USA > Arkansas > Faulkner County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Pulaski, Jefferson, Lonoke, Faulkner, Grant, Saline, Perry, Garland and Hot Spring counties, Arkansas, comprising a condensed history of the statebiographies of distinguished citizens...[etc.] > Part 58
USA > Arkansas > Garland County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Pulaski, Jefferson, Lonoke, Faulkner, Grant, Saline, Perry, Garland and Hot Spring counties, Arkansas, comprising a condensed history of the statebiographies of distinguished citizens...[etc.] > Part 58
USA > Arkansas > Grant County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Pulaski, Jefferson, Lonoke, Faulkner, Grant, Saline, Perry, Garland and Hot Spring counties, Arkansas, comprising a condensed history of the statebiographies of distinguished citizens...[etc.] > Part 58
USA > Arkansas > Hot Spring County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Pulaski, Jefferson, Lonoke, Faulkner, Grant, Saline, Perry, Garland and Hot Spring counties, Arkansas, comprising a condensed history of the statebiographies of distinguished citizens...[etc.] > Part 58
USA > Arkansas > Jefferson County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Pulaski, Jefferson, Lonoke, Faulkner, Grant, Saline, Perry, Garland and Hot Spring counties, Arkansas, comprising a condensed history of the statebiographies of distinguished citizens...[etc.] > Part 58
USA > Arkansas > Lonoke County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Pulaski, Jefferson, Lonoke, Faulkner, Grant, Saline, Perry, Garland and Hot Spring counties, Arkansas, comprising a condensed history of the statebiographies of distinguished citizens...[etc.] > Part 58
USA > Arkansas > Perry County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Pulaski, Jefferson, Lonoke, Faulkner, Grant, Saline, Perry, Garland and Hot Spring counties, Arkansas, comprising a condensed history of the statebiographies of distinguished citizens...[etc.] > Part 58
USA > Arkansas > Pulaski County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Pulaski, Jefferson, Lonoke, Faulkner, Grant, Saline, Perry, Garland and Hot Spring counties, Arkansas, comprising a condensed history of the statebiographies of distinguished citizens...[etc.] > Part 58
USA > Arkansas > Saline County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Pulaski, Jefferson, Lonoke, Faulkner, Grant, Saline, Perry, Garland and Hot Spring counties, Arkansas, comprising a condensed history of the statebiographies of distinguished citizens...[etc.] > Part 58
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modern means to secure a home in a climate which is the happy medium between the extremes of heat and cold, and to develop the supplies of agricul- ture, horticulture, etc.
In 1880 the real estate of Pulaski County was assessed for taxation at $4,766, 101; the personal property at $1,826,576; making a total of $6,592,- 677, and the total taxes charged thereon for all purposes amounted to $259,353.
In 1888 the real estate of the county was assessed for taxation as follows: Value of lands and improvements, $1,556,684; value of town and city lots and improvements thereon, $5,311,448; value of railroad property, $956, 705; total value of real estate. $7,824,837; total value of personal property, $3,562,571; grand total of both real and personal property, $11,387,408, on which the amount of taxes charged for all purposes was $281,839.18. By comparison it will be observed that from 1880 to 1888, the increase in amounts and rate per cent of the taxable property of the county was as follows:
Increase in real estate. $3,058,736; rate per cent. .64+. Increase in personal property, $1,735,995; rate per cent, .95+. Total increase, $4, 794, 731; rate per cent, . 72+. It will also be observed that the amount of taxes charged did not increase in proportion to the increase of the taxable property. but only to the amount of $22,486. 18. The reader should notice, too, that the values here given are only for the purposes of taxation, and that while the taxable wealth of the county, for 1888, amounted . in the aggregate to $11,387,408, its real value was probably nearly three times that amount.
" There is nothing so successful as success, " and there is no argument so conclusive in proving the rapid growth, development, and prosperity of a county, as a plain statement of facts and figures, such as have appeared. No further proof is nec- essary to show how Pulaski County and the capital of Arkansas have recovered from the disastrous effects of the Civil War, and become one of the most prosperous and rapidly growing communities of the entire country.
Following is an extract upon the subject of taxation, taken from "Facts Concerning Arkan-
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sas," published recently by the State Bureau of Immigration:
"The utmost limit of taxation (except to pay debts outstanding in towns, cities and counties prior to October 31, 1874, nearly all of which are now paid) is two and one-half per cent, and that upon an assessment which does not exceed one- third of the true value of the property; so that if the full taxing power under the constitution of the State were put in force, the total tax on true values would only be three-quarters of one per cent.
" This taxing power is limited by the constitu- tion as follows:
" For all State purposes, one per cent.
" For all county purposes, half of one per cent.
"For all city purposes, half of one per cent.
" For all special school tax, half of one per cent.
" The latter tax can only be levied in the several school districts in which a majority of the electors vote for it at the annual school elections held in the month of May, at a time when there is no po- litical election held. At the present time the State tax is only half of one per cent, two-fifths of which is for school purposes. It will be seen that outside of cities and towns (except in case of the existence of old indebtedness before stated) the taxes amount to only one and one-half per cent. From this it will be seen that the taxes in the country districts (presuming that all the school districts vote for the special school tax, and as a rule they do) are on real values forty five one hundredths of one per cent.
"Arkansas, however, can go still further in the statement regarding taxation. This is not only the rule now, but so it must remain as long as the present constitution of the State remains in force, for it is provided in the constitution that no town, city or county can loan its credit, or issue any in- terest-bearing evidence of debt. This provision prevents the counties, towns and cities from load- ing themselves down with debt, which the immi- grant would have to contribute to pay off."
The St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Rail- way enters Pulaski County from the northeast at a point about eight miles south of the northeast corner thereof, and runs in a southwesterly direc-
tion through the county, via Jacksonville, McAl- mont, Little Rock, Mabelvale and Alexandria, the length of its line within these limits being 25.45 miles. The Little Rock, Mississippi River & Texas Railway, a branch of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern, runs from Little Rock, in a direction a little east of south, down the valley of the Arkansas, via Sweet Home and Wrightsville, its length within the county being 12.9 miles. The Little Rock & Fort Smith Railway runs from Lit- tle Rock in a north westerly direction on the north side of Arkansas River, via Warren Station, and leaves the county near the mouth of the Palarm River, its length within the county being 16.15 miles. The Memphis & Little Rock Railroad runs from Little Rock in a direction a little north of east, via Niemeyer and Galloway, and its length within the county is 12 miles. The Altheimer Branch of the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Rail- way runs from Little Rock in a southeasterly direc- tion on the north side of the Arkansas River, and its length within the county is 9.1 miles. All these railroads have connection with Little Rock, and their combined length in Pulaski County is 75.6 miles. These lines are all completed and in active operation. Others will soon be constructed, but with the roads now in use the county has a good outlet to all parts of the country.
The assessed value of the railroads here amounted, in 1888, to $956,705, or nearly one- twelfth of the entire taxable wealth of the county, and of course this property pays its proportion of all taxes.
The population of Pulaski County at the end of each census decade since its organization has been as follows: 1820, 1,921; 1830, 2,395; 1840, 5,350; 1850, 5,657; 1860, 11,699; 1870, 32,066; 1880, 32,616. Prior to the Civil War period of 1861-65, the population of the county increased but gradually, and after that period and up to 1870, it grew with rapidity, as shown by the fig- ures. In 1873 the territory of the county was very much reduced in size, portions of it being set off to Faulkner, Lonoke and Saline Counties, so that in 1880 its population was apparently only a lit- tle greater than in 1870. But notwithstanding the
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large loss of its territory with accompanying pop- ulation, the advance was so great that it still had a larger population in 1880 than in 1870. The growth since 1880, especially in Little Rock, has been so manifest, that the population of the county at this writing must be about 50, 000.
The population of the county in 1880, by mu- nicipal townships, was as follows: Ashley, 1,193; Bayon Meto, 1,161; Big Rock (including Little Rock City), 17,791; Little Rock City, 13, 138; Campbell. 1,057: Eagle, 1,300; Eastman, 2,959; Ellis, 243; Fourche, 965; Gray, 983; Maumelle, 200; Mineral, 597: Owen, 862; Pyeatt, 928; Ro- land. 599; Union, SOS: Young, 970.
Of the population of that year 17,667 were white and 14,921 colored, 12 Chinese and 16 In- dians, making the total of 32,616.
The first permanent settlement by the whites of the territory now composing Pulaski County took place about the beginning, or soon thereafter, of the present century. Temporary settlements were made prior to that time by French hunters and trappers, and still further back by the Spanish gold-hunters; but it is only within the scope of this work to speak of the permanent settlement. Edmund Hogan, who came from Georgia and set- tled at or near the site of Little Rock, is said to have ent the first stick of timber and become the first permanent settler of what is now Pulaski County.
In 1807 Maj. James Pyeatt and his brother Jacob, a Mr. Trammel, Thompson and Baldwin, with their families, composing a little colony, came from North Carolina in wagons, driving their stock, and crossing the Mississippi at Chickasaw Bluff (Memphis), and settled on the north side of the Arkansas River, in what is now Pyeatt Township. The Pyeatts settled on the river, about two and a half miles above Crystal Hill; Thomp- son settled just below the mouth of the Palarm, and Baldwin settled two or three miles farther down the river. In or before 1814 Wright Daniels located on the north side of the Arkansas, about four miles below Little Rock, and Peter Franks on the same side of the river, half a mile above Lit- tle Rock, and prior to 1818 Robert Jones settled in
the Daniels' neighborhood, and farther down the river a French family by the name of Cushot.
In the fall of 1818, Peter Lefevre, a French Canadian, with his family, consisting of his sons Peter, Enos, Francis G., Ambrose, Akin, Leon and John B., and his daughter Mary Louise, settled on the north side of the river, on Spanish Grant No. 497, about six miles below Little Rock. All of these have passed away, save the son Leon, who still re- sides on the grant, being nearly eighty-two years of age at this writing. About the same time Isaac Watkins, of Shelby County, Ky., removed his fam- ily to Little Rock on a keel boat. He also brought a slave named John Logan, a very intelligent col- ored man, who still resides in the city, and claims to have lived here seventy-two years since his master brought him. He is now eighty-two years of age. Also about 1818, or perhaps earlier, Dr. Cunning- ham, William Wait, Capt. Pitcher, three brothers by the name of Markham, a Mr. Backus and others settled in the vicinity of Little Rock-the Mark- hams north of the river; and probably prior to this date, Judge Samuel McHenry, at whose house the first county courts were held, settled above Little Rock, near the mouth of White Oak Creek; Archi- bald MeHenry on the old military road, about ten miles southwest from Little Rock; a French family by the name of Imbeau about six miles out, and William Collins four miles out on the same road, and W. A. Smith on the western road, a few miles west of Little Rock. A pioneer family by the name of Lockhart settled on Saline River. Other very early settlers were Richard Fletcher, who settled on the Arkansas, at the mouth of Fourche Creek; John Douglass, on the Upper Fourche, and another John Douglass, on the north side of the Arkansas, about three miles below Little Rock.
Upon the organization of Pulaski County, in 1819, Edmund Hogan, Samuel Gates, James C. Newell, Ephraim C. Davidson and Curtis Wil- bourn, were made the first justices of the peace for the county. They too were pioneer settlers. James Miller, the first Governor of Arkansas Ter- ritory, settled on the north side of the Arkansas River. in the Pyeatt Settlement, about twelve miles above Little Rock. Other very prominent
23
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early settlers of Little Rock and vicinity were Col. A. S. Walker, Judge George C. Watkins, William E. Woodruff, founder of the Arkansas Gazette: Robert Crittenden, the first secretary of Arkansas Territory; Chester Ashley, a lawyer from Massachusetts; Hon. Robert C. Oden, Judge An- drew Scott and his brother, George W. Scott, the latter settling on the north side of the river, and afterward serving as United States marshal, under President Adams.
The Conway brothers, Henry W., James S. William and Elias N., represented one of the most noted pioneer families of Arkansas, and all event- ually settled at Little Rock. Henry W. and James L. took contracts from the general Govern- ment to survey large tracts of land in Arkansas Territory, and faithfully executed them. The former was appointed the first receiver of the land office at Little Rock, and the latter was the first United States surveyor for the District of Arkan- sas, and was also the first Governor of the State. Elias N. Conway came to Little Rock November 11, 1833, and subsequently served as auditor of State, and also as Governor thereof. William Con- way settled in Little Rock about the year 1837. The father of these brothers was a Virginian, who moved thence to East Tennessee, and thence to Missouri, where he died. Elias N. Conway is the youngest of seven brothers, and is the only surviv- or of the number. He still resides in Little Rock, is very advanced in age, and lives a retired and se- cluded bachelor life. John Pope, the third Gov- ernor of Arkansas Territory, settled in Little Rock early in 1829. His nephew. William Fountain Pope, a talented young man, accompanied him and was afterward, on February 5, 1838, killed in a duel with C. F. M. Noland. The duel was fought on what was then neutral ground between Arkansas and Texas. William F. Pope, a second cousin of Gov. Pope, came from Shepardsville, Ky., and landed in Little Rock October 17, 1832. He be- came Gov. Pope's private secretary, and at this writing is still living in the city at a very advanced age, feeble in health but vigorous in intellect.
father in law, Judge Benjamin Johnson, a brother of Col. " Dick" Johnson, of war fame; also Peter T. Crutchfield, Elijah A. Moore and William S. Fulton, the latter becoming the second secretary of Arkansas Territory and its last Governor.
In further mention of the pioneer settlers of Pulaski County, or of the territory composing it, the following list of names of individuals who made the first land entries at the United States land office at Little Rock, in each of the congressional townships now embracing the county, are here given, omitting the names already declared, and taking care, so far as possible, to notice only those who became actual settlers:
Township 1 north, Range 10 west: In 1822, Thomas W. Newton and Isaac Baldwin; in 1824, Smith Kellum; in 1825, John H. Cocke; in 1834, Conway Scott, William McKee and William Scott, Sr .; in 1835, Micajah Toner and W. R. W. Hill; in 1836, Lewis Randolph and Malcolm B. Gil- christ; in 1838, Jacob P. Luck and H. E. D. Simon.
Township 2 north, Range 10 west: In 1836, Isaac Johnson; in 1837, Thomas C. Brown.
Township 3 north, Range 10 west: In 1830, John H. Reed; in 1831, Moses H. Blue and Samp- son Grey.
Township 1 north, Range 11 west: In 1822, William D. Simons and John H. Martin; in 1826, Athenapee Raime; in 1834, Eli Fletcher, Charles Caldwell and Jacob Jones; in 1836, James Flet- cher, Hardy Jones, Thomas Thorn, Laborn Hill, Bazel Hutchins, Noah H. Badgett and E. W. B. Noland. That part of this township lying north- east of the Arkansas River was first offered for sale November 4, 1822, and that part lying southwest of the river, May 9, 1836.
Township 2 north, Range 11 west: In 1834, Josiah Gould; in 1835, Jacob Thorn; in 1836, Felix G. Leesest. Henry Robinson, Ephraim Beas. ley, C. F. M. Robinson, Michael O. Hogan, Jesse Hill, Thomas W. Grey, Joseph Henderson, Smith Kellum, David Ragster, Henry G. Douglass and George M. Dodd.
Township 3 north, Range 11 west: In 1833,
Other prominent early settlers of Little Rock were Ambrose H. Sevier, from Tennessee, and his | Berry Kellogg; in 1837, John McKenzie; in 1838,
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PULASKI COUNTY.
Hamilton Reynolds and Matthew Wood; in 1839, Patrick Finton.
Township 1 north, Range 12 west: In 1822. William Fields: in 1824. James H. Martin; in 1825, Gilbert Barden and Silas T. Goneray; in 1827, Bernard Smith. This township contains the city of Little Rock, and the lands of the town- ship were mostly entered during the decade of the 30's.
Township 2 north, Range 12 west (directly north of Little Rock): In 1822, Judge Samuel MeHenry and James H. Martin ;* in 1825, Berry Shattuck and W. A. Smith; in 1836, William W. Stevenson, John P. Phillips and James A. Fears; in 1835, John C. Heilman; in 1837, Joseph Menell and William W. Cogbill; in 1838, William Peach. The lands in this township lying north of the river were first offered for sale November 4, 1822, and those lying south of the river, January 10, 1825.
Township 3 north, Range 12 west: In 1838, Josiah M. Giles, John Giles, Benjamin Kellogg and John Plant, Jr.
Township 1 north, Range 13 west: In 1825, Archibald Mettenry; in 1826, V. Gray; in 1833, Jacob Hoover and Nathaniel Lewis; in 1836, E. H. Lightfoot, James M. Liggin, James Moseley, Jared C. Martin and James M. White. The lands in this township were first offered for sale Janu- ary 10, 1825.
Township 2 north, Range 13 west: In 1822, Gov. James Miller, James Pyeatt and James Walker. That part of this township lying north of the river was first offered for sale November 4, 1822, and that portion south of the river, January 10, 1825.
Township 3 north, Range 13 west: In 1822, Jacob Pyeatt and Samuel Carnahan; in 1836, William G. Taffold and Henry Winfry; in 1838, Emzy Wilson, Samuel Johnson, John L. Spencer and Anthony Crease. The lands in this township were first offered for sale November 4, 1822.
Township 1 north, Range 14 west: The first entries in this township were made, in 1833, by the Rectors.
* Previously mentioned.
Township 2 north, Range 14 west: In 1825. Thomas Mapingill; in 1833, Henry Mapingill and John Davis; in 1867, Squire Mapingill, George Lincoln, Robert A. Watkins and Jesse Brown.
Township 3 north, Range 14 west: In 1822, Lavina Colville; in 1825, Samuel D. Blackburn and James Blackburn; in 1836, Daniel E. Wilson and Rudolph W. Roland.
Township 1 south, Range 10 west: In 1830, Benjamin Polk; in 1835, Isaac Baldwin and Lewis C. Taylor; in 1836, E. Tatum, Reuben King, William Mills, James M. Mills and Malcom Gil- christ.
Township 2 south, Range 10 west: In 1830, Thomas Boutwright; in 1836, Allen McLain; in 1837. Archibald Gilchrist.
Township 1 south, Range 11 west: In 1830, Berry Clements and Leland J. Bradley; in 1836, Sally Young, Willis Gaskins, Daniel Thompson, James Mills, John L. King and James Deamond; in 1838, Alexander W. Collins; in 1839, Peter R. Collins.
Township 1 south, Range 12 west: In 1836, John Fenley; in 1838, John Shanberger.
Township 1 south, Range 13 west; In 1824, James S. Carney; in 1825, Benjamin T. Carnahan and Thomas Blair; in 1830, Charles Lewis; in 1836, Albert Ecmonskon.
Township 2 north, Range 15 west: In 1836, Levi Mapingill and Abner Battle.
Township 3 north, Range 15 west: In 1836, William Blank, and Anne and William D. Runkin; . in 1837, Franklin Strong; in 1839, Alexander and Nat. M. Kirkpatrick.
Township 3 north, Range 16 west: In 1825, R. B. Stephens; in 1837, William Rainey, John Frazier and Joseph Hough.
In several of these congressional townships many tracts of land were entered with military land warrants, but all individuals here mentioned made regular entries at $1.25 per acre. The names of a few individuals may be included who never became actual settlers, but nearly, if not quite all, were hardy pioneers, who came here in search of homes, and who endured the hardships of frontier life, and opened up the way to pros-
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perity for their children and the generations that . should follow. These early settlers were mostly from Virginia, the Carolinas, Kentucky and Ten- nessee. A few came from Northern and others from Southern States. A few were survivors of the Revolutionary War, and a more considerable number of the War of 1812-15. The earliest of the pioneers, including many whose names it was impossible to obtain, came in before the latter war.
It is said, upon the authority of tradition, that after the battle of New Orleans had been fought, and peace with Great Britain had been declared, a "log rolling" took place in the Pyeatt settle- ment, upon which occasion some individuals who had received the news began to converse about the great battle and the close of the war, when others made full inquiry about the matter, having never even heard that there had been a war. It is not necessary here to vouch for the truth of this tradi- tion, but it is certain that in those days, before mail routes were established, months elapsed be- fore the pioneers on the Western frontiers received any news from the Atlantic coast.
The pioneers' cabin, an oft-mentioned habita- tion, was always made of logs, sometimes hewed flat on two sides, and sometimes not hewed at all. If the former, the logs were put up with the flat sur- faces on the inside and outside of the building. The cracks were filled with "chinking," and this was daubed over with mud. The form of the cabin was always an oblong square, with a huge fire-place at one end. The fire-place was set back in a crib com- posed of split logs with the round sides outward, and the face of the crib even with the inner wall. This crib was heavily lined with stone and mortar, built upon a hearth made of flat stones. On the top of the stone and mortar lining was made a stick and mud chimney, the latter always being entirely on the outside of the building, and extend- ing a little above the comb of the roof. The cabin was only one story in height, and was covered with clapboards resting on poles running the long way of the building, and weighted down with other poles. One or two small openings were cut out for windows, in which greased paper, when it could be had, was often substituted for glass. The
floor was made of puncheons, prepared wholly with an ax, and laid down on "sleepers." The door was made of light puncheons or heavy clapboards, fastened together with pins and hung on wooden hinges. This is a fair description of the completed "pioneer's cabin." All the tools required in build- ing it were the ax, broad-ax for hewing the logs, a frow with which to split the clapboards, and an auger. Many such cabins were built without the use of a nail, and without the sound of a hammer.
Pulaski County was organized in accordance with an act of the legislature of Missouri Territory entitled " An Act providing for dividing the south- west part of the county of Arkansas into three separate counties," approved December 15, 1818.
The first section of the act reads as follows:
SECTION 1. All that part of the county of Ar- kansas, bounded as follows: "Beginning at the mouth of Little Red River, and running from thence a direct line to the Arkansas River, where the Plumb Bayou intersects the said river; thence up said river to the northwest corner of the Qua- paw Claim; thence with said claim south to Michael Boon's road; thence with said road to the south fork of the Saline Creek; thence up said creek to its head; thence due west to the Indian boundary line; thence with said line or lines to the southeast corner of the Cherokee Claim, at a place called Bodwell's Camp; then with said Cherokee Claim to the Little Red River; thence down said river to the beginning, is hereby laid off and erected into a sep- arate county, which shall be called and known by the name of the county of Pulaski."
The second section of the act defined and set off another portion of Arkansas County to be erected into a separate county by the name of Clark, and Section 3 defined and set off a third portion to be erected into a separate county by the name of Hempstead. Section 4 provided that the courts of Pulaski County should be held at the house of Samuel McHenry. Section 5 provided that from and after the 1st day of June, 1819, these new counties should "be vested with all the powers, privileges and immunities of separate and distinct counties."
The act also provided that the court for Pulaski
PULASKI COUNTY.
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County should be composed of three judges, to be appointed by the Governor of the Territory, and that the sessions of the court should be held on the fourth Mondays of May and October of each year, and that the judges should receive $3 per day for their services.
The original boundary of Pulaski County, as given in the act creating it, is very indefinite, especially that part following " Michael Boon's road," but it is sufficient to show that in addition to the county as it is now bounded it embraced portions of what are now White, Prairie, Lonoke, Jefferson; probably Grant, Saline, Garland, Perry, Conway, Van Buren, Cleburne and Faulkner, and other counties lying west of these to the Indian Territory. In the formation of these counties, from time to time, Pulaski has been ent down and changed to its present dimensions, embracing, as it does, the west half of Range 10, in Townships 2, 3 and 4 north; the western part of Range 10, in Township 1 north; the northwestern part and south half of Range 10, in Township 1 south; nearly all of Range 10, in Township 2 south; the whole of Range 11, in Township 1 south, and Townships 1, 2, 3 and 4 north; the whole of Range 12, in Townships 1 south, and 1, 2 and 3 north; the north two-thirds of Township 1 south, Range 13 west; the whole of Range 13, in Townships 1, 2 and 3 north, excepting the small portion lying northwest of Palarm River; the whole of Range 14, in Townships 1, 2, 3 and 4 north, excepting what lies north of the Arkansas River; the whole of Range 15, in Townships 2 and 3 north, and the south two-thirds of Township 3 north, Range 16 west.
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