thomas D. W. Yonley, E. Maynard, E. D. Ayers, F. A. Sarasin.
Saline county, J. T. Swafford, J. M. Dement, W. Holleman, Enoch H. Vance.
Sebastian county, H. L. Holleman, J. R. Smoot, R. D. Swindle.
Sevier county, Samuel Heims. St. Francis county, A. B. Fryrear.
Yell county, B. Johnson, Elias G. Cook.
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
A Constitution was framed, and was submitted to a vote at an election held during three days-March 14th, 15th and 16th, 1864. At this election, 12, 177 votes were cast for the Constitution, and 266 against it. At the same time an elec- tion for State and county officers, members of Congress and of the State Legislature was held.
In the election for State officers, Isaac Murphy, of Madison county, who had previously been chosen Provisional Governor by the convention in January, was elected Governor ; Robert J. T. White, Secretary of State ; James R. Berry, of Madison county, Auditor ; Dr. E. D. Ayers, of Pulaski county, State Treasurer; Charles T. Jordan, Attorney-General; T. D. W. Yonley, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; Charles A. Harper and Elisha Baxter, Associate Justices.
In the election for Congressmen, the State was by the Con- stitution divided into three congressional districts, and William Byers was elected from the First District, G. H. Kyle in the Second District, and James M. Johnson in the Third Dis- trict, but they were never admitted to the United States Con- gress, as the State had not at that time been restored to the Federal Union.
The Fifteenth Session of the Legislature, the members of which were elected at the time the vote upon the Constitu- tion was held, assembled at the capital April 11th, 1864. C. C. Bliss was elected President of the Senate, and A. N. Har- grove, Secretary. In the House of Representatives, H. B. Allis, of Jefferson county, was elected Speaker, and G. M. Sams, Clerk, but who was succeeded by W. A. Counts. This body held three sessions : from April 11th to June 2d, 1864 ; again from November 9th, 1864, to January 3d, 1865, and from April 3d to April 22d, 1865. At this latter session was passed the Act of chief importance enacted by the Body, which was an Act ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. This amendment declared that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a
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punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted by the common law, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Other Acts were to provide a seal of State, as now used ; to prevent "bush- whacking ;"' to raise military forces for public defense, and to repeal the Common School Act of 1861.
At its first session, the principal matter of importance was to institute the State Government, the officers for which were chosen at the election on the Constitution. This was done by the inauguration of Governor Isaac Murphy, April 18th, and the induction into office of those chosen to the other State offices.
Isaac Murphy, the eighth Governor of the State, was born October 16th, 1802, near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, the son of Hugh and Jane Murphy. His father was an extensive paper manufacturer of those times. Isaac Murphy attended school for the most of the time during his minority, and obtained a classical education. About the year 1830, he went to Mont- gomery county, Tennessee, where he taught school for a number of years. July 31st, 1830, he was married to Miss Angelina A. Lockhart, whose father was a soldier in the War of 1812, and whose grandfather was in the War of the Revo- lution.
In November, 1834, he and his wife, and two children, Matilda and Mary, moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he taught school. Afterwards, he located at Mount Comfort, where he was engaged in school-teaching for a time. He did much for the building up of the school interests of Washing- ton county, and is entitled to much credit for the good results of his early efforts in the cause of education in that county. In the year 1835, he was admitted to the practice of law, at Fayetteville, and when not engaged in teaching, he followed the profession of law. For a time he was employed as United States Surveyor, and did much surveying of Public Lands in Northwest and Eastern Arkansas. In 1848-9 he
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
was a member of the Legislature from Washington county. In 1849 he went to California, during the gold fever excite- ment, as a member of Captain McCulloch's Company, the . first, or one of the first companies to cross the plains, es- tablished valuable claims, remained four years, left his claims with others, who never made any return to him, although his interests were great.
He moved with his wife and six daughters to Huntsville, September Ist, 1854, and he, and two of his daughters, took charge of the Huntsville High School, for nearly two years. His daughter Matilda, in the meantime, having charge of the Huntsville Female Seminary.
In 1856, he was elected to the State Senate, from the coun- ties of Benton and Madison, to fill the unexpired term of John Berry, deceased. From this time on, until the close of 1860, he was engaged in the practice of law. In February, 1861, he was elected as a Union Delegate to the State Con- vention, which met in Little Rock, in March and May, 1861, to consider the state of the Union, and in which, as we have seen, he alone voted against the passage of the Ordinance of Secession.
After the close of the Convention, he returned to his home near Huntsville, and remained a quiet citizen, but a feeling of enmity continued to increase against him as the war ad- vanced, and on the 7th of April, 1862, he, in company with Dr. J. M. Johnson, afterwards Colonel of the First Arkansas Infantry, and Frank Johnson, who was afterwards Major in the same command, fled the State for safety, and joined the army of General Curtis, who was then in Missouri. He was made a member of General Curtis' staff, and remained with this command until in 1863, when he joined the commands of Generals Steele and Davidson, and was with them in their march and capture of Little Rock, September 10th, 1863.
In January, 1864, a delegated convention at the State cap- ital, chose him as Provisional Governor, and afterwards, in
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March, 1864, he was elected Governor, and was inaugurated as such in April of the same year. He took charge of the government of the State without a dollar in the treasury. His administration was pacific, and had the hearty approval of the masses. At the close of his administration, on the 3d of July, 1868, every cent of the expenses of his administration had been paid, and there were about $270,000 in greenbacks in the treasury. He then came back to his home in Madison county, and to some extent resumed the practice of law from time to time.
He died at his home, September 8th, 1882, leaving behind him the record of an honest and conscientious life. His re- mains were interred in the Huntsville Cemetery, by the side of his wife, who had preceded him many years. Three daughters survived him : Mrs. J. R. Berry, Mrs. Mary Lowe, the widow of H. C. Lowe, and Mrs. F. M. Thorpe, wife of T. M. Thorpe, minister of an Episcopal church in the city of New York.
Also, in this year, 1864, the Federal Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas was re-established. President Lincoln ap- pointed Colonel Henry C. Caldwell, from Ottumwa, Iowa, chief of staff of General Davidson of the Cavalry, to be Dis- trict Judge, and court was opened for the transaction of busi- ness in December-Charles P. Redmond, of Dubuque, Iowa, was appointed District Attorney by President Lincoln ; Robert J. T. White, Clerk ; and W. O. Stoddard, Marshal. A full list of the officers of the court will be found at ap- pendix D.
In that portion of Arkansas which was held by the Confeder- ates, a State Government was also being administered, under Governor Harris Flanagin. A session of the Confederate Legis- lature was held at Washington, September 22d, remaining in session until October 2d. Thomas Fletcher, of Arkansas county, was President of the Senate, and S. H. Bayless, Sec- retary. In the House, J. F. Lowry, of Chicot county, was
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
elected Speaker, and Edmund Burgevin, Clerk. General Albert Pike was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, to succeed Judge H. F. Fairchild.
In an election for Members of the Confederate Congress held in this year, Thomas B. Hanley was elected from the First District, Rufus K. Garland from the Second; Augustus H. Garland from the Third, but, becoming Senator, was suc- ceeded by D. W. Carroll; and Felix I. Batson from the Fourth District.
Thus, the State of Arkansas had within its limits two Governors and two Governments; Governor Murphy exer- cising jurisdiction over the northeast and part of the south, and Governor Flanagin the southwest.
The close of the year 1864, had well nigh brought with it, the conclusion of the great war, which had now been in prog- ress during four years. The Federal armies in the field at the beginning of 1865, aggregated over a million of men ; while the utmost the Confederacy could muster was about 100,000, in all parts of the field.
In Virginia, the progress of events had been rapid, and had finally led on to the end of the great conflict. After a spir- ited defense of his lines for more than ten months, manned by a meagre force of 30,000 men, General Lee, after an un- successful attempt to break through Grant's lines by a night assault on Forts Steadman and Haskell, was forced to aban- don Petersburg and Richmond, which was done on the morn- ing of April 2d, 1865. In the destruction of public property in Richmond during the evacuation, the city took fire, and nearly one-third of it was consumed. Lee began a retreat through Amelia Court-house, and Chesterfield Court-house, being closely pressed by Grant's forces. With his men in a starving and exhausted condition, and all rations or subsist- ence destroyed, Lee was obliged to surrender. This was done at Appomattox Court-house, April 9th, 1865.
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The number of effective men who laid down their arms in this surrender was 7,892 organized infantry, 2, 100 cavalry, with 63 pieces of artillery. The total number borne on the parole lists was 28,231 men of all arms. In the dreary re- treat from Petersburg to Appomattox, the Third Arkansas Regiment was one of the few commands which preserved its regimental formation.
In Johnston's Army the course of events had been no less rapid and effective. The close of the year 1864 had found Sherman's Army at Savannah. On the 4th of February, 1865, he began his march northward, moving in two parallel columns, some distance apart, and with no considerable force in his front. Passing Charleston to the right, and Augusta to the left, he moved to Columbia, which was occupied by the right wing, under General Howard, February 17th, 1865. During that night the Federal troops set fire to the city, and destroyed the greater portion of it. From thence Sherman's Army moved to Winnsboro, thence to Fayetteville, and thence to Raleigh. General Hardee, who, with a small force, had been in his front, fell back gradually, and joined Johnston, at Smithfield, North Carolina.
General Johnston had united all of his available infantry at Smithfield, 16 miles from Bentonville. They consisted of General R. H. Hoke's fine division of veterans, from the Army of Northern Virginia, Hardee's Corps, from Charles- ton and Savannah, Stewart's and Cheatham's Corps from the Army of Tennessee. He also had General Wade Hampton's Corps of Cavalry, with a complement of artillery, the whole numbering 14,100 infantry, about 2,000 cavalry ; total, say, 16,000.
The Confederate forces in the Carolinas, instead of being concentrated, were so badly scattered that this was all of them that could be brought together in time for action. The situa- tion of affairs was, that unless Sherman's march should be arrested, he would shortly effect a junction with Grant in
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
Virginia, and the combined armies could then be the more readily able to overthrow the already depleted ranks of Lee.
Accordingly, Johnston boldly resolved to give battle; to throw his handful of men against the 60,000 men of Sher- man's triumphant Army, with Schofield in supporting dis- tance, he having, since the defeat of Hood, been drawn from Tennessee, with a force of 23,000 men, making the total of Sherman's force 83,000. There was one chance for success. The two wings, right and left, were divided. It was John- ston's purpose to attack the left wing, and battle with it be- fore the right could come up. General Wade Hampton selected ground near the little hamlet of Bentonville as the battle place, and thither General Johnston moved and took positions on the 18th, and began to entrench. The battle- ground consisted of a wooded hill overlooking a large field. On the next day, March 19th, 1865, Hardee's Corps arrived, and was placed in position at the selected ground. About 10 o'clock in the forenoon General D. H. Reynolds, with sev- eral general officers, rode forward to select the best place for putting the troops into action.
The group attracted the attention of the artillerymen in a battery in their front within range, which opened fire on them. One of the shots struck General Reynolds' horse in the right breast, and, passing obliquely through the animal, came out behind the left fore-shoulder; and, in doing so, shattered General Reynolds' leg below the knee, so as to render amputation necessary. He, however, survived the wound, and is now a prominent lawyer of Chicot county.
Reynolds' Brigade was now consolidated into one regi- ment, under Colonel H. G. Bunn, with James P. Eagle as Lieutenant-Colonel, and George Wells, Major.
The battle began in the forenoon, and was a distinct Con- federate success, but the arrival of large re-inforcements to the Federal columns, compelled the Confederates to with- draw finally to their original position. The combat was
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renewed on the next morning, March 20th, and was stub- bornly contested ; the Federals moving around the Confed- erate flank.
On the 21st, the Federals drove in the cavalry videttes on the Confederate left, and pressed forward to gain the main road, which led to the bridge over Mill Creek, in the Confed- erate rear, and their only avenue of escape. This movement, however, was repulsed by a spirited attack, led by General Hardee in person, so sudden and so impetuous, that it carried everything before it, and the Federals retreated hastily.
The outlet to the bridge being thus preserved intact, Gen- eral Johnston withdrew over Mill Creek, retiring leisurely a distance of four miles.
All the Federal wounded, which had fallen into his hands, were cared for in his field-hospitals, and such of his own as could not be removed, were left. Thus ended the battle of Bentonville, the last regular field engagement of the war.
Eighteen days from this time, Lee's Army, in Virginia, laid down their arms, and the war was practically at an end. The intelligence of his surrender was communicated to Presi- dent Davis, at Danville, Virginia, from which place he pro- ceeded to Greensboro, North Carolina. Here, in consulta- tion with his Cabinet, and Generals Johnston and Beaure- gard, Mr. Davis gave his consent that General Johnston should make such terms with General Sherman as he might be able to secure, for a suspension of hostilities, with a view to the peaceful termination of the war by the civil authorities.
Before the surrender of Johnston's Army was consum- mated, an event transpired which made a great change in the course of subsequent affairs. This was the death of President Lincoln. He was foully assassinated on the night of April 14th, 1865, by an actor, named John Wilkes Booth, as he was attending a performance of Sothern's play: "Our Amer- ican Cousin," at Ford's Theater, in Washington City.
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
Upon the death of President Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, the Vice-President, took the oath of office April 15th, and entered upon the discharge of his duties as President.
On the 18th of April, Generals Sherman and Johnston en- tered into an agreement for the cessation of hostilities, the terms of which provided that the war should cease, amnesty prevail, the Confederate Armies to be disbanded, and their arms and public property to be surrendered, and the men not to be disturbed, so long as they lived peaceably, abstain- ing from acts of armed hostility.
President Johnson refused to approve the terms of this agreement, and on being notified thereof by General Sher- . man, General Johnston entered into a capitulation with him April 26th, by which he surrendered all the Confederate forces under his command, upon terms similar to those agreed upon between Generals Grant and Lee, at Appomattox.
The course of Johnston was followed by the other Confed- erate commanders everywhere.
General Kirby Smith surrendered the armies of the Trans- Mississippi Department, April 26th. General John B. Hood and his staff surrendered May 31st. Colonel R. G. Shaver's Regiment surrendered at Shreveport, Louisiana, June 9th, 1865, and was furnished a boat on which to be transported home.
The troops who were surrendered with these commands set out to make their way homeward by whatever means they could, many of them being long distances from home, and without a cent of money to aid them in their return, but walking or riding-singly orin squads-as they had done when soldiers, and being assisted by the usual hospitality of the country through which they passed, a people who made it a practice to divide their last loaf with a Confederate soldier, they eventually came to their journey's end.
The number of Confederate troops surrendered did not ex- ceed 100,000, and were divided as follows : In Lee's Army,
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28,000 ; in Johnston's Army, about 35,000, and in Kirby Smith's Army, about the same number; total, say, 98,000.
At that time the Federal Armies in the field numbered 1,000,576 men, or over ten to one, beside which there were 1,254,000 other troops carried on the muster rolls, making a grand total of 2,225,516, as the strength of that army.
Thus the great war was over, and had been fought out to the bitter end. It was the most stupendous war of modern times. By statistical tables it is shown to have been the oc- casion of 2,261 distinct battles and engagements, and involved the loss of the lives of over half a million of men on the two sides.
Stephens' History of the United States, quoting some un- named authority, says : "the stupendous aggregate of a mil- lion of men."
PERIOD VI. FROM THE CLOSE OF THE WAR TO 1890.
4
CHAPTER XXVI.
FROM 1865 TO 1868.
THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR ISAAC MURPHY.
THE restoration of peace found the people of Arkansas almost broken in fortune. In the progress of the war, farms had been ruined, barns, fences and houses destroyed, stock carried off or killed ; for such of them as had conducted mer- cantile or other business, all business connections had long ago terminated ; slaves, which had constituted the chief ele- ment of property, had been liberated, and there was literally nothing left them in the way of their former possessions ; but thoroughly accepting the situation, they set to work wherever they could with resolute purpose to the grave task of re- building their private fortunes. Turning their hands to whatever occupation presented itself, men addressed them- selves everywhere to the pressing subject of earning a liveli- hood.
This personal industry also marked the course of the State in her public affairs. Turning away from the dread realities of war which had beset her, she devoted her efforts to the concerns of peace.
"When the last echo of hostile cannon died away over her blasted fields, and left silence brooding in the midst of desola- tion, she did not sit down in idle grief, like Rachel, weeping for her children, but like David, when his son was dead, she restrained her unavailing tears and re-entered nobly upon her duties."
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
But besides the general poverty which the desolation of the war had produced, there were other embarrassments to be undergone. In addition to the severity of the situation in its general features, it became all the more trying, not only for the people of Arkansas, but for those of the whole South, from the action of the authorities in power, by their instituting proceedings to confiscate the property of prominent property owners who had taken part in the rebellion ; providing that lawyers should not practice in courts, unless they should first take an oath, called the "test oath," which was to the effect that they had not aided or abetted the Confederacy or been engaged in disloyalty toward the Federal Government, and causing many persons to be arrested and indicted on the charge of treason.
Under the first named of these acts, proceedings were in- stituted in the Federal Court of Little Rock, to confiscate the property of George C. Watkins, Gordon N. Peay, T. J. Churchill, Daniel Ringo, A. J. Ward, James B. Keatts, Samuel P. Moore, William E. Ashley, David F. Shall, John D. Adams, William R. Miller, A. H. Garland, Albert Pike, John J. Clendennin, George A. Gallagher (his library of law books), Robert C. Newton, Richard H. Johnson, Benjamin F. Danley, William H. Gaines, Sandford C. Faulkner, James F. Fagan, W. H. HalliBurton, John G. HalliBurton, and others.
In the cases of George C. Watkins, Gordon N. Peay and others their property was condemned and sold, but after a lengthy litigation, which was carried to the SupremeCourt of the United States, the confiscation laws were held invalid, and the property was restored to its former owners.
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