USA > Arkansas > Biographical and historical memoirs of eastern Arkansas, comprising a condensed history of the state, a number of biographies of distinguished citizens of the same, a brief descriptive history of each of the counties named herein, and numerous biographical sketches of the prominent citizens of such counties. > Part 52
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prehensive, thoroughly posted in his profession, and a practitioner of decided merit. He has been president of the Woodruff County Medical Society and delegate of the National American Medical Convention from Arkansas. He is a member of the board of examining physicians of the county, and a prominent citizen. He was married April 24, 1866, to Miss Clara T. McCurdy, a native of St. Francis County, Ark., where she was reared. Four children were the result of this union: Nellie, Harry M., Kitty and Roscoe. Dr. Woods is an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Honor. Mrs. Woods is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Her father, Samuel M. McCurdy, was a very brilliant and prominent attorney in his day, and occupied positions of influence.
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CROSS COUNTY.
CHAPTER XV !!
CROSS COUNTY-ACT OF FORMATION-EARLY AND SUBSEQUENT SETTLEMENTS-NAMES OF PIONEERS- ORIGIN OF COUNTY NAME-SEATS OF JUSTICE-JUDICIAL TRANSACTIONS-BUILDINGS FOR PUBLIC USE-SITUATION, BOUNDARY AND AREA-SURFACE DESCRIPTION-MUNICIPALITIES-COURT
AFFAIRS AND BENCH AND BAR-NOTED CASES-ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY-SCHOOLS -LIST OF OFFICIALS-SECRET SOCIETIES-POLITICAL STATUS-RAIL- ROADS-GENERAL DEVELOPMENT-FAMILY RECORD.
When the summer harvest was gather'd in, And the sheaf of the gleaner grew white and thin, And the ploughshare was in its furrow left, Where the stubble land had been lately cleft .- Longfellow.
ROSS County, Ark., traces its beginning to an act of the General Assembly passed in November, 1862, entitled, "An act to establish the county of Cross."
Section 2 of that act reads as follows: "All that portion of the counties of Poinsett, St. Francis and Crittenden embraced within the following boundaries, viz .: Beginning at the northwest corner of Township 9 north, of Range 1 east; thence east to the northeast corner of Township 9 north, of Range 6 east; thence south to the southeast corner of Township 9 north, of Range 6 east; thence south to the south- east corner of Section 7, in Township 6 north, of Range 1 east; and thence north to the beginning, shall be and the same is hereby created and estab- lished a separate county, called the county of Cross. The temporary seat of justice of said county of Cross, and until the same may be permanently located, shall be at Wittsburg in said county."
Thus was formed Cross County; and its history, though extending over but comparatively a few years, has been one of substantial growth and ma- terial advancement and progress.
The settlement of any locality is always of interest. What is now Cross County, then forming a part of Poinsett, Woodruff and Crittenden, was early settled by an exceptionally sterling class of citizens; in most cases men of means, who came to this section because here was offered an oppor- tunity to secure sufficiently large tracts of fertile land, which promised to make a happy home, and independent fortune for the owners.
Among the earliest of known pioneers were the McCallisters, who settled near the present village of Vanndale; the Searcys, Tyers, Greenwoods, Hydricks, Neeleys, Halks and Stacys; all living here prior to 1840.
Since then the Hares, McClarans, Hintons, Crumps, Cross, Perrys, Shavers and Hamiltons, Warrens, Lewellens, Levesques, Jones, Magetts, Vanns, Barnes, Blocks, Deadarick, McFarrans, Applewhites, and the Rev. W. C. Malone have become permanent residents. Later others came
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
to this section mostly between 1850 and 1860, and the numerous descendants of most of them are living in this county at the present day.
Samuel Filligan was unquestionably the earliest white settler in the present territory of Cross. He located on the waters of Cooper's Creek, about two miles northwest from Wittsburg and now five miles east of Wynne, on the Memphis branch of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad, as early as 1798. There he was living when N. Rightor located the following Spanish grants for William Russell in the year 1813: No. 494, 495, 498, 2379, 2382, 2383, 2374, 2375 and 2387. After Mr. Russell had completed his surveys, Mr. Filli- gan purchased eighty-four acres from the south- west part of Spanish grant No. 498, to complete his farm; this deed bears date July 25, 1820.
All these Spanish grants have been cleared and improved, and now comprise some of the finest farms in Cross County. Upon the authority of William M. Block, real-estate agent and abstractor of Cross County, it is learned that William Russell was choosing valuable lands to locate as early as 1808. All the property that he selected proved to be very valuable, and on one grant, 2379, Witts- burg was afterward built.
In 1851 Thomas P. Hare, then some twenty- four years of age, settled at about the center of Cross County, half a mile south of where Vanndale stands. This was wild and dense timber, and he cleared the land on which is a part of the village of Vanndale. His wife, who was a Miss Turbeville, and two children, accompanied him to this new home. On the day that they took possession a wild turkey sat in a tree immediately at hand, and watched, as if with apparent interest, the proceed- ings of these strange comers. Mr. Hare lived here thirty two years, cleared over 200 acres of land, and died full of years and honors, in February, 1883.
Col. David C. Cross was for a long time a lead- ing citizen of Cross County, having come from Western Tennessee to this locality about 1850. He bought a large tract of land in Cross' present limits, became a large land speculator, and at the outbreak of the civil strife owned some 85,000 acres
in Poinsett and what is now Cross County. When the mutterings of war were heard he was elected colonel of the Fifth Arkansas Regiment, but saw very little actual service, and on account of ill health soon returned to Cross County. In 1862 when the county of Cross was organized, it was given the name of Cross in his honor. The first seat of justice was located at a point on his land, he donating some fifty-three acres for a town site. This place was named Cleburne. Mr. Cross was a generous-spirited, influential gentleman of the old school, possessing exalted ideas, and is remem- bered by the citizens of the county which bears his name with pride.
Rev. R. G. Brittain, was born in Buncombe County, N. C., in 1826, and was reared to farm labor, till the age of eighteen years. During this time he attended the common schools and later at Washington College, near Jonesboro, Tenn., which school he left at the age of twenty-one years, and volunteered in the Mexican War. Serving for one year, he was in a battle fought near Saltillo, in 1846, and at the close of the war, returned and settled in Arkansas. He at once entered the min- istry, and has been preaching in this State ever since, at the present time being in charge of the Harrisburg and Vanndale station. He was mar- ried in 1849, to Miss Sarah A. Bland, who died in 1863, leaving two children: James Henry and Mary Elizabeth. Mr. Brittain was married the second time in 1867, to Miss Mary K. Kellum, of Searcy, White County. To this union was born one child, John Thomas.
The county court, soon after the organization, ordered an election, to appoint commissioners to select a suitable location for the permanent seat of justice of the county. The election was held in the winter of 1862, and resulted in the choice of John Applewhite, William H. Barnes and John McElroy. The Civil War then raging so demoral- ized affairs generally in this region, that these commissioners made no report till July, 1865. Their accepted report, as spread upon the minutes of the county court record of July, 1865, is as fol- lows:
" The commissioners, etc., have proceeded to
0
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CROSS COUNTY.
select a suitable site for the said county seat, and have located the same immediately in the center of said county of Cross, on a portion of the northeast quarter of Section 34, and a portion of the north- west quarter of Section 35, in Township 8 north, Range 3 east, of the fifth principal meridian; said lands being donated to this county, by one David C. Cross, as is hereinafter described, and it further appearing that said commissioners have proceeded to lay off the site so selected by them, into the form of a town, the same being divided into blocks, lots, streets and alleys; which town said commissioners have designated by the name of the town of Cleburne. And it further appear- ing to the court, that there is contained within, in the limits of said town, about fifty-two acres of land, and that the center block in said town, in- cluding the improvements thereon, and containing about one and three-fifths acres of land has been donated to the county by said Cross, as a public square, whereon may be erected a court house, and that the buildings now situated on the same are very suitable to be used as a court house and clerk's office for the time being, and it further ap- pearing that said Cross has also donated to the county, in addition thereto, one-half of the re- maining lots and blocks in said town, to be used and appropriated by the court in assisting to raise funds for the erection of permanent public build- ings, etc."
Cleburne soon became the seat of justice of Cross County, but the fond dream of building a town here was never realized. No public build- ings were erected; the county clerk had his office at the residence of Col. Cross, and the various courts held their sessions in a tenant house upon the farm. It is literally a deserted village now, a few huts occupied by negroes, being all that is left to mark the place, where once Cross County transacted its judicial business and administered its laws.
At the May term of the county court in 1868, a petition signed by a majority of the taxable in- habitants of the county, praying the removal of the seat of justice of the county of Cross, and asking the court to order an election for the pur-
pose of electing three commissioners to decide a suitable site for the same, was presented and ap- proved. The election which was ordered and held on Saturday, June 6, 1868, resulted in choosing J. M. Levesque, Louin Chappell and J. M. Lan- dron as a committee to locate a site for the county seat. The report of this committee is spread upon the minutes of the August term, 1868, of the county court, and is substantially as follows: " That the seat of justice, of the county of Cross, be at the town of Wittsburg, and that the deed of donation by Caroline M. Austell to said commis- sioners of Lots No. 201, 202, 205, 206, 299, 300, 301 and 302, in said town of Wittsburg, as a site for the court house of said county is accepted by the court, and ordered to be filed for record, and it is further ordered, that the contract and agree- ment of certain citizens of said town of Wittsburg, donating to the county the use and enjoyment of the new church and school-house, now in course of erection in Wittsburg as a court house, during the sittings of the terms of the various courts, until such time, as the county may erect a court house proper, be also accepted by this court, and filed and recorded; and said building is declared to be the court house of this county, and shall be the lawful place for the holding of said courts, until further ordered by this court."
It will be seen that the citizens of Wittsburg contributed for the county's use a church and school-house. These structures served their pur- pose as public buildings during the entire time that Wittsburg was the seat of justice, as no court house was ever erected there.
On the completion of the Helena branch of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad through Cross County, Wittsburg began rapidly to decline as a place of importance, and it was soon thought advisable to again change the location of the county seat. Accordingly, at an election held in September, 1884, Vanndale was chosen by the people as the proper judicial center, and after be- ing contested by Wynne, was formally declared to be the county seat in April, 1886.
During the twenty-seven years that has inter- vened since the formation of Cross County there
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
has always been decided opposition to the various places in which the seat of justice has been located; consequently, the people have not been disposed to invest very extensively in permanent improvements. For this reason no court house was erected either at Cleburne or Wittsburg; but when the county seat was finally located at Vanndale, in 1884, it was done so under such flattering conditions that the people at once concluded that its infancy was over. Actions for the erection of a court house affording ample accommodation for the present, with a view also to the rapidly accumulating demands, were at once begun. County Judge S. S. Hare, in 1887, appointed Thomas B. Smith as building commis- sioner, who soon employed B. J. Bartlett as archi- tect, and from his plans and designs an advertise- ment was published soliciting sealed proposals for the building's completion.
The lowest bid received was from Slagh & Powers, well-known contractors of Little Rock, to turn the completed building over to Cross County for $13,700. Upon proper bond being given, this bid was accepted, and in September, 1887, work was commenced. On the early date of May 24, 1888, the building was completed, and accepted by the commissioner, and Cross County at last had a court house in which it may justly take no little pride.
Occupying a large open space in the center of the town, its beautiful proportions and symmetrical lines at once attract the observer. It is a two- story structure, with high basement, and a com- manding tower built of brick, with stone trim- mings, and in size is 50x58 feet. The lower floor is devoted to offices for the various county officials; these rooms are large and commodious, and fitted and furnished with all necessary appointments. On this floor also is a fire-proof vault, for the re- ception of the county books and records. The upper story is wholly appropriated to court uses, the large court room being conveniently and tastily furnished and trimmed, with everything that its purpose may require. Indeed, a personal exami- nation shows nothing wanting in any essential de- tail throughout the building.
Few counties in Arkansas can boast of a better
or more convenient court house; none of one more economically and honestly constructed.
The county will always be under great obliga- tion to Judge Hare for frugality, and to Commis- sioner Smith for business perception and close attention to details, while the architect's work stands as a lasting memento to his profession, and the completed edifice a credit to the builder's skill.
The county also owns a jail, situated at Witts- burg. It was erected several years ago, but is now in bad repair. To the credit of Cross County, however, be it said that but little use is mani- fested for this building, and it stands almost a wreck of other times-lonely, tenantless and for- saken.
Cross County is located in the eastern part of the State, and is bounded on the north by Poin- sett, east by Crittenden, south by St. Francis and west by Woodruff and Jackson Counties. It con- tains an area of 600 square miles, or 384, 000 acres, of which about one-thirtieth is in a state of culti- vation. The St. Francis River runs from north to south through the eastern part, and is navigable about nine months in the year. The L'Anguille River runs through the western part of the county.
The surface of the county in the eastern part, owing to its low and flat condition, is subject to overflow from the St. Francis River. Through the middle portion runs, from north to south, a ridge of the Ozark chain of mountains, known as Crowley's Ridge, which begins at Cape Girardeau, in Missouri, and ends abruptly at the Mississippi River, at Helena. This is the great water-shed of the county, the country east draining in the St. Francis and west in the L'Anguille. West of this ridge are some excellent table lands, rolling enough for drainage, and watered by many springs of never-failing water, which break forth along the ridge; this land is better adapted to grasses and grains than to the growth of cotton. On the east side the soil is a sandy loam, rich and fertile, and adapted to the cultivation of any crop.
Along the summit of the ridge the lands are somewhat thin, though good farms are found, in a high state of cultivation.
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CROSS COUNTY.
Cross County has its usual complement of towns and villages.
Cherry Valley is a thriving village, situated in about the center of Mitchell Township, and twelve miles north of Wynne, on the Knobel branch of the Iron Mountain Railroad.
Mr. G. W. Stacy, who lived about a mile from the present village, had for some time held a com- mission as postmaster, and kept the office in his residence on his farm. This office derived its name from a large grove of wild cherry trees, on Coop- er's Creek, in the vicinity.
On the completion of the railroad, in 1882, Mr. Stacy erected a hotel at the railroad, and on the completion of this (which was the first build- ing in the place), removed the postoffice there also; the name of Cherry Valley was retained, and from that time the village grew rapidly, being now (1889) the third largest place in Cross County.
Its business interests consist of two general stores, conducted by Mitchell & Stacy and Clam- pitt Bros. ; one drug store, by Dr. C. P. Jones; two saw-mills, A. Jordan and R. H. Wade & Son, proprietors; one stave factory, by the Cherry Val- ley Stave and Heading Company; carpenters, Smith Bros. and W. M. Taylor; blacksmith, George Hydrich; cotton-gin, M. W. Riley; lawyer, J. H. Gunning, and justice, A. H. Brown. Cherry Val- ley Hotel is conducted by G. W. Stacy; two churches are found, Methodist and Baptist; one school; the physicians are C. P. Jones and J. G. Wright. The population of Cherry Valley is about 200; S. L. Clampitt, postmaster. The most im- portant enterprises in this vicinity at the present time; are its valuable timber resources; as the tim- ber is being cut away the land is rapidly being re- duced to a state of cultivation and the soil of this en- tire township is generally conceded to be the best in the county. The health of this immediate region is excellent; Dr. Jones reports but two deaths in his entire practice during the past year. The terri- tory adjacent to Cherry Valley and throughout Mitchell Township offers flattering inducements to settlers; good land can be secured at reasonable prices, and a cordial welcome awaits all industrious and enterprising immigrants.
Vanndale, the county seat of Cross County, is a flourishing little city, six miles north of the cross- ing of the Bald Knob and Knobel branches of the Iron Mountain Railroad, in Searcy Township, situ- ated very near the center of the county, at the western base of Crowley's Ridge; it has a popu- lation of about 300.
A long time ago a postoffice was established on a farm southeast of the present town site, where J. M. Vann was postmaster for many years; the office was called Vanndale in his honor, and on the completion of the Knobel branch of the Iron Mountain Railroad through Cross County, he moved his store and the postoffice to a point on the rail- road, and that location continued, or retained, the old name of Vanndale.
Here soon sprang up a very busy little town. J. P. May erected the first residence in 1882, and later started a store. This place soon attracted the merchants from Wittsburg, who from time to time moved to the new town, and Wittsburg soon became a village of small proportions. In 1884, as stated, the seat of justice was located here, and its subsequent growth has been steady and rapid. In addition to its commanding court house erected in 1887-88, at an expense of $13,700, it has a commodious school, costing $1,000, a Methodist Episcopal Church with parsonage, two hotels and a stave factory.
The following firms and business men compose the commercial interests of the town: General stores, R. Block, Killough & Erwin, Applewhite & Co., J. M. Vann and W. R. Foote; grocery stores, J. T. Rolfe and F. M. McClaran; drug stores, May & Malone and T. D. Hare; stave factories, Applewhite & Co .; saw-mills and cotton-gin, J. T. Lewellen; blacksmiths, W. J. Woolf and 'Squire Oliver; livery stables, G. W. Griffin, car- penters, William Davis, D. E. Whitney and D. J. Randal; hotels, Vanndale Hotel, T. Rolfe, propri- etor, and Johnson House, J. W. Killough, propri- etor; physicians, Drs. J. D. McKie, J. B. Scarbor- ough, T. D. Hare and J. L. Hare; real-estate agent, William Block; lawyers, T. E. Hare and O. N. Killbrough.
The people of Vanndale are enterprising, clever
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and hospitable, ready to extend a sincere welcome to strangers and to encourage new enterprises that promise to reflect credit on the community. Among the business men of the town are to be found sev- eral of the most substantial and solid firms in Eastern Arkansas.
The timber and agricultural resources surround- ing the place are rich and varied, and, in fact, Vann- dale is an admirable point for people seeking new homes. One can not do better than to investigate the inducements its surroundings offer as a place of settlement.
The city of Wynne is located near the center of Cross County, at the junction of the Helena and Memphis branches of the Iron Mountain Railway. Where this thriving city now stands was a wil- derness six years ago. The first house was built in 1883. In June of the same year B. B. Mer- ryman started the first store, and soon after Mr. Austell received the commission as first postmaster of the place. The town has a beautiful situation on an elevated plateau at the western base of Crowley's Ridge. The surrounding plain receives ample drainage from the L'Anguille River, the land gradually declining to the valley of that stream. An examination of its situation gives abundant evidence that it is, as reported, one of the healthiest locations in Eastern Arkansas.
Its citizens are people of activity and enter- prise, who have in the short space of six years, cleared the timber from the land and built their town. Its streets are lined with many neat and tasty residences, some of which would be a credit to a much older and larger town.
There are three church organizations here, Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist, with one good church edifice; a public school, with an at- tendance of about 150 pupils.
The business interests are represented by the following firms: General stores, Smith, Graham & Jones, Johnson & Hamilton, Daltroff, Sparks & Oliver, Goodman & Potlitzer, and Martin & Neeley; groceries, John Cobb, Landers & Mitch- ell, W. L. Lancaster, William Ivy, W. J. Pardew, H. Davis, B. F. Stanley and Poe Bros .; drug stores, T. A. Bedford and J. W. Hazelwood & Co .;
jeweler, Harry Vaughn; hotels, E. J. Commercial Traveler, J. Badinelli, proprietor, Wynne Hotel, B. F. Stanley, proprietor; livery stables, James Lyon and Martin & Kirby; physicians, William D. Allen, C. H. Montgomery and Paul Gargaro; black- smiths, Lipscomb & Snowden; lawyer, J. R. Rob- ertson; gents' furnishing goods, R. G. Oliver; saloons, Robert Orr and Brusch & Hamilton; bar- bers, C. Stewart and Dillard & Johnson; meat markets, John Greene & Co. and J. H. Chappelle.
The city of Wynne was incorporated by an act of the county court May 28, 1888. An election held July 10 of the same year resulted in the election of the following city officers: Thomas L. Thompson, mayor; Charles M. Mebane, recorder; Shields Daltroff, Robert M. Smith, C. M. Harris, W. M. Johnson, S. A. Martin, aldermen.
At that time it had a population of 400. It now has about 1,000 inhabitants, and is rapidly growing. In commercial importance it ranks among the first of Eastern Arkansas towns, and numbers among its merchants some of the soundest firms in the State. It is surrounded by a more than ordinary rich farming country which, how- ever, is not yet very extensively cleared, and rich timber land within a mile or so of town await the advent of the husbandman.
A disastrous fire on the night of September 2, 1887, destroyed over two-thirds of the business portion of the town, entailing a loss of upward of $200,000. Since then the burned district has been rebuilt with a better class of buildings, so that what appeared to be a calamity at the time is now looked upon as a real blessing.
Wittsburg is not a town of the present, but of the past. Situated at the head of navigation of the St. Francis River, it was at one time the distribut- ing and shipping point for nearly all Northeastern Arkansas. With this immense tributary country, its volume of trade was for many years simply marvelous, shipping, it is said, 30,000 bales of cotton annually, with several business firms doing a business of from $100,000 to $300,000 per year.
The completion of the railroad through the eastern part of the State gave markets and ship- ping points to the country that supported Witts-
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