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 71

Author: Hempstead, Fay, 1847-1934
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: St. Louis and New York : N. D. Thompson Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1268


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 71


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


The place contains a number of stores, has telegraph and express offices and daily mails.


Judge Felix I. Batson was a prominent man of Johnson


IOII


JOHNSON COUNTY.


county, and resided there for a number of years. He was Circuit Judge of the Fourth Circuit in 1853, and was accounted one of the best Circuit Judges. He was elected Judge of the Supreme Court in 1858, and was a Member of the State Convention of 1861, and was twice elected a Member of the Confederate Congress. He died not very long after the war. -


A prominent citizen of Clarksville is Hon. Jordan E. Cra- vens. He was born in Frederickton, Madison county, Mis- souri, November 7th, 1830, and in 1831 his father moved to Arkansas, which has since been his home. He studied law in Clarksville under Judge Felix I. Batson, of the Supreme


Court, and was admitted to the Bar in 1854. On the break- ing out of the war, in 1861, he enlisted as a private in Captain Oliver Basham's Company of Churchill's Regiment of Cav- alry, the First Arkansas Mounted Rifles, and at the battle of Oak Hill was three times wounded in the engagement. He next became Major of the Seventeenth Arkansas, and on its consolidation with the Twenty-first Arkansas he became Colonel of the Twenty-first, and was captured at Big Black river in 1863. After being a prisoner for some time, he was exchanged and served the remainder of the war. In 1860 he was a Member of the Legislature, and of the State Senate in 1866. In 1876, and again in 1878, and in 1880 to 1882 he was a Member of Congress for the Third District. In 1868, June IIth, Colonel Cravens married, at Clarksville, Miss Emma Batson, daughter of Judge Felix I. Batson, and a native of that town. By this marriage there are four daughters.


- WHITE COUNTY.


White County, the thirty-second county created, was formed October 23d, 1835, out of territory taken from the counties of Pulaski, Independence and Jackson, and received its name from the White river, which bounds it on the east. The temporary seat of justice was directed to be at the house


IO12


THE FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN THE COUNTY OFFICERS.


DATE.


JUDGE.


CLERK.


SHERIFF.


TREASURER.


CORONER.


SURVEYOR.


ASSESSOR.


1836 to 1838


Samuel Guthrie.


P. W. Roberts


P. Crease ..


Michael Owens ..


M. H. Blue


S. Arnold.


1838 to 1840


Samuel Guthrie.


J. W. Bond.


Wm. Cook


John Arnold


M. H. Blue


S. Arnold.


1840 to 18+2


Samuel Guthrie.


J. W. Bond.


Milton Sanders.


John Arnold


Hiram O Neale.


S. Arnold.


1842 to 1844


Wm Cook.


J. W. Bond ..


Milton Sanders ..


James Bird.


Samuel Beeler . -


Arnold


1844 to 1846


Samuel Guthrie.


E. Guthrie ..


T. J. Lindsey


T. R. Vanmeter .. ...


D. Dobbins


S.


Arnold.


1846 to 1848


M. Sanders


J. W. Bond ..


J. G. Robbins .


J. Belew


S.


Arnold


1848 to 1850


M. Sanders


Samuel Morgan


J. G. Robbins


E. Neaville


E. K. Milligan


S. Arnold ..


1850 to 1852.


P. H. McDaniel.


Samuel Morgan.


J. M. Bowden.


W. T. Gilliam


G. W. Davis.


I. M. Moore ..


1852 to 1354


J. F. Batts ..


R. S. Bell


J. G. Robbins.


W. B. Isbell


G. W. Davis


Thomas Moss.


1856 to 1858.


L. S. Poe


Dandridge McRae


R. M. Exum


John Critz


Alex Cullum


W. B. Holland


1858 to 1860


Wm. Hicks


Dandridge Mckae.


R. M. Exum


John Critz


T. T. Britt ..


W. B. Holland ..


1860 to 1862


R. M. Exum, 1 .


D. McRae


J. W. Bradley.


S. B. Barnett


W. G. Sanders


Thomas Moss ..


1862 to 1864


M. Sanders.


J. W. Bradley.


B. B. Bradley ..


S. B. Barnett.


W. G. Sanders


Thomas Moss ..


1864 to 1866.


2 John Hutches ..


J. W. Bradley ..


w. C. Petty .. J. G. Bobbins, 3 ..


S. B. Barnett


W. G. Sanders ..


Thomas Moss ..


1868 to 1872


Milton Sanders.


J. A. Cole ..


W. C. Petty.


R. J. Rogers.


W. G. Sanders ..


J. O. Hurt ..


T. W. Legett, 4.


1872 to 1874


A. P. Sanders, 5 ..


N. B. Petty.


W. A. R. Jones.


T. L. Miller.


Pres. Steele.


J. H. Black.


1874 to 1876


A. M. Foster


A. P. Sanders


N. B. Petty


M. B. Pearson


Z. T. Haley ..


J. P. Steele


D. L. Fullbright.


1876 10 1878


A. M. Foster


A. P. Sanders


N. B. Petty


M. B. Pearson


Z. T. Haley ....


Thomas Moss.


B. B. Bradley.


1878 to 1880


L. M. Jones ..


A. P. Sanders


B. C. Black


M. B. Pearson


Z. T. Haley.


Thomas Moss ..


B. B. Bradley.


1880 to 1882


L. M. Jones.


J. J. Bell, 6


B. C. Black ..


D. L. Fullbright ....


Z. T. Haley .


B. S. Wise


B. B. Bradley.


1882 to 1884


F. P. Laws.


J. J. Bell, 7


Ben C. Black


D. L. Fullbright ...


J. P. Baldock ..


B. S. Wise


B. B Bradley.


1884 to 1886


R. H. Goad.


L. C. Canfield, 8


J. H. Ford


J. M. Smith.


J. H. Claiborne. --


B. S. Wise


J. J. Deener.


1886 to 1888


R. H. Goad


L. C. Canfield


J. H. Ford


J. M. Smith.


J. M Carter.


B. S. Wise


J. J. Deener.


1888 to 1890


N. H. West


C. S. George


R. W. Carnes


J. G. Walker


Frank Blevins


B. S. Wise


G. W. Dobbins.


*R. H. McCulloch


*J. J. Bell


1-John Hutches from March, 1861. 2-Record incomplete for this term. 3-W. C. Petty from September, 1867. 4-J. S. Chrisman from March, 1870. 5- Alen Mitchell, Circuit Clerk. 6-T. C. Jones, County Clerk. 7-J. R. Jobe, County Clerk. 8-R. H. Mccullough, Circuit Clerk. *- Circuit Clerk.


HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.


1866 to 1868


M. Sanders.


J. W. Bradley ..


S. . . Barnett


W. G. Sanders ..


W. B. Holland


1854 to 1856


John Hutches


R. S. Bell.


R. M. Exum


J. M. Johnson.


S. Arnold


1013


WHITE COUNTY.


of David Crease, near the White Sulphur springs. On the 23d of November, 1837, John Magness, Michael Owens, and Thomas R. VanMeter were appointed by the Legislature Commissioners to locate the county seat on lands donated by John Howerton, James Walker and John Cook, the town to be called Searcy, which since has remained the county seat.


White is an interior county, northeastward ; White river is its eastern boundary. Its area is about 1020 square miles.


The soil is good, and produces well all the ordinary crops. Fruits also produce well. The county is well watered by White river and Little Red river, which runs through its center.


The county has a number of mineral springs, affording places of resort for health and pleasure, the chief of which are the White Sulphur springs, at the town of Searcy; the Armstrong chalybeate springs, a short distance from them, and Griffin springs.


The St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern railroad runs through the county from northeast to southwest, and at Ken- sett a short line of railway, of three miles, reaches the town of Searcy.


The towns of the county are Searcy, Beebe, Judsonia, Bradford, Russell, Bald Knob, Kensett, West Point, El Paso and Centre Hill.


Searcy, the county seat, is an active town of about 2,000 people. It dates its existence from the year 1837. It is a favorite place of summer resort for the use of the excellent sulphur waters which are to be had, the Hotel Bennett, the Gill House and other good hotels furnishing accommodations to guests. The town is built surrounding a court-house square. The court-house is a commanding brick building, with a tall tower surmounted by a large clock. It was built about 1870. There are many substantial brick buildings in the town, and a number of churches. Of these the Presbyterian church is a large and handsome brick building, and comfortably fitted


.


IO14


HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.


inside. Other churches are, Methodist, Baptist and Presby- terian. There are excellent schools, a flourishing female acad- emy, the Searcy College, the Galloway Female College, a bank, two steam grist mills, a cotton gin, planing mill, a fruit and vegetable canning factory, and three weekly newspapers, the White County Record, Arkansas Beacon, and the White


WHITE COUNTY COURT-HOUSE, SEARCY.


County Wheel; has telegraph and express offices and daily mails. The town is not on any line of general railroad, but reaches the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad by a railroad to Kensett, a distance of about three miles.


General Dandridge McRae became a resident of Searcy on his arrival in the State in December, 1849, and has continu-


WHITE COUNTY.


1015


ously resided there since. He was born in Baldwin county, Alabama, October 10th, 1829. He graduated at the State Uni- versity of South Carolina in 1849; was admitted to the Bar in Arkansas in 1854. On the breaking out of the war he raised a battalion and then a regiment, and was subsequently made


Good


GALLOWAY FEMALE COLLEGE, SEARCY.


a Brigadier-General. On the 10th of January, 1855, in DeSoto county, Mississippi, he married Miss Angie Lewis. Of this marriage there are two children now living, to-wit : Mrs. Annie Neely, wife of R. P. Neely, and Mrs. Minnie Rives, wife of Hon. J. F. Rives, Jr., all of Searcy.


1016


HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.


General John C. McCauley became a citizen of Searcy in 1854. He was born in Orange county, North Carolina, Feb- ruary 24th, 1834, son of James and Mary A. McCauley, who are now residents of West Point, White county. He received an academic education, under Professor James Holmes, at Mount Carmel Academy, in Tipton county, Ten- nessee ; came to Searcy December 25th, 1851, and has resided there continuously since. He went into the mercantile busi- ness in Searcy in 1852 as salesman for Carter & McCauley, and has followed mercantile business since except being Post- master. On the breaking out of the war he entered the Seventh Arkansas Infantry as senior Captain and served during the entire war. On the 13th day of November, 1855, General McCauley was married to Miss Eliza J. Hall, of Tipton county, Tennessee. By this marriage there are four children now living, to-wit : Mrs. Aurora F. Faucett, residing at Searcy; Charles E., Emmett J. and James T. McCauley.


Judge Jesse Newton Cypert became a resident of White county in 1851. He was born in Wayne county, Tennessee, December 5th, 1823, son of Jesse Cypert. His mother was a Worthen. The Cyperts were of German descent, and the Worthens of Welch. He had opportunities for only little schooling, being engaged in working on his father's farm. After he was twenty-one years of age he attended school one session of five months. He came to Arkansas in May, 1850, and located at Marion, Crittenden county, but moved to Searcy in February, 1851, and now resides there, engaged in the practice of law, his son, Eugene Cypert, being associated with him in the practice. He was a Member of the State Convention of 1861, and of the Constitutional Conventions of 1868 and 1874. He was Judge of the First Judicial Circuit from Octo- ber 30th, 1874, to October 30th, 1882. He entered the Con- federate Army in 1861, as a private soldier in the Fifth Arkansas Battalion, Colonel Frank W. Desha commanding ; was elected Captain of Company "A," and was then Major.


1017


WHITE COUNTY.


He was on post duty at Pocahontas, Arkansas, until Feb- ruary, 1862; was then transferred east of the Mississippi river in General Withers' Brigade and Bragg's Corps; and was discharged on account of ill health in May, 1862. On the 6th of February, 1855, he was married, in White county, to Sarah H. Crow, daughter of Joshua B. Crow, a farmer. By this marriage there are two children, a daughter and a son, to-wit : Mrs. Florence E. Watkins, wife of William M. Wat- kins, a merchant of Searcy, and Eugene Cypert, engaged with his father in the practice of law at Searcy.


Judge B. D. Turner was a resident of Searcy for 24 years, from 1855 to 1879. He was born in North Carolina, Jan- uary 26th, 1824. In 1829 his parents moved to Haywood county in West Tennessee. He completed his education at Granville College, Ohio. He then taught school for several years in Brownsville, Tennessee, and read law at leisure times. He was admitted to the Bar in West Tennessee in 1853, and practiced at Brownsville for two years. He then moved to Searcy, in 1855, where he continued the practice of law, with success and distinction, until 1879, when he was appointed Reporter of the Decisions of the Supreme Court, at which time he moved to Little Rock. He held this posi- tion until his death, which occurred in Little Rock, October 6th, 1887, in the 63d year of his age. Surviving him are his widow; a son, William J., and three daughters, Mrs. John M. Moore and Misses Sue and Bettie Turner, all of whom are residents of Little Rock.


Judge William Richard Coody became a resident of Searcy in 1858. He was born in Henderson county, Tennessee, October 29th, 1830, son of Edward and Nellie Coody, who was Nellie Roiner, of the North Carolina family of Roiners. He was admitted to the Bar in Tennessee in 1853, but did not begin to practice until he had settled in Arkansas. Since that date he has actively conducted the practice, and now also carries on a farm. He was Prosecuting Attorney from


1018


HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.


1865 to 1868, when he was "re-constructed " out of office; was a Member of the Legislature for 1879 and 1881. He advocated the Fishback Amendment in White county in 1879, and in 1881 made the canvass for Democracy against the Greenback ticket. He has been Special Judge at various times. He was in the Confederate Army for four years. He then went to Texas, and returned with his family in the fall of 1865, and resumed the practice of law. On the 16th of November, 1853, he was married to Miss Nellie Ann Roy, of Fayette county, Tennessee. By this marriage there are six children now living, three sons and three daughters.


Colonel Jacob Frolich became a citizen of Searcy in 1866. He was born in Oberndorf, Bavaria, November 15th, 1837. In 1846 his father, with his family, came to America, and located at New Orleans, but after a brief sojourn there went to Vincennes, and next to Evansville, Indiana, and in 1869 moved to Searcy. Colonel Frolich struck out for himself at the age of 14 years, learning the printer's trade. He worked at this business through a series of years, and in many places. After the conclusion of the war, in which he served with gal- lantry from the beginning of it to the end, he worked at printing in Memphis, in the Appeal office, until 1866, when he established the White County Record in Searcy, and be- came its editor. The paper at once became the leading Democratic journal of the county. In 1879, he was elected Secretary of State, and served as such ably and efficiently for three terms, or until 1885. Under the administration of President Cleveland, he was in Washington City, in one of the Government Departments, but after the conclusion of that ยท administration he returned to Arkansas and became business manager of the Gazette. On the 2d of September, 1869, he married in Clarksville, Tennessee, Miss Mollie Gaines Finley. By this marriage there are three children, a daughter, Pearl, and two sons, Finley and Herman Frolich. He died at Little Rock April 25th, 1890.


1


RANDOLPH COUNTY.


Randolph County, the thirty-third county created, was formed October 29th, 1835, out of territory taken from Law- rence county, and was named, as is stated in the Act creating it, "in honor of the late John Randolph, of Roanoke." The temporary seat of justice was directed to be at the house of James G. Russell, and an election for Commissioners was directed to be held to locate it permanently. The Commis- sioners chosen established the county seat at a place called Bettis Bluff, and a town was laid off there, named Pocahontas, in February, 1836. This place has since remained and is now the county seat of the county.


One of the earliest settlers in what afterwards became the county, was Henry Lewis Fletcher, of Stewart county, Ten- nessee, who, in the fall of 1815, before even the establishment of the territory, located with his family on the Fourche de Mau, a small tributary of Black river. During his residence there several children were born, one of whom was Thomas Fletcher, United States Marshal of the Eastern District of Arkansas, in 1888. The family lived there until the year 1825, when they moved to what was then Pulaski county, but which is now Saline county, and settled six miles northwest from where the town of Benton now is, where other children were born, who have since become well-known men in the State.


At this place, Fourche de Mau, also was born W. Jasper Blackburn, July 24th, 1820. Mr. Blackburn lived succes- sively at Batesville, Little Rock, Conway county, Fort Smith, in Arkansas, and then moved to Louisiana, in which State he was elected to Congress. He returned to Arkansas again in


1019


1020


THE FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN THE COUNTY OFFICERS.


DATE.


JUDGE.


CLERK.


SHERIFF.


TREASURER.


CORONER.


SURVEYOR.


ASSESSOR.


1835 to 1836


P. R. Pittman


B. J. Wiley


William Black


R. Bradford.


J. M. Cooper


1836 to 1838


P. R. Pittman


B. J. Wiley


William Black


B. M. Simpson.


R. Bradford ..


J. M. Cooper


1838 to 1840


P. R. Pittman


B. J. Wiley


William Black.


J. Newland


V. Legraves ..


John Johnson, Sr ..


1840 to 1842.


P. R. Pittman


B. J. Wiley.


J. H. Imboden


J. Newland


V. C. Graves


J. Vanbibber.


1842 to 1844


James Martin


J. H. Imboden


J. Spikes


J. Newland .


J. Reynolds


I. L. Garrett


1844 to 1846


James Martin ..


T, O. Marr.


J. Spikes


W. L. Rice


V. C. Graves ....


William McLain


1846 to 1848


B. J. Wiley ..


T. O. Marr


W. L. Rice


Wm. Thompson ..


1848 to 1850


B. J. Wiley .


T. O. Marr, 1


J. Spikes, 2


W. L. Rice


E. Wilson


William McLain


1850 to 1852


James Martin -


L. F. Johnson.


J. D. Cross.


W. W. McNait


William McLain ..


1852 to 1854


B. J. Wiley.


J. C. Walker


J. D. Cross ..


L. B. Johnson .


T. S. Swingington.


1854 to 1856


J. P. Ingram.


E. L. Urmston


W. G. Murphy


J. D. Cross, 3


John Crossin


I. L. Garrett


1856 to 1858


J. P. Ingram


E. L. Urmston


W. G. Murphy


Abram Baker


I. L. Garrett ..


1858 to 1860


J. P. Ingram


J. B. Kelsey


D. C. Black.


W. W. Douthit


I. L.


Garrett.


L. F. Johnson,


1862 to 1864


H. Cockran.


J. B. Kelsey ..


M. McNabb


W. W. Douthit.


I. L.


Garrett


L. F. Johnson.


1864 to 1866.


H. Cockran


C. C. Elder


S. M. Truly, 4.


Thomas Foster


A. Hagans


I. L. Garrett ..


L. F. Johnson.


1866 to 1868


H. Cockran


C. C. Elder


D. C. Black.


Thomas Foster


W. P. G. Johnson ..


N. L. Dodson


I. L. Garrett ..


D. C. Downey.


1872 to 1874-


J. T. Robinson


J. T. Fisher


J. Hufstedler


G. B. McAffee.


N. C. Dodson ..


J. D. Wyatt.


1874 to 1876


Isham Russell


J. T. Robinson


J. F. Spikes ..


T. S. Bennett ..


Jacob Foster ...


N. C. Dodson


S. W. Thompson.


1876 to 1878


J. H. Purkins.


J. Schoonover


D. C. Black.


J. W. Slayton ..


C. Q. Campbell


N. C. Dodson


J. H. Richardson.


1878 to 1880


S. J. Johnson.


J. Schoonover


W. Conner


A. H. Kibler


E. W. Newman


N. C. Dodson


J. H. Richardson.


1880 to 1882


S. J. Johnson ..


J. Schoonover


W. Conner


A. H. Kibler


J. Vandergriffin


N. C. Dodson.


J. H. Richardson.


1882 to 1884


J. H. Richardson


J. T. Robinson


A. J. Witt.


A. H. Kibler


E. W. Newman.


J. H. Skaggs ..


W. H. Johnson.


1884 to 1886


J. H. Richardson


J. T. Robinson


A. J. Witt ..


A. H. Kibler


W. Wllmore.


N. C. Dodson


M. D. Bowers.


1886 to 1888


Dan Wyatt.


W. T. Bispham.


B. F. Spikes


J. R. Chalmers


J. L. Burton.


N. C. Dodson.


M. D. Bowers.


1888 to 1890


A. J. Witt ..


W. T. Bispham ..


B. F. Spikes.


J. R. Chalmers


-- Blackwell


G. B. Smith


Gideon Thompson


1-Alex Smith from October, 1849. 2-John Chandler from May, 1st .. 3-W. W. Douthit from November, 1857. 4-David Black from July, 1865. 5- J. Hufstedler.


HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.


1868 to 1872


G. V. Corey ..


E. Rockwell


G. A. Eaton, 5


A. J. Pack


J. P. Brimway


W. W. Douthit


W. P. G. Johnson ..


1860 to 1862


Wm. Thompson


J. B. Kelsey ..


D. C. Black


J. Newland


William Fowler.


William McLain


J. Spikes.


William McLain.


John Chandler.


W. G. Murphy


..


-


CONV. MARIA STEIN O.S.B


1


...


CONVENT MARIA STEIN, POCAHONTAS.


IO22


HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.


1879, and is now editing a paper, The Republican, at Little Rock.


Randolph is a northeast county, north of Lawrence, and bounded north by the Missouri line. Its area is about 700 square miles, and the population about 14,000, of which not


RANDOLPH COUNTY COURT-HOUSE, POCAHONTAS.


exceeding 1,000 are colored. In the census of 1880 the pop- ulation was 11,724, being 11,097 whites and 627 colored per- sons.


In surface, the county is hilly and broken in the western part, but level in the eastern portion, with fine rich alluvial


-


CATHOLIC CHURCH. POCAHONTAS.


1024


HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.


soil. The county in general produces well all the crops of the latitude, and is particularly well adapted for the growing of fruit.


Of streams, Black river, Current, Fourche, Eleven Points, and Spring rivers, all small streams, water the county.


The Kansas City, Springfield & Memphis Railroad runs along a portion of the southwest border, and the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad touches the county in one single place only, to-wit : at O'Kean, a place in the extreme southeast corner.


There are excellent mineral springs in the county, of which Ravenden and Warm Springs are the most noted.


There are seventy-five school districts, where school is kept open from three to ten months in each year ; fifteen post-offices, and about 800 farms. The school enumeration of 1888 was 4,993 ; enrolled 1,392. There are forty church-houses, of Baptist, Methodist, Catholic and Christian denominations.


The towns of the county are Pocahontas, Ravenden, Warm Springs, Walnut Hill and O'Kean.


Pocahontas, the county seat, is a place of about 700 people, situated on Black river. It was founded in February, 1836. It contains a spacious brick court-house ; three hotels : the Imboden Hotel, kept by L. E. Imboden ; the Biggers' Hotel, kept by B. F. Biggers, and the St. Charles Hotel, kept by Mrs. N. G. Jones ; and two newspapers : the Randolph Her- ald and the Free Press. Of churches, there are a Methodist Episcopal, South, a Catholic Convent of Benedictine Sisters, and three Methodist churches for colored people.


SALINE COUNTY.


Saline County, the thirty-fourth county created, was formed November 2d, 1835, out of territory taken from Pulaski county. The temporary seat of justice was directed to be "at the Baptist meeting-house near Duncan's." Rezin- Davis and John S. Lockert were chosen Commissioners to locate the county seat permanently, and they located it at Benton, where it has since remained.


Saline is a central county, southwestward, bounded east by Pulaski county. Its eastern border line is only about twelve miles distant from the capital at the nearest point. Its area is about 760 square miles. The western portion is hilly and mountainous ; the eastern and southern portions level. There is some alluvial soil, and all the bottom land is rich and fertile. Abundant crops of the usual products are grown, and fruits produce well. The St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad passes through the county from northeast to southwest, and the Little Rock, Mississippi River & Texas Railroad touches it at its extreme southeast corner at Woodson station. The Saline river runs through the county, and with its tributaries serves to water the county, and afford rafting facilities in high water, but are not navigable.


In minerals, gold, silver, iron, zinc and lead have been found, but are undeveloped. The "Rabbit Foot"' mine, near Benton, yields satisfactorily nickel, cobalt and iron at a short distance from the surface. There are sixty free common schools kept open an average of five months in the year. There are a number of churches in the county. The princi- pal towns are Benton, with a population of 1,000; Bryant and Woodson, about 100 each.


1025


65


IO26


THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF THOSE WHO HAVE HELD OFFICE IN THE COUNTY :


DATE.


JUDGE.


CLERK.


SHERIFF.


TREASURER.


CORONER.


SURVEYOR.


ASSESSOR.


1835 to 1836


T. S. Hutchinson


Samuel Caldwell


V. Brazil


C. Lindsey ..


A. Carrick


1836 to 1838


H. Prudden


G. B. Hughes.


Samuel Collins ..


J. Y. Lindsey.


J. J. Joiner ..


J. R. Conway ..


1838 to 1840


R. Brazil


S. S. Collins.


E. M. Owen ..


J. Y. Lindsey


George McDaniel .. C. P. Lyle.


1840 to 1842


W. M. Scott ..


G. B. Hughes.


E. M. Owen.


N. Davis


E. Hooper


1842 to 1844.


A. R. Crisp


E. M. Owen.


G. W. Rutherford.


N. Davis


E. Hooper.


F. Leech


1844 to 1846


G. B. Hughes ..


E. M. Owen


Thomas Pack.


A. B. Bates


W. G. W. Erwin ..


F. Leech.


1846 to 1848


Robert Calvert, 3


... A. R. Hockersmith ..


Thomas Pack


M. M. Cloud ..


J. Brooks.


F. Leech


1850 to 1852


W. M. Scott.


A. R. Hockersmith .. J. W. Shoppach


William Crawford ..


James Carter


J. T. Walker


George J. Cloud


1854 to 1856


Joseph Scott


J. W. Shoppach.


W. A. Crawford ..


James Carter


M. R. Thompson


George J. Cloud.


1856 to 1858


Joseph Scott.


J. W. Shoppach.


W. A. Crawford


James Carter


Wiley Lewis ..


J. H. Martin.


1858 to 1860


Joseph Scott


J. W. Shoppach.


M. S. Miller


James Carter.


E. Leech


J. H. Martin


1860 to 1862


James T. Poe.


J. W. Shoppach.


M. S. Miller


William T. Poe ..


E. Leech


J. W. Smith ..


1862 to 1864


W. Scott


L. Collins.


Thomas Pack.


J. F. White


J. G. Glidewell


A. J. McAllister.


1864 to 1866.


W. Scott


A. R. Hockersmith


Thomas Pack


C. F. Moore ..


J. G. Glidewell.


W. A. Wilson.


1868 to 1872


J. A. Medlock, 2


J. A. Mills


W. M. Pack, 2.


R. M. Thompson


J. A. Halbert ..


W. R. Gregory, 2.


E. H. Vance, Jr, 2.


1872 to 1874


J. P. Henderson


W. W. Thompson


G. W. Hunnicut ..


W. W. Jordan ..


J. W. Hammond ..


J. Cooper.


1874 to 1876


J. W. Adams.


J. H. Shoppach.


W. W. Thompson


G. W. Hunnicut.


W. Leech ..


W. S. Lee ..


J. Cooper.


1876 to 1878


J. W. Adams ..


J. H. Shoppach.


W. W. Thompson.


M. W. House ..


William Leech.


W. S. Lee ..


J. M. Cooper.


1878 to 1880




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