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 49
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90
On the 3d of September, 1885, Judge John R. Eakin, As- sociate Justice of the Supreme Court, died at Marshall, Mis- souri, whither he had gone to visit relatives and to recruit his failing health. His remains were brought to Little Rock, where they lay in state in the Supreme Court room, and were then transported to Washington, where they were interred. An escort of state officials accompanied the remains to Wash- ington. Judge Burrill B. Battle, formerly of Washington, but at the time a resident of the capital, became his successor on the Bench for the unexpired term,
686
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
On the 13th day of June, 1886, Luke E. Barber, Clerk of the Supreme Court, died at his home in Little Rock, in the 80th year of his age. He had been Clerk of that court from 1845 to 1868, and from 1874 to the date of his death, a period of 35 years, and was also Reporter of the court from 1845 to 1868, a period of 23 years. In the latter part of the month W. P. Campbell, of Augusta, Woodruff county, was appointed his successor, and is now in the discharge of the duties of the office.
In the month of September, 1886, occurred the biennial election of State officers. Governor Hughes was again the candidate of the Democrats, having been nominated without opposition by their Convention in June. The Republican party nominated a ticket for State officers, headed by Judge Lafayette Gregg, of Fayetteville, for Governor, and the Green- back party, or State Wheel Organization, also put out a ticket, headed by Charles E. Cunningham, of Little Rock, for Gov- ernor.
At the election which occurred September 6th, 1886, Gov- ernor Hughes and the entire Democratic ticket was elected.
The entire vote cast was 163,889; number of votes for Hughes, 90,650 ; number of votes for Gregg, 54,070; num- ber of votes for Cunningham, 19, 169. Hughes' plurality over both candidates, 17,411 ; majority over Republican candidate, 36,580 ; majority over Greenback or Wheel candidate, 71,481.
The following State officers were elected at the same time, to-wit : E. B. Moore, re-elected Secretary of State; William R. Miller, for the fifth time elected Auditor; Willam E. Woodruff, Jr., re-elected State Treasurer; Dan W. Jones, re- elected Attorney-General; Paul M. Cobbs, re-elected Com- missioner of State Lands; Wood E. Thompson, re-elected Superintendent of Public Instruction ; B. B. Battle, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
Under the Act changing the jurisdiction of the Chancery Court to that of a District Court, the Chancellor was directed
687
FROM 1885 TO 1889.
to be appointed by the Governor, and the Clerk elected by the voters of the district. Judge D. W. Carroll was ap- pointed his own successor, and is now in the discharge of the duties of the office. S. R. Brown was elected Clerk for the term ending October 30th, 1888.
Governor Hughes was inaugurated for his second term, January 12th, 1887.
The twenty-sixth session of the Legislature was held January to March, 1887. In the Senate, D. E. Barker, of Drew county, was elected President of the Senate, and John G. Holland, Secretary. In the House, John M. Hewitt, of Marianna, Lee county, was elected Speaker, and Jonathan W. Callaway, Clerk.
The principal Acts of the session were: accepting the sum of $250,000.00 from the St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad in settlement of all claims for back taxes ; prohibiting the issue or use of free passes on railroads in the State; providing for a geological survey of the State; the "three mile law," an Act to prevent the sale or giving away of intoxicating liquor within three miles of any school, college or academy, upon petition of a majority of the inhabitants, except in cities of the first class-many similar Acts had been passed by previous sessions with reference to particular schools or academies, but this made a general law on the sub- ject ; to settle the accounts between the United States and the State of Arkansas, on account of the 5 per cent. fund arising from the sale of public lands; regulating railroad charges, making the rate three cents per mile on all roads of greater length than 75 miles ; amending the revenue laws ; providing for the publication of the earlier volumes of the Reports of the Supreme Court ; establishing legal weights and measures ; providing for the donation of forfeited lands; for the pay- ment of the public debt of the State ; and submitting to a vote of the people the question of holding a Constitutional Conven- tion.
688
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
In the summer of 1887, a great Pomological Exhibition was held in Boston, at which fruits from the entire nation were exhibited. The first premium for excellence was given to Arkansas.
In 1888 also, at the annual meeting of the American Hor- ticultural Society, at Riverside, California, an award for the best display of apples was given to Arkansas. In this in- stance the State was specially competing with a sister State, held as the finest fruit country in all the world. Again, in 1888, an award was made to the State for the best display of seedling apples, at a meeting of the Illinois State Horticul- tural Society, held at Alton, Illinois, on the 11th, 12th and 13th of December.
On the 6th of October, 1887, Judge B. D. Turner, Re- porter of the Supreme Court, died at his home in Little Rock, after protracted ill-health. In the latter part of the same month Judge W. W. Mansfield, of Ozark, the compiler of the last digest, was appointed his successor, and is now in the discharge of the duties of the office.
On the 29th of November, 1887, Ex-Governor William R. Miller, Auditor of the State, died at Little Rock, in the 65th year of his age, and was buried in Mt. Holly Cemetery. He had been in declining health for some time. Governor Hughes appointed as his successor Major W. S. Dunlop, of Monroe county, who had been Chief Clerk in the office under Auditor Miller.
The year 1888 was the occasion of an exciting election for State officers. Colonel James P. Eagle, of Lonoke county, was the nominee of the Democrats, a nomination having been made on the 136th ballot, after a close contest with Governor S. P. Hughes and Captain John G. Fletcher as his principal competitors. The Union Labor party nominated Dr. Charles M. Norwood, of Sevier county. The Republican party made no nomination of their own, but endorsed the candidacy of Dr, Norwood, and mainly gave him their support.
.
689
FROM 1885 TO 1889.
The election which took place September 3d, 1888, re- sulted in the choice of James P. Eagle as Governor, and the remainder of the ticket nominated with him. The vote, as certified to the Secretary of State on the returns sent up, was : For Eagle, 99,229 ; for Norwood, 84,223 ; majority for Eagle, 15,006. Total vote cast, 183,452. This vote showed an increase of 19,563 in the total vote cast, over the vote of two years previous, being a Democratic gain of 8,579, and an opposition gain of 10,984.
The other State officers elected at the same time with Col- onel Eagle were: B. B. Chism, of Logan county, Secre- tary of State; W. S. Dunlop, of Monroe county, Auditor ; William E. Woodruff, for the fifth time elected Treasurer ; Sterling R. Cockrill, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court ; William E. Atkinson, of Nevada county, Attorney-General ; Wood E. Thompson, re-elected Superintendent of Public Instruction ; and Paul M. Cobbs, State Land Commissioner.
In November of the year occurred the Presidential elec- tion. The candidates were: President, Grover Cleveland, and Allen G. Thurman, of Indiana, the nominees of the Democrats ; and Benjamin Harrison, of Indiana, and Levi P. Morton, of New York, the candidates of the Republican party, Harrison and Morton being elected. The vote of Arkansas was for Cleveland, 85,962 ; for Harrison, 58,752 ; for Streeter, Union Labor candidate, 10,613 ; for Fiske, Prohibition, 614.
At the Congressional election, held at the same date, W. H. Cate was elected in the First District, Clifton R. Breckin- ridge in the Second, Thomas C. McRae in the Third, J. H. Rogers in the Fourth, and Sam. W. Peel in the Fifth Dis- trict. Judge Cate's seat was contested by L. P. Featherstone, and the latter was awarded the seat by the Republican major- ity in the House, March 5th, 1890.
On the 18th of December, 1888, Judge William W. Smith, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, died at his home in 44
690
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
Little Rock, in the 50th year of his age. He was born near Cokesburg, in the Abbeville District, South Carolina, October 12th, 1838. In 1855 he was a student of Columbia College, South Carolina, where he graduated in 1858. He then taught ancient languages in a classical school in Charleston, in 1860. At the end of that time he came to Arkansas, and purchased lands in Monroe county, intending to pursue plant- ing. The outbreak of the war, however, changed his plans, and he went at once to Richmond, where he enlisted in the First Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Gregg. After the expiration of the term of enlist- ment of this regiment, he joined the Twenty-third Arkansas Infantry, commanded by Colonel Charles W. Adams, with Simon P. Hughes as Lieutenant-Colonel. . He went in as Orderly Sergeant, but became a Captain in the regiment, and served during the war, being made prisoner at the capitulation of Port Hudson. After the war he taught school and read law. He was admitted to the bar in 1867, and formed a partnership with Colonel Simon P. Hughes, at Clarendon, which continued till 1874, when Colonel Hughes was elected Attorney-General. Judge Smith continued at Clarendon prac- ticing alone for two years, and then, in 1877, moved to Helena, where he practiced law till 1882, when, being elected Asso- ciate Justice to succeed Hon. William M. Harrison, he moved to Little Rock, and lived there until his death. He married in 1865. The death of Judge Smith presented the noticeable fact that from September, 1884 to December, 1888, three Judges, to-wit : Judges English, Eakin and Smith ; the Clerk, L. E. Barber; and the Reporter, B. D. Turner, had all passed away-five members of the court in four years.
CHAPTER XXXII.
1889-1890.
THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR JAMES P. EAGLE.
GOVERNOR JAMES PHILIP EAGLE, the sixteenth Governor of Arkansas, wasborn in Maury county, Tennessee, August 10th, 1837, son of James and Charity Eagle-who was Charity Swaim -both the parents being natives of North Carolina. In youth, hiseducational opportunities were limited ; but, reaching man- hood, he continued his studies. He attended day school in Lonoke, in 1869, and in 1870 and 1871 attended Mississippi College, but was obliged to return home from failing health. After leaving college, he kept up his studies at home. He came to Arkansas in November, 1839, with his parents, who settled in Pulaski county, 23 miles northeast from Little Rock, engaging in farming. In 1844 he moved to the Military road, 23 miles east of Little Rock. In 1857 he moved to the neighborhood of his present residence, now in Lonoke county. All these places were in Pulaski, afterwards Prairie, and now Lonoke county. His occupation from childhood has been that of a farmer, but a part of the time he was also a Baptist minister, and has been President of the Baptist State Convention for the last 8 years. He was Deputy Sheriff, under Sheriff King, in Prairie county, in 1859, a Member of the Legislature from Prairie county in 1873; in the extra session of 1874, in the Constitutional Convention of 1874, from the same county; a Member of the Legislature from Lonoke county in the session of 1877; a Member and Speaker of the House of the session of 1885, and Governor from
691
ยท
JAMES P. EAGLE. Sixteenth Governor of the State
693
1889-1890.
1889 to 1891. On the breaking out of the war he enlisted in Captain J. M. King's Company of Col. James Mc- Intosh's Regiment. He was first a private in the ranks, was then successively Lieutenant, Captain, Major, and in 1865, when General Reynolds' entire Brigade was consolidated into one regiment, he was made Lieutenant-Col- onel of the Regiment, the brigade having been commanded successively by Generals T. J. Churchill, Evander McNair and D. H. Reynolds. He was in all the prominent battles in which this brigade took part after Oak Hill to the sur- render of Johnston, in North Carolina, and was badly wounded at the battle in front of Atlanta, July 17th, 1864. On the 3d of January, 1882, he married at Richmond, Ken- tucky, Miss Mary Kavanaugh Oldham, daughter of William K. and Kate Oldham, of that place.
The twenty-seventh session of the Arkansas Legislature convened at the capital on Monday, the 14th day of January, 1889. The Senate organized by the election of W. S. Hanna, of Conway county, President, and John G. Holland, of Searcy, White county, Secretary. The House organized by the elec- tion of B. B. Hudgins, of Boone county, Speaker, and John G. B. Simms, of Chicot county, Clerk.
Governor Simon P. Hughes delivered his final message to the Assembly, January 16th, 1889, being a full review of the condition of public affairs.
Governor Eagle was inaugurated January 17th, 1889, and the other State officers were also inducted into office. He chose for his Private Secretary, John C. England, of Lonoke.
Among the important acts of this session was one to increase the number of Supreme Judges to five, approved February 20th, 1889; and providing for an election for a Judge to fill the vacancy created by the death of Judge W. W. Smith. At this election, which was held April 2d, 1889, Ex-Governor Simon P. Hughes, and W. E. Hemmingway, of Pine Bluff, were elected Associate Justices for the terms prescribed by law,
694
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
and M. H. Saudels, of Fort Smith, was elected as successor to Judge Smith.
On the 29th day of January, 1889, Senator James H. Berry was re-elected United States Senator for a term of six years, commencing March 4th, 1889.
A circumstance creating intense excitement throughout the State and in the nation at large, was the assassination of Hon. John M. Clayton at Plummersville, Conway county, on the night of Tuesday, January 29th, 1889. He had been the Republi- can Candidate for Congress in the Second District, and was at that place engaged in taking testimony for the purpose of con- testing the seat of his opponent, Hon. Clifton R. Breckinridge. At about half past eight o'clock at night, when sitting before a window of the hotel at which he was stopping, some one fired a charge of buckshot through the window at close range, which took effect in the head, killing him instantly. Colonel Clay- ton was a man universally esteemed for many excellent qual- ities, and his death was greatly deplored by all, not only for his decease as a personal matter, but also on account of the foul manner in which it was accomplished. He was buried in Bellwood Cemetery, Pine Bluff, on Friday afternoon, Febru- ary Ist, 1889. The funeral was the occasion of the largest concourse of people ever assembled in that city. Services were held at the Methodist church by Rev. Horace Jewell ; and the commodious building would not hold the concourse of people in attendance. It was estimated that there were fully 5,000 people to witness the obsequies. Every train came into the city loaded with visitors from adjacent towns. Little Rock, Camden, Hot Springs, Russellville, Fort Smith, Brinkley and other points were represented.
Governor Eagle offered a reward of $5,000-a special Act of the Legislature having authorized that amount. Other sums raised by private subscriptions were also added. Detec- tives were set at work, and investigation was made in many directions, but the perpetrators were never discovered.
695
1889-1890.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION.
Thus, in the foregoing pages, the History of Arkansas has been traced from the time of the advent of the first white man who ever entered its limits-a period of nearly 350 years. It would not be within the range of possibility to embrace in the compass of one volume, nor indeed in many volumes, even if the limits of human industry were sufficient to attain to it, an account of all its transactions ; nor is such necessary. It would seem that any account which presents at least an outline of the principal and leading events, ought to be con- sidered sufficient.
The active History of Arkansas dates really from the year 1819, a period now of only seventy years. In that time it has grown from being a wilderness, with a few thousands of inhabitants, widely scattered, to a rapidly growing common- wealth, with probably a million or more of people as its pop- ulation.
In the year 1799, the population of what was then Arkan- sas, embracing a larger area than the present State, was re- turned at 368 persons, and in 1785 was returned at 196. In 1810 it was 1,062; in 1820, 14,255; in 1830, 30,388; in 1840, 97,574; in 1850, 209,897; in 1860, 435,450; in 1870, 484,471 ; in 1880, 802,525.
The resources and advantages of Arkansas are every year becoming more apparent. In the growth of timber, her forest tracts are varied and limitless, producing every kind of wood useful for service and manufacture. She has within her limits vast coal-fields, producing an abundant supply of coal of ex- cellent quality. Her mineral resources are abundant, and yield largely of valuable ores. In mineral and medicinal springs and curative waters she stands unrivalled, and these have caused her to become widely known as a health resort, visited annually by thousands from all parts of the world.
In agricultural products she has achieved an enviable fame. The variety of soil embraced within her boundaries enables
696
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
her to produce with remarkable excellence all that is grown in this particular latitude, and which, when brought in competi- tion with the products of other communities, compares favor- ably with the best to be shown. In great fairs and exposi- tions, like that of Philadelphia in 1876, and at New Orleans in 1884, together with our own home exposition of 1887, the displays of agricultural products made by the State have ranked among the best ; while in the production of fruits, her displays at Boston in 1887, and in California and Illinois in 1888, have obtained for her the verdict of being one of the very best in the nation.
In geographical situation her position is most excellent. Her entire eastern border is washed by the waters of the great Mississippi, affording an outlet for navigation to the Gulf of Mexico or to points above, while her own territory is traversed by such considerable rivers as the Arkansas, White, Red, Black, St. Francis, Cache, and smaller streams, affording navigation for the greater part of the year, and to some ex- tent at all times for transportation of products or for the re- quirements of travel. At the same time her inland extent is penetrated to all points by railroads, and with more likely to follow, furnishing facilities for intercourse and commerce by this greatest of all modern achievements-travel by rail.
While her natural advantages are great, and a source of gratification to her citizens, she has also cause for satisfaction that among her citizens themselves, either native born, or else living such portion of their lives in her limits as to be identi- fied with her destiny and fortunes, there have been many who have attained eminence, of whom there may be noted among her distinguished judges, Benjamin Johnson, Elbert H. English and Henry C. Caldwell; among her prominent lawyers, Agustus H. Garland and U. M. Rose; among her distinguished physicians, Dr. Elias R. Duval; among her notable statesmen, Ambrose H. Sevier, Chester Ashley, Robert W. Johnson, the Conways, Henry W. and Elisha N.,
697
1889-1890.
James K. Jones and Clifton R. Breckinridge; among elo- quent orators, Robert Crittenden, Thomas C. Hindman, Orville Jennings, John R. Fellows and George W. Caruth; among eloquent and persuasive Divines, Reverends A. R. Winfield, Robert H. Read, John P. Carnahan, Bishops Kavanaugh and Byrne ; among classical and polished writers, Wyatt C. Thomas and John R. Eakin ; among scholars and literary men, and as a poet, Albert Pike; among men of public administrative affairs, Wharton and Elias Rector ; who, in conducting Indian affairs of earlier times, merited distinction and received public acknowledgement; among digesters and able law reporters, Samuel H. Hempstead, John M. Moore, B. D. Turner and W. W. Mansfield ; among gallant commanders, Archibald Yell and Patrick R. Cleburne ; among artists, C. P. Washburn and William Quesenbury ; among editors, William E. Woodruff, senior; and among humorists, Opie P. Read, who, while the editor of an Arkansas newspaper, achieved not only a national, but a world-wide reputation, as one of the leading humorists of his day.
Beside her other natural advantages may farther be men- tioned the fact that her climate is such as to present many points of attractiveness. Being situated in an intermediate latitude, it is not accompanied by either the extreme cold of northern climates, or the extreme heat of more southern countries. It is relieved of heavy and continuous snows on the one hand, and of long-continued and parching droughts on the other, but possessing a mediate temperature, highly conducive to vegetation and to the relief or aid of various physical ailments.
These advantages combining with the general progress and growth of the nation at large are destined to advance the State at no distant day to a high position in the great sister- hood of States.
698
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
May her future progress be ever fair and forward. May the blessings of good government ever endure within her limits, and order reign supreme !
May she, beginning with a zealous few, Rise in importance, till her influence, through All spheres of heightened thought and sense be found; Her seeds of wisdom fall in favored ground; The light she backward flingeth serve to stead The feet that walk in darkness as they tread; And, growing strong and stronger, may she stand A lofty beacon seen through all the land; Till last she shines in Fame's high-towering crest, Like that large star that glitters in the West!
.
--
1
1
CHAPTER XXXIII.
HISTORY OF LITTLE ROCK.
FROM 1819 TO 1890.
AT the time of the formation of the Territory, Little Rock, the future capital, had not an existence. Settlement at and in its immediate neighborhood had been made as early as 1817 by Edmund Hogan, George Stewart, William Lewis and Benjamin Murphy, and Wright Daniel had a farm four miles below on the north side of the river. William Russell, a large land-buyer, living in St. Louis, was making purchases of pre-emption rights throughout the locality as early as 1813. Prior to April 12th, 1814, Peter Franks, and Rachel, his wife, with their children, lived on a tract of four hundred acres of land "situated on the southwardly margin of the Arkansas river, at or near a place called Little Rocks." The pre- emption claim to this tract they sold to William Russell, De- cember 18th, 1819, for the sum of forty dollars, giving Russell the right to purchase from the Government when it should be for sale. Their location is described as being "about a half a mile above a point of rocks in the margin of the river from which the Quapaw Indian boundary line has been run." George Stewart lived on land now occupied by the city as early as 1814, and sold to Russell. William Lewis also had established a pre-emption claim under the law of 1814, to land on which the city stands ; but before his pre-emption was estab- lished by proof, he sold to Benjamin Murphy. James Debaun
699
3
C
LAND OFFICESUS
E
PRATT'S HO
TLER KRE
701
FROM 1819 TO 1890.
lived there in 1818, and Robert C. Oden was a lawyer there in 1819.
In the latter part of 1819, Moses Austin, of Potosi, Mis- souri, had a small house built near the Point of Rocks, just west of the Quapaw line. It was a small frame, partly built of cypress slabs, some of which were set up endways, and was evidently only put there to perfect a claim of entry made by James Bryan, his son-in-law. Rev. Cephas Washburn, who arrived at Little Rock, July 3d, 1820, says this house with one other, "a small cabin made of round logs with the bark on," situated near what is now Scott street, between Third and Fourth, west side, near where the Christian church stood, and where a cotton warehouse now stands, were "all the buildings at that time at Little Rock." Of the two, Austin's cabin was probably the first built. At the time, it contained a very scanty supply of "drugs and medicines," and a more liberal supply of "bald face." The subsequent occupancy of this house by Nathan Cloyes, became the turn- ing point in the celebrated Cloyes' heirs case, involving the title to a large tract of land in the vicinity of the Point of Rocks, and which was decided adversely to the heirs. No other house was built near it until 1822, when Joseph Thorn- hill built the shell of a one-story frame house, about one hun- dred feet west of it, but the house remained for many years unfinished inside. Edmund Hogan had a ferry there which he sold to William Russell, January 28th, 1820, together with his improvements on the north side of the river at the ferry place.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.