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 77
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The putting up of hay has become a considerable industry in the county. The native grass of the prairies is cut, baled and shipped to distant markets, and makes a fair article of hay. A few years ago there were but few points at which hay was put up; now there are sheds, presses and side-tracks at every station on the railroad.
The raising of cattle also has become one of the greatest industries of the county. Large bodies of the prairie lands are enclosed with wire fences and turned into stock ranches, from which cattle are shipped to Little Rock, Memphis and St. Louis.
The county is well watered by White river, which runs through the eastern portion for forty miles; Bayou Des Arcs in the east and northern portion, Wattensas (Wat-ten-saw) Bayou through the center, Bayou Two Prairies in the southern and southeastern portions, and Cache river on the eastern border.
The prairies of the county are the favorite resort of hunts- men. In former times they were very extensively stocked with deer, grouse or prairie chickens, quail and wild pigeons. With the settling up of the country these have disappeared to a great extent, but are still to be found in sufficient quantities to afford exciting sport for those so inclined.
One of the natural curiosities of the county is a pigeon-roost, about fifteen miles from Brownsville. Here at night-fall, in the pigeon season, year after year, wild pigeons were accus-
to n d i
1085
PRAIRIE COUNTY.
tomed to flock in by millions, settling on the trees in such numbers as to break off large limbs and branches, or bend down trees of considerable size. The noise of their flying into the roost could be heard for miles before reaching the place, sounding like the roar of a cataract. The roost was a tract of about four miles square, in which the most of the trees were dead. In it were multitudes of owls, wild cats and catamounts, which subsisted on dead and wounded birds left by hunters, or injuring themselves. Hunters and sportsmen visiting the roost were able to kill thousands in a short while, and a considerable traffic was carried on by shipping the birds to neighboring markets. Farmers in the neighborhood were long accustomed to feed them to their hogs in unlimited quan- tities.
In the coldest of weather the temperature in the midst of the roost would be quite warm, from the great number of live bodies diffusing animal heat. On leaving the roost at daybreak, it was the custom of the birds all to alight on the ground for a few moments, and then rise simultaneously with a deafening roar. So great was the number of these birds, that it was not an uncommon sight to see flocks of them passing across the sky so great as to take several moments to go by, and so thick as to obscure the sun for the time being.
This was the condition of things within the recollec- tion of men as recently as twenty-five or thirty years ago, but at the present time so much has been done toward the kill- ing of the birds in great quantities, that the breed has well nigh become extinct., To see a flock of wild pigeons now is rather the exception, where once it was the universal rule. They still visit the roost each season, but their numbers now are few and inconsiderable.
The population of the county is about 12,000. In the census of 1880 it was 5,691 white, 2,744 colored; total, 8,435. In 1885 it was given as 10,980.
1086
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
Educational facilities in the county are good. There are public schools in almost every neighborhood, there being forty-six school districts, and thirty-seven maintaining schools. At Des Arc, Devall's Bluff, Hazen, and Hickory Plains there are fine public schools. There are churches at all the principal points in the county and embracing all denomina- tions.
The towns of the county are Des Arc, Devall's Bluff, Hazen, Brownsville, Fredonia and Hickory Plains.
Devall's Bluff, on White river, was at one time a place of activity and importance. Being the terminus of the railroad from Little Rock to White river in the direction of Memphis, it was a great shipping point for the interior, boats coming from Memphis, by way of the Mississippi, and White river is at all times navigable to this point and above. During the war the place was occupied by some 40,000 Federal troops, they making this place their base of operations in the State. During their occupancy, they built many store-houses and barracks, which are still standing, but in a dilapidated con- dition.
Captain Joel M. McClintock has been a citizen of Devall's Bluff from April, 1864, to this date, with the exception of from May, 1873, to March, 1875, when he lived at Lonoke, having moved back to Devall's Bluff in March, 1875. He was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, son of Ralph and Agnes McClintock. He received education in the county district schools, except a short term spent at Lombard University, in Galesburg, Illinois. He was admitted to the Bar in 1885, and is now engaged in the practice of law and conducting a real estate agency. On the breaking out of the Civil War he enlisted as a soldier in Company "E," of the Thirty-third Illinois Infantry, and was afterwards First Ser- geant in Company "D," of the Mississippi Marine Brigade, under General Ellett. On the 19th of August he was com- missioned by President Lincoln, Captain in the Fourth
1
·
1087
PRAIRIE COUNTY.
Arkansas Colored Infantry, and was discharged from service at Little Rock, in February, 1864. On the 27th of June, 1865, at Devall's Bluff, he married Miss Sarah A. Crosson. He was Sheriff of Prairie county from July, 1868, to January Ist, 1873, and first Sheriff of Lonoke county from May, 1873, to November, 1874.
Des Arc, the county seat, is on White river, in the upper part of the county. It dates its existence from the year 1831. In July of that year a post-office was established at the house of James Walker, and called "Des Arc," Lewis Kirk- patrick being made Postmaster. In 1851 George C. Watkins, owner of lands on which it is situated, caused a survey to be made by I. M. Moore, laying it off into lots and blocks for a town. Its present population is 850. It contains four churches : Old School Presbyterian, a brick structure ; Cum- berland Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist, frame buildings. The colored people have also two churches, Methodist and Baptist, both frame buildings.
The Des Arc Citizen, a weekly newspaper, is published there. It was established in 1854 by John C. Morrill.
There are two hotels in the place : the Hedgepeth House and the Jackson House.
The town was incorporated December 24th, 1854.
Colonel Robert Smith Gantt became a resident of Prairie county in 1858, and lived there till 1868. He was born in Moulton, Alabama, in the year 1830, son of Edward S. and Sarah Gantt, who was Sarah Smith. Both the parents were natives of Maryland, but died in Alabama. He commenced the study of law in Moulton, Alabama, in 1845, being then only 15 years of age, reading in the law office of Hon. Leroy Pope Walker, who was afterwards Confederate Secretary of War. He finished his studies in the office of Hon. D. P. Lewis, and was admitted to the Bar, November 30th, 1847, being but little over 17 years of age. He commenced the practice of law in Marshall county, Alabama, in the year
e
1088
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
1849. Soon after he went there to live, and before he had attained the age of 20 years he was appointed Judge of the County Court, which office he held for eight months, when he resigned, returning to Moulton in 1850, and remaining there until September 26th 1853, when he moved to Eastport, Mississippi, where he lived until April, 1858, when he moved to Arkansas and located at Brownsville. On the breaking out of the war he entered the Confederate Army as a Captain in the Fifth Arkansas Infantry, a regiment organized by Colonel, afterwards General, L. Marsh Walker, afterwards commanded successively by Colonels D. C. Cross and John Edward Murray, in which he served till the close of the war. In 1865 he was elected Prosecuting-Attorney of the circuit in which the capital was situated, and according as the law at that time stood, he thereby became ex-officio Attorney-General of the State, and served to October, 1866. He was State Senator of the Sixteenth District, composed of the counties of Pulaski and Prairie, at the session from November, 1866, to March, 1867, and was a Member of a Committee sent by the Legislature to Washington to confer with Presi- dent Johnson as to the welfare of the State.
In 1868 he became a member of the law firm with Judge E. H. English and P. D. English, of Little Rock, although still residing at Brownsville. After the death of his wife in Sep- tember, 1868, he moved to Little Rock, where he continued to reside, engaged in the practice of his profession, until his death, November 30th, 1871, at the age of 41 years. He was an able lawyer ; a fine criminal practitioner and an elo- quent speaker. He was a Presidential Elector in 1868, on the Seymour and Blair ticket, and made a canvass in the in- terest of the Democratic nominees. On the 3d of May, 1855, at Eastport, Mississippi, he was married to Miss Laura V. Shelley. By this marriage there are three daughters living, to-wit: "Daisy, Olivia and Laura, who is Mrs. James H. Blocher.
DREW COUNTY.
Drew County, the fifty-second county created, was formed November 26th, 1846, out of territory taken from Bradley county, and was named in honor of the Governor, Thomas S. Drew. The temporary seat of justice was directed to be at - the house of Alexander M. Rawles. It remained there until 1848, when, on the formation of Ashley county, which em- braced Rawles' house within its limits, the county seat was established at a place called Rough and Ready, one mile south of the present town of Monticello. In 1849 the county seat was established at Monticello, where it now is.
Drew is a southeastern county, within twelve miles of the Mississippi river. Its area is about 800 square miles, and in surface it is about one-half rolling hills, and the other half alluvial, with the exception of about 2,000 acres of prairie land.
The usual crops are cotton, corn, wheat, oats and potatoes. The soil is rich and produces well.
The streams in the county are the Saline river and Bayou Bartholomew. The Little Rock, Mississippi River & Texas Railroad crosses the county east and west about the center.
There are 52 common school districts, and 3 high schools, one at Monticello, one at Rock Springs and one at Selma ; 75 schools are taught in the county. There are about 50 churches of the Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian denom- inations.
The towns of the county are Monticello, Selma, Collins and Tillar.
Monticello, the county seat, is on the Little Rock, Missis- sippi River & Texas Railway, near the center of the county. The land on which it is situated was deeded to the county for
1089
69
:
THE FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN THE COUNTY OFFICERS.
DATE.
JUDGE.
CLERK.
SHERIFF.
TREASURER.
CORONER.
SURVEYOR.
ASSESSOR.
1847 to 1848.
W. H. Wells
Y. R. Royal
D. D. Greer ..
W. C. Guice
T. Hale ..
E. J. Howard
1848 to 1850
W. H. Wells
Y. R. Royal
W. D. Ford
W. C. Guice
Jacob Martin, 4 ....
E. J. Howard.
1850 to 1852
W. H. Lucas
Y. R. Royal
W. D. Ford.
Jesse Newton
J. Werrett.
M. G. Welch
1852 to 1854.
W. H. Lucas
Y. R. Royal
J. S. Jordan
Jesse Newton ... H. H. Wells ..
M. G. Welch.
1854 to 1856
E. K. Haynes
Y. R. Royal
J. S. Jordan.
Jesse Newton.
S. H. Dabney.
M. G. Welch.
1856 to 1858
E. K. Haynes
S. J. Matthews
D. S. Wells
Jesse Newton
D. D. Greer.
M. G. Welch, 5.
1858 to 1860
E. K. Haynes
S.J. Matthews
D. S. Wells
Jesse Newton ..
V. Garrison ..
T.
W. Gullege ..
1860 to 1862
1 Samuel Gibson
J. L. Haynes
George Prosise.
H. H. Crook.
T. W. Gullege ..
1862 to 1864.
W. B. Daniels
J. F. Bussey ..
J. A. Baker
George Prosise ...
H. H.
Crook ..
T. W. Gullege ..
1864 to 1866
T. N. Cotham
J. F. Bussey
J. A. Baker
George Prosise ..:
H. H. Crook.
L'. W. Gullege
E. W. Good.
1866 to 1868
J. W. Colquit
J. F. Bussey
J. H. Hammock
W. P. Montague
S. H. Grubbs ..
r.
W. Gullege ...
O. P. Manees, 2.
1872 to 1874
Office abolished
R. F. Hyatt
T. W. Haynes ..
J H. Rayland
G. W. Gill.
T. W. Gullege ......
H. C. Burke.
1874 to 1876
T. M. Cotham
R. F. Hyatt
J. H. Hammock
J. H. Rayland
J. W. Crook.
R. H. Hester
J. Folliard.
1876 to 1878
W. T. Wells ..
R. F. Hyatt ..
J. H. Hammock
Z. E. Kerr .
R. E. Owens
R. H. Hester.
J. F. Folliard.
1878 to 1880
H. J. Stanley
R. F. Hyatt.
J. H. Hammock
Z. E. Kerr ..
Jesse Bowden
R. H. Hester.
J. F. Bussey.
1880 to 1882.
H. J. Stanley
R. F. Hyatt
J. H.
Hammock
Z. E. Kerr
Jesse Bowden
R. H. Hester
W. L. Hart.
1882 to 1884
S. J. Matthews
S. G. Twitty ..
J. H. Hammock ...
Z. E. Kerr
Jesse Bowden ..
R. H. Hester
W. F. Bessellieu.
1884 to 1886
H. M. Wells ..
S. G. Twitty
J. H. Hammock
Z. E. Kerr
C. T. Duke
M. L. Stinson .. ...
W. F. Bessellieu.
1886 to 1888
S. G. Twitty.
S. J. Matthews
C. F. Hudspeth ..
H. M. Hankins
R. F. Hyatt.
Ab. Wilson.
M. G. Peeples.
1888 to 1890
E. K. Haynes ..
J. H. Hammock ..
C. F. Hudspeth ..
H. M. Hankins
R. F. Hyatt
Ab. Wilson
M. G. Peeples.
1- No record of the office for Judge. 2-Rejected and H. C. Brooks in office from March 18, 1871. 3-From May 8, 1871. 4-J. D. Berry succeeded Martin. 5-Elijah Henry appointed July 9, 1857.
a county seat June 9th, 1849. The first court was held there in September, 1849, or March, 1850. The land for the building of the court-house and other public buildings was donated to the town by F. O. Austin. The present court-house is a massive and handsome brick structure, built in the years 1870, 1871 and 1872, at a cost of $65,000.
There are six churches in the town, all frame buildings and creditable structures, the Methodist church being an elegant building. They are the Methodist church, Baptist, Old School Presbyterian and Cumberland Presbyterian. The colored people also have a Methodist and a Baptist church.
1090
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
-
..
W. Gullege
1868 to 1872
C. M. Preddy
W. P. Montague
S. E. Cole ..
P. R. Smith
W. P. Burk, 3.
மிமீம்ஸ்
-
1091
DREW COUNTY.
There are two hotels; a weekly newspaper, The Monti- cellonian, and an excellent graded school, having 350 pupils. Prof. J. H. Hineman, principal.
Hon. William F. Slemons, of Monticello, was born in Weakley county, Tennessee, March 15th, 1830; was educated at Bethel College; removed to Arkansas in 1852; studied law, was admitted to the Bar in 1855, and practiced until 1861 ; was a Member of the Arkansas State Convention in 1861; was elected District Attorney in 1866, and re-con- structed out of office in 1868; was elected to the Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Congresses, and was re-elected to the Forty- sixth Congress as a Democrat, receiving 11,226 votes against 8,399 votes for Bradley, National. On the breaking out of the war he enlisted as a private, but was promoted, until he became Colonel of the Second Arkansas Cavalry. On the 13th of December, 1855, in Drew county, Arkansas, he mar- ried Miss Martha Howard, daughter of Edward H. Howard, a civil engineer and planter of Drew county. By this mar- riage there were seven children.
Colonel Thomas M. Whittington became a resident of Mon- ticello in 1858 ; engaging in the practice of law and planting. He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, August 7th, 1832, son of Colonel Nehemiah Whittington, an officer of the War of 1812. He was a student at Trinity College, Randolph county, for four years, ending in 1852, when he commenced studying law in Greensboro, in the office of R. P. Dick, where he continued for four years, and then moved to Monticello, where he arrived November 14th, 1858, and commenced practicing law. On the breaking out of the war he raised a company for Colonel Rust's Third Arkansas Regiment in the Confederate Army, and was in service in Virginia, but being disabled was compelled to return home, where he assisted in raising the Twenty-fourth Arkansas Regiment, of which he was made Lieutenant-Colonel. At the close of the war he resumed the practice of law at Monticello, and is still en-
1092
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
gaged therein. In 1878 he was State Senator for his district. He was twice married. On the 17th of March, 1861, at Monticello, he married Miss Mollie R. Cordell, who died in 1866. There were two children by this marriage, both of whom died early. In June, 1873, in Monticello, he married Miss Mattie Belser, daughter of Laurence Belser, of Sumpter District, South Carolina. She died in 1875.
ASHLEY COUNTY. -
Ashley County, the fifty-third county created, was formed November 30th, 1848, out of territory taken from Drew county, and was named in honor of Senator Chester Ashley. The temporary seat of justice was directed to be at the house of Isaac Denson, at or near a place called Fountain Hill. In October, 1849, George N. Denton, John W. P. Doyle and Thomas C. Denson, Commissioners, located the county seat at a place which they laid off into a town, and named Hamburg, which has since remained the county seat.
Ashley county is a southeastern border county, lying along the Louisiana line, bounded east by Chicot county and west by the Saline river, separating it from Bradley and Union counties. Its area is 939 square miles. The surface is generally level, one-fourth being of a strictly alluvial character and very fer- tile, one-fourth of prairie land, and the remainder of fairly productive uplands. The ordinary staples, cotton, corn and grain, are produced. Considerable activity exists in the tim- ber trade, of which fine kinds and in unlimited quantities are found, and shipped by way of the Saline, Ouachita and Bayou Bartholomew streams.
Beds of lignites or brown coal are found along the bank of the Saline and Ouachita.
There are sixty free common schools in operation in the
1093
THE FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN THE COUNTY OFFICERS.
DATE.
JUDGE.
CLERK.
SHERIFF.
TREASURER.
CORONER.
SURVEYOR.
ASSESSOR.
1848 to 1850
W. E. Willis
G. W. Worthington
W. M. Ducker
J. N. Thompson
John Hinkson.
D. D. Sims
1850 to 1852
A. J. Hays
J. B. Savage
W. M. Ducker.
J. N. Thompson ...
Abner Files, 1.
C. Allen ..
1852 to 1854
H. Bryant
J. B. Savage
W. M. Ducker.
J. N. Thompson, 2 ...
T. P. Ailes
William E. Willis ..
1854 to 1856
M. M. Fleming.
R. F. Holnies.
James Norris
Amos Waddle
A. J. Shockley.
William Hughes.
1856 to 1858
T. T. Harris
R. F. Holmes.
James Norris.
W. F. Conner ..
Benjamin Tiner ..
William Hughes ..
1858 to 1860
T. T. Harris.
A. W. Files
J. Norris.
W. F. Conner ..
C. B. Cobbert
William Hughes ...
1860 to 1862
T. T. Harris.
A. W. Files
B. Tiner
L. Denson.
H. C. White,
William Hughes ...
1862 to 1864
T. T. Harris.
A. W. Files
B. Tiner.
W. H. Scott.
J. S. Barnes.
F. Tatum
J. H. White.
1864 to 1866.
w. S. Lawson.
A. W. Files.
B. Tiner.
John Goodwin
J. F. Ramsour
W. T. Duckworth.
J. H. White.
1866 to 1868
W. S. Lawson.
J. J. Curry, 5
B. C. Gibbs, 6 ..
J. W. Everett.
W. P. Fisher
Robert Daniels
W. W. Cochran.
1868 to 1870
J. P. Wammack, 3.
J. J. Curry.
J. P. Harbinson
P. T. Harbinson
R. D. Harang ..
W. H. Allen.
1870 to 1872
W. T. Duckworth
J. J. Curry ..
J. P. Harbinson
P. T. Harbinson
R. D. Harang.
W. H. Allen.
1872 to 1874
W. J. White.
M H. Dean
W. B. Stell.
William Hughes ..
W. H. Allen.
1874 to 1876
James L. Pugh ..
E. L. Thompson.
M. H. Dean.
W. B. Stell
T. A. Hanbey ..
William Hughes.
J. W. Taylor.
1876 to 1878
W. G. Rolfe
E. L. Thompson
M. H. Dean
W. T. Evans
A. Oster
J. H. Callaway
D. F. Dunn.
1878 to 1880
W. G. Rolfe
E. L. Thompson
T. D. Norris
J. J. Jenkins
A. Oster
William Hughes ..
R. F. Tucker.
1880 to 1882
W. G. Rolfe
E. L. Thompson.
T. S. Stilwell.
J. H. White, 4.
John Hill.
William Hughes.
M. Muchian.
1882 to 1884
W. S. Lawson
E. L. Thompson
T. S. Stilwell
R. B. Sawyer
Jesse Hill
William Hughes.
M. Muchian.
1884 to 1886
W. S. Lawson
E. L. Thompson
Thomas S. Stilwell ...
R. B. Sawyer.
William Smith.
William Hughes ...
M. Muchian.
1886 to 1888
T. J. Wells.
Z. P. Stell.
J. P. Clark
J. B. Bunn
W. B. Rolfe.
William Hughes ...
B. M. Watson.
1888 to 1890
J. C. Downey .....
Z. P, Stell.
J. P. Clark.
J. B. Bunn
J. S. Hall
J. B. Jackson ..
W. F. Chiles.
1-D. D. Heslep, from March, 1851; on Files not giving bond. 2-Succeeded December 8, 1853, by Worthington. 2-Succeeded January, 1854, by J. S. Armstrong. 2-Succeeded January, 1857, by Williams. 3-Deceased and succeeded by W. J. Duckworth, August, 1868. 4-Died and Wm. Woolbridge elected December, 1881. 5-A. W. Files removed by special military order, dated October, 1867. 6-B. Tiner removed by special military order, dated October, 1867.
county, with a high school at Hamburg, and from forty to fifty churches of the Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian denominations.
The principal towns are Hamburg, Poplar Bluff, Portland and Milo.
Hamburg, the county seat, is near the center of the county, and was founded in October, 1847, being laid off at that date by the Commissioners selected to locate the county seat. Its present popula- tion is about 1,000. It contains a commodious court-house of brick, and three churches : Presbyterian,
ASHLEY COUNTY.
H. W. Wade
1094
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
Methodist and Baptist, and two churches for the colored race. A weekly newspaper, called the Hamburg News, is published there by H. R. Downey, editor and proprietor. There are two hotels in the place. The town was incorporated De- cember 14th, 1854.
Hon. John W. Van Gilder became a resident of Hamburg in 1854. He was born in Richmond, Jefferson county, Ohio, October 16th, 1825, son of Maud Katharine Van Gilder, who was Katharine Forbes; attended Franklin College, Ohio, from 1840 to 1844 ; was admitted to the Bar in Tennessee in 1854, and in the same year moved to Arkansas, locating in Ham- burg, where he has since lived. He practiced law in Hamburg from 1854 to 1885, when he retired from practice. He was State Senator in 1883 and 1885, but had no taste for office. He was Captain of Home Guards during the war, being too feeble for active duty. He was twice married : first in Shelby county, Tennessee, to Miss Louisa A. Massey ; second in Fordyce, Arkansas, in 1886, to Mrs. M. E. Rawls, daughter of Colonel John R. Hampton.
Hon. Marcus Lafayette Hawkins became a resident of Hamburg in 1855, and has resided there continuously since. He was born in Talladega, Alabama, March 29th, 1834, son of John C. and Millie Hawkins. He was admitted to the Bar in Canton, Mississippi, in November, 1855, came to Ar- kansas, December 15th, 1855, and located at Hamburg, engaging in the practice of law, where he now resides. He was a Member from Ashley county in the State Con- vention of 1861, and the Constitutional Convention of 1874, and is now Prosecuting-Attorney of the Tenth Judicial Circuit. On the breaking out of the war he entered the Second Arkan- sas Battalion of Rust's Brigade, commonly called Jones' Battalion, as a private soldier, and was made prisoner at the siege of Port Hudson. Afterwards he was Captain of Com- pany "I," of the Second Arkansas Cavalry, under Colonel W. F. Slemons, commanding a brigade in Price's Divi-
1095
CALHOUN COUNTY.
sion. On the Ist of September, 1858, at Hamburg, he was married to Miss Harriet E. Hadley, daughter of James and Hannah H. Hadley. By this marriage there are six children.
- -0- -
CALHOUN COUNTY.
Calhoun County, the fifty-fourth county created, was formed December 6th, 1850, out of territory taken from the counties of Dallas and Ouachita, and was named for John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, then recently deceased. The temporary seat of justice was directed to be at the house of James Riggs. In 1851 the county seat was located at Hamp- ton, where it has since remained.
Calhoun is a southern county, separated by Union county from the State of Louisiana. It is bounded on the east by Bayou Moro, and southwest by the Ouachita river. Its area is about 900 square miles.
In surface, the county is generally level, but with about one-fifth of its entire surface hilly. Cotton, corn, tobacco, wheat, rye and oats form the principal crops. Fruits grow well, and are extensively cultivated. The timber product of the county is large, and with all the desirable kinds of timber, in easy reach of markets by means of the Ouachita river and the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Railroad, which crosses, from northeast to southwest, the northwest corner of the county.
There are 37 public schools kept open for an average of six months in the year. There are about 30 churches in the county, of the Baptist, Methodist and Cumberland Presby- terian denominations.
The principal towns of the county are Hampton, Summer- ville, Chambersville and Thornton.
Hampton, the county seat, is near the center of the county, on the Champagnolle creek. It was located as the county seat in the autumn of 1851, and was named after Hon. John
1096
THE FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN THE COUNTY OFFICERS.
DATE.
JUDGE.
CLERK.
SHERIFF.
TREASURER.
CORONER.
SURVEYOR.
ASSESSOR.
1850 to 1852.
Jonathan Davis
J. H. Means.
Jeremiah Hollis
James Newton
J. B. Dunn ..
N. T. Avant
1852 to 1854
Jonathan Davis.
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