USA > Arkansas > Johnson County > Johnson County, Arkansas, the first hundred years > Part 13
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Fowler, Dennison, H. L.
Walker, Elmer Hill, Wm. C.
Ingram, Hugh Harger, James M. Byrd, Chas. N.
Blackburn, Girvis
Evans, Hobart Dobbs, Jerry Hardgraves, Ben
Skidgel, Herman
Golden, Sherman Garrett, Taylor C.
Martin, C. E. Jefferson, Ed Stokes, Geo. L. Spence, John L. Owens, Homer E. Byrd, Bright Burk, Geo. E. West, Arch Tipton, Chas. H.
Dunlap, Ira H.
Burns, Jeff R.
Hill, Edgar A.
McLane, Seth Hairston, Thos. I.
Woodward, John W.
Cochran, Rufus H.
Butler, Harrison H.
Caldwell, Glynn D.
Gaugh, Joe J. Hyden ,Wm. T. Newton, Albert
Rinke, Jos. A.
Lancaster, Marl
Hale, Will
Oneal, Pilot
Lewis, Newton
Sisk, Marion
Travern, Joe
Croom, Herbert
Adair, Wm. H.
McSwain, Carper J.
Faust, John H. Hill, Linnie
138
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
COUNTY OFFICERS
JUDGE-1833, George Jamison; 1835, J. P. Keesie; 1836, J. L. Cravens; 1838, J. B. Brown; 1846, Samuel Adams; 1848, M. Rose; 1850, J. B. Brown; 1852, C. B. Perry; 1854, H. A. Powers; 1856, C. B. Perry; 1858, A. D. King; 1860, W. T. Hyten; 1866, A. M. Ward; 1868,Elisha Mears; 1872-74, _; 1874, J. G. Connelley; 1878 W. G. Taylor; 1880, J. B. Porter; 1882, J. B. Connelley; 1884, J. B. Porter; 1888, J. B. Porter; 1890, J. H. Basham; 1898, P. R. Jett; 1904, J. J. Montgomery; 1910, P. R. Jett; 1914, J. J. Montgomery; 1016, C. H. Baskin; 1920, J. J. Montgomery.
COUNTY CLERK-1833, Thomas Janette; 1835. Wm. Fritz; 1836, A. M. Ward; 1854, J. G. Connelley; 1856, A. W. Ward; 1860, J. G. Connelley; 1866, J. B. Mc- Connell; 1868, R. F. Naylor; 1872, Ed Green; 1874, J. M. Thompson; 1882, Q. B. Poynor; 1890, Henry L. Bunch; 1894, M. A. Moore; 1900, W. H. McPherson; 1906, G. N. Nation; 1910, Ben Phillips; 1914, D. B. Bartlett; 1920, Fred Russell.
CIRCUIT CLERK-1888, D. N. Clark; 1906, Arch Jacobs; 1910, D. N. Clark; 1912, Herbert Bost; 1916, R. C. Temple; 1920. Oliver Moore.
SHERIFF-1833, S. F. Mason; 1834, A. Sinclair, W. J. Parks; 1838, A. Sin- clair; 1842, W. M. H. Newton; 1846, J. M. Hamilton; 1850, C. B. Mann; 1856, W. D. Griffith; 1858, J. F. Hill; 1864, W. L. Cravens; 1866, E. N. Griffith; 1868, P. Hixon; 1872, R. S. Crampton; 1874, J. M. Armstrong; 1878, E. T. McConnell; 1884, W. S. Jett; 1888, J. H. Powers; 1902, J. B. King; 1906, W. H. McPherson; 1914, Ben Phillips; 1916, Edward Jacobs; 1118, D. B. Bartlett;
TREASURER-1836, M. Rose; 1838, A. Lewis; 1840, Wm. Adams; 1842, R. A. Latimer; 1844, A. Smith; 1846, L. Armstrong; 1848, W. S. Swigart; 1850, M. A. Hill; 1852, William Fritz; 1856, J. Conway; 1858, W. M. Fritz; 1860, T. Baskins; 1866, Wm. Hamlin; 1868, J. R. Laffrety; 1872, H. Jacobs; 1874, H. J. Clark; 1876, R. Houston; 1880, J. B. Wilson; 1884, (Failed to qualify); 1886, W. G. Taylor, 1892, B. F. Griffin; 1896, Volney Howell: J. L. Farmer; 1910, Harlow Garrett; 1914, Tom C. Jarnagin.
CORONER-1833, J. P. Kessie; 1835, R. S. McMiken; 1836, A. L. Black; 1838, A. Brown; 1840, B. G. Clark; 1842, D. Hargrove; 1844, Charles Denning; 1846, Joseph Stewart; 1848, J. Arbrough; 1852, Lewis Mathews; 1854, James Carlisle; 1856; L. Mathews; 1858, James Ballard; 1860, P. Sarders; 1862, A. Southerland; 1864, W. Reed; 1866, J. C. Jones; 1868.J. Cheek; 1872 1874, Sam Flemming; 1876, J. B. Lee; 1882, F. R. McKennon; 1884 (Failed to qualify); 1886, J. T. Sykes; 1906, W. A. Cook; 1908, J. T. Sykes; 1918, Wm. Hardwick;
SURVEYOR-1836, Augustus Ward; 1836, W. A. Anderson; 1838, J. W. Ryan; 1840, John Ward, Sr .; 1842, D. G. Harris; 1844, Alfred Allen; 1846, W. G. Dropper; 1843, V. Wallace; 1850, B. M. Davis; 1858, W. P. Clark; 1862, V. Wallace; 1866, B. M. Davis, 1868, A. R. Young; 1874, S H. Thompson; 1878, G. R. Daniel; 1880, Ezra Adkins; 1884, J. C. Bunch; 1886, J. M. Kelley; 1888, J. H. Haynie; 1890, Wm. C. Boyles; 1891, A. J. Snelson; 1898, J. M. Haynie; 1902, Ezra Adkins; 1908, R. G. Wilson; 1810, Ezra Adkins.
ASSESSOR-1864, J. F. Hill; 1866, ; 1868, C. M. Griffith; 1872, L. Robinson; 1874, J. R. Price; 1878, J. M. King; 1882, J. H. Huddleston; 1884, I. T. Patterson; 1886, Reuben Mathews; 1888, J. W. Russell; 1890, J. M. Kelley; 1892, J. N. Engram; 1894, T. U. Russell; 1904, Wiley Harris; 1908, G. L. Smith; 1910, T. U. Russell; 1914, W. A . Meek; 1918, James R. Floyd; 7920, Roy Ragsdal. COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT-1916, J. W. Sallis; 1921, R. C. Temple.
JOHNSON COUNTY MEN IN THE ARKANSAS SENATE-Samuel Adams, Moreau Rose, W. A. Mclain, W. W. Floyd, A. M. Ward, J. E. Cravens, J. N. Sarber, J. T. Hill, G. T. Cazort, A. W. Covington, Lee Cazort.
JOHNSON COUNTY MEN IN HOUSE-Wesley Garrett, E. B. Abston, S. Adams, A. E. Pace, M. Rose, Wm. Gray, Wm. McLain, J. B. Wilson, W. W. Floyd, John B. Brown. W. M. H. Newton. Samuel Farmer, Samuel Turner, John H. Strong, Olinver Basham, V. Wallace, H. G. Butts. J. G. Walton, H. G. Wilson. J. E. Cravens, Littleberry Robinson, L. B. Howell. W. H. Connelley, J. Rogers. A. P. Malson, John W. May, J. S. Green, D. R. Lee, W. N. Neay, J. L. Garner. T. A. Hanks, W. G. Harris, P. H. Spears, B. W. Herring, C. B. Toby. J. F. Hill, B. T. Embry, A. S. McKennon, M. Hixon, Lewis Fulton, F. R. McKennon, Isaac McCracken, T. P. King, J. W. Coffman, W. T. Hunt, John J. Quick. B. F. Wofford, W. H. Robbins, A. M. Ward, T. W. Kendall, H. H. Ragon, Lee Cazort, E. T. McConnell, Will Ketcheside.
COUNTY FARM DEMONSTRATORS-(Established 1910); Pointer walton, Phil Egan, D. L. Weldon, M. Sullivant.
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS-Convention of 1836, Lorenza N. Clark; of 1861, F. I. Batson and W. W. Floyd; 1868, J. N. Sarber; 1874, Seth J. Howell and G. O. Patterson. This Constitution was rejected by the people.
FOURTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT-Comprises Johnson, Franklin, Pope, Logan, Pulaski, Perry and Yell.
FIFTH CIRCUIT JUDICIAL COURT-Johnson, Pope, Conway and Yell.
**
In Memoriam
Benner, Joseph H., Corporal, Co. B. Engineers.
Bunch, Lee H., Co. A., 184 Machine Gun Battalion.
Edwards, B. L. Co. M., 329 Infantry.
Brown, Geo. L., Co. A., 148 Machine Gun Company. Frost, Abe O., Replacement Troop.
Gilmore, O. C., Medical Detachment, 479 Aero Squadron. Ireland, Benj. M., Replacement Troops.
Casey, Dren B., Battery C., 5th French Motor Battalion. Jackson, Elec, Co. G .. 18th Infantry.
Metcalf, Erwin H., Replacement Troops.
- Nunley, Melvin J., Battery F., 13th Field Artillery. Sears, James C., Co. D., 11th Machine Gun Battalion. Stanfield, Marvin T., Co. C., 39th Infantry. Tipton, Chas. H., Co. D., 149th Infantry. Veneski, Stanley, Co. A. 9th Machine Gun Battalion. Shuh, John P., Field Remount Squadron No. 345, Q. M. C. Grover S. Wilson, 10th Co., C. A. C. Looper, Roy, Sergeant, Co. A., 141st Machine Gun Battalion. Dial. Ides, Co. K., 30th Infantry. Conway, Allen J., Replacement Troops
Clark, Charlie M., 16th Co., 162, D. B. Cunningham, John C. S., Battery C., 36th F. A. Dowdy, James A., Jr., Co. F., 11th Inf. Reg. U. S. Marines. Dunlap. Harry, Co. C., unassigned.
Rowbotham, Harold W., Co. L., 38th Infantry.
LAND GRANTS
139
Samuel Adams of Johnson was acting Governor of Arkansas from August 29th to November 9, 1844.
Samuel Adams, William Adams and Olinver Basham each were elected and served as Treasurer of the State of Arkansas.
J. E. Cravens served three terms in the Congress of the United States from the third (now Fourth) district of Arkansas.
J. E. Cravens, W. W. Floyd and Hugh Basham have each served as Judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Arkansas.
A. S. McKennon and H. H. Ragon have, two terms each, represented the Fifth Judicial Circuit as Prosecuting Attorneys.
W. E. Atkinson is at the present date, the Chancery Judge of the Fifth Judicial District. He is a former Attorney General of Arkansas.
A PARTIAL LIST OF PERSONS WHO TOOK OUT LAND GRANTS PRIOR TO 1850
James Harvey Jones
Wm. King
James Keesie
Thomas May
Lewis Johnson
Philip Jones
Richard W. Adams
W. M. Williams
Wesley Garrett
Hugh E. Porter
E. E. McConnell
James K. Polk
W. W. E. Moreland
G. L. Patrick
R. M. Lee
Samuel Adams
Thomas King
Cader Lee
David Porter
E. G. Gilbreath
Britton Lee
Andrew L. Black
W. M. H. Newton
Absalom Pryor
Wm. Porter
A. B. Joyner
William R. Hill
Alexandra Black
Joseph Adkins
L. W. Clark
Isaac Hughes
Samuel Towell
Abraham Laster
W. W. Adams
Jesse May
Henry B. Hays
Cabel Zachery
W. S. Swigart
Nathan Nesbitt
Colby Bennis
J. E. Harris
Thomas Whittaker
James Rogers John R. Willis
Uriah Russell
Thomas Laster
James P. King
Wm. Mears
Peter Allen
Filmore Williams
Rufus C. Sadler
Joseph King
Cabel B. Zachary
John C. Ward
Twitty Pace
Bartlett Zachary
Uriah Thompson
James Hardgraves
Archibald D. Hogins
N. Cravens
John Johnson
O. B. Hogins
Wm. H. Polk
M. A. Kendal
Isaac Wood
John Howell
John Swaggerty
H. H. Herring
John R. H. Scott
John Armstrong
Pearson Jackson
Jacob Rogers
T. I. Young
L. M. Wood
James Ware, Jr.
James Logan
John B. Brown
Finas Williams
W. A. Anderson
John Simpson
Joseph James
Wm. Williams
Nathaniel Simpson
James Patterson
Jesse Brashear
Newton W. Brown A. T. Smith W. J. Parks
A. M. Ward
Hiram A. Lindsey Jacob Robinson
Shelton Wooster
Moreau Rose
Clayton R. Clark
Josiah Cravens
James Harvey Jones Richard W. Adams
Williamson Spears
Wm. Collier
Joe Christman
Casander Robinson
Andrew M. Fulton
B. H. Zachery S. D. Young Jordan Thompson
Thomas Powers J. W. Patrick Maj. Thompson
Robert E. Johnson
John Marshall
John M. Wilson
Nancy Seager
Thomas Madden
E. B. Alston
Parsons Jackson
David Slinkard L. M. Wood
Preston Jamison
Thadieus Moreland
Littleberry Robinson
David Porter
Jeremiah Moreland William Houston Samuel Turner Willis Collier Chas. Haynie
Andrew Houston
James T. White
Wm. Mears Edward Simpson
Sterling May
John Arbrough
Part III. BIOGRAPHIES-IN PART
E. B. Alston bridged Spadra Creek because his fourteen hundred acres of flat lands lay on the west of the stream. In 1845, however he built a new home on the west side. His store, gin, et cetera, were also on the west and from that year old Spadra began to merge into the new. the leading merchant of the county.
Mr. Alston, was doubtless He did a thriving business -had many slaves and was influential in all affairs concerning the welfare of the county. When the convention of 1836 met to form the first Constitution of the State of Arkansas, Bettis Alston was a member. After Mr. and Mrs. Alston had lived for thirty-five years at Spadra, they went to Galveston, Texas, for a visit and while there became victims of yellow fever, from which Mr. Alston died. His body was shipped back to Spadra and lay in his warehouse on the river's bank until Mrs. Alston recovered and returned three months later. Mr. Alston died in 1867. Mrs. Alston died in 1877. Today in a field plowed and cultivated, where hundreds of dead are buried, are two lone marble slabs, marked E. B. Alston and Hanna Alston. They lie under- neath a single tree, left from the beautiful forest which was until ten years ago uncut.
The Jouets were also a prominent family of Spadra. Ex- Governor Drew lived there for a time after he retired from office. John Rogers, the father of R. A. Rogers of Clarksville, Scott Rogers of Logan County and the late Wm. Rogers who continued for years to reside at Spadra, and the grandfather of Maj. Thomas Rogers of the World War, and who was the step-father of James Collier of Hartman and W. F. Collier of Clarksville, made his residence at that river town in the fifties.
There was also James M. Lewis, who had much land near- by, and who was the progenitor of Tom. J. and Henry Lewis, Mrs. Mattie Logan and Mrs. Kessie Griffin. Geo. Koose had a horse- power gin and grist mill. Nick Koose a blacksmith shop, and A. Sinclare, who was a wood workman, had a shop. Dr. William C. Montgomery, a leading physician, and Mrs. Montgomery, who
141
BIOGRAPHIES
was a Miss Maddox, resided for thirty years or more at Spadra, having immigrated there from Tennessee in 1854. Dr. and Mrs. Montgomery were the parents of two children, Judge J. J. Mont- gomery, who has served as county judge several terms, and Mrs. Fred White, both of Clarksville. A. P. Clark resided at Spadra and reared his family there. He was the father of two of the county's most successful coal operators, N. R. and Tom Clark. Capt. A. D. King was a member of the King family of Spadra. The Careys were prominent in the business and social circles of the seventies and eighties.
In 1873, Myers and son, and a man whose name was Vetter, came from Baltimore and brought with them some forty or fifty families. They operated the old Spadra Creek Mines east of the creek. Abe Stiewell, with his brother, Harry, as a Junior partner, sank a slope one mile west of the old mines. This place was for some years one of the big mines of the Southwest. Albert Shields managed a commissary for the Stiewell mines.
Another concern of the seventies and eighties was the Kemp mines of which Albert Kemp was the original operator. These mines were nearer the river than the Stiewell property and they hoisted the coal by horse-power.
On a hill by the side of the place where Cabin Creek empties into the river was the ephemeral little village of Pittsburg. Two mechanics who came from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, were the first campers on the spot-hence the appellation. But after they were gone leaving no mark save the name, some immigrants landed there whose presence and strength began to be felt at once in the manipulation of the county's affairs. Nor has their in- fluence died, for their children and grand children are still play- ing parts worthwhile. Dr. E. E. McConnell and Seth J. Howell were partners in a prosperous mercantile business there. They were also interested in the Hunter, Hanger and Howell Stage Line, from Little Rock, Arkansas to Springfield, Missouri. Mr. Howell came from the state of Kentucky. He said that he drove the first Troy coach through Johnson county in 1837. Mr. Howell was a member of the assembly in 1836, who wrote the first Constitution of the State of Arkansas. Hon. Littleberry Robinson, another citizen of Pittsburg, was the father of Dr. C.
142
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
E. Robinson of Little Rock, a former president of the First Na- tional Bank of Clarksville and for many years one of the lead- ing physicians of Johnson county. £ He was also the father of the late Mrs. Sallie Reed, who was a writer of some repute. She was the mother of one of Arkansas' national representatives, Con- gressman C. C. Reed. Dr. Edward E. McConnell, a prominent citi- zen of Pittsburg, was a practicing physician during those years, when to practice medicine over the hills and dells of this undulat- ed country was little less than the life of a missionary. He also sold drugs and sundries at his drug store. He and his wife, Susan, were at the same time rearing a family of boys and girls who were later to figure largely in affairs. They were the parents of Maj. Hall McConnell, one of Johnson County's soldier boys who did not come back when the Civil war was ended. His grave lies on the top of the hill in Oakland cemetery. Capt. Will H. Mc- Connell figured conspicuously for long years in county affairs and lived to be an octogenarian. He said that he once killed a deer in the forest on the lot on Main street, where the Missouri Pacific Station now stands. Mrs. McConnell was Fannie
Hyland. John, Rev. W. H. (Little Bill), Mrs. Van Herring, Mrs. Decater Herring, Mrs. Lou Zeats and Hyland are their children. Another son of the Doctor's was John McConnell, who was yet a young man when he met an untimely death in a railroad accident. He left Mrs. McConnell who was Annie Houston, and a daughter, who is Mrs. Johnnie Simpson of Van Buren.
Hon. E. T. McConnell is the only living member of this pioneer family. When merely a lad he joined the army and went into active service of the Civil War. On returning home he followed his father in the drug business, but did not confine himself to that alone. For twenty-five years he was almost con- tinuously in the newspaper business. He is a former sheriff of the county, and was superintendent of the State Penitentiary for several years. In 1918-19, he was a member of the Arkansas
Legislature. He installed the first electric light plant in the county, and put up a tank and made connections with his resi- dence and a few others, for the first, though limited, water and sewer system in Clarksville. He together with the late J. T. Arrington installed the first electric manipulated cotton gin in the county. He built the first opera house, which was located in the
143
~
BIOGRAPHIES
up stairs in the McConnell block. For fifty years he has owned the building in which has been the leading hostelry of Clarksville, and which has always been located in this block. At present the Arlington Hotel is representative of this regime. Mrs. Mc-
Connell was Alice Porter. Their children are Susie (Mrs. G. O. Patterson), Maude Mrs. F. S. Poynor), Imogene (Mrs. Wm. Ragon) and Hall McConnell.
The old Moreland home of the Pittsburg neighborhood is still standing, overlooking the river. Robert Moreland, who married Adelia Madden and after her death, Tennessee Hogan, both of Johnson county, was one of the arrivals of 1834.
Ex-Governor Samuel Adams located up Cabin Creek three miles. . He came from Halifax, Virginia, in 1835, and built a home, not of logs, but of lumber, and which is also standing today. Mr. Adams possessed a considerable amount of money and slaves. He homesteaded land and also bought up much more. He was the president of a Van Buren bank, which went defunct during the forties. Mr. Adams was elected from Johnson county to the Senate of Arkansas, where he was made president of that body. When Governor Yell announced for the United States Senate, Mr. Adams became the governor, and served the remaining several months of that term, but in the fall was elected State Treasurer, for which he was a candidate when he became the chief executive of Arkansas. A step-son in the home of Samuel Adams was James Fagan, who also during the Civil War received the distinguished brevet of Major Gen. James F. Fagan. John D. Adams, a son of Samuel, was a Civil War Major, and perhaps one of the best loved men in Ar- kansas. He once owned the Shoal Creek Plantation of twenty five hundred acres, which is now in Logan county. He was partner with a Mr. Dean in a line of steam boats, that ran the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers. One of these he gave the name of Kate Adams, complimentry to Mrs. Adams.
The older McConnell boys, Johnathan King, James Fagan and John D. Adams were school mates at the little school house at Pleasant Grove. Johnathan King lived to be quite old. He was the son of Wm. and Nancy King, who came from Tennessee in 1836.
144
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
When Samuel Adams made his home three miles inland near a little stream, which is today historic, it seemed to possess no cognomen, or when he built many cabins for his negroes on its banks, it became the "Stream of Cabins," hence the appellation "Cabin Creek."
Major General Thomas J. Churchill, later Governor of Ar- kansas, is said to have lived for a time, when a boy, in this neigh- borhood.
Morrison's Bluff was another river town, for all the towns at that time were river towns. The names of Lorenza N. Clark, J. H. Strong, George Cunningham, C. Quinn, J. S. Hous- ton and others were familiar in this section. Back in territory days Lorenza N. Clarke and his wife, Arabella Bertrand Clarke, immigrated to Johnson county. Mr. Clarke was a wealthy gentle- man from Baltimore, Maryland. He built a handsome brick resi- dence and lived with his slaves in the accredited style of the old aristocracy. His store was commodious too, and on the spot where old Morrison's Bluff was located almost a mile up stream from the present town, the old ruins of some of those buildings, now nothing more than foundations, have stood through the years. In those days, nine decades ago, the river washed around that bluff, now three miles away. And the old iron ring steepled in the rock, to which the boats were locked, is still there. The steam- boat, Elector, sank nearby and now lies buried back one mile south from the river bed. Mr. Clarke, being one of the three commissioners to locate the county seat, naturally was de- sirous to give Morrison's Bluff that honor, and only conceded his choice to Mr. Laster when the Laster choice was given the appellation of Clarksville. Mr. Clarke was a state senator, and was one of the delegates to form the state Constitution of 1836. In 1840-42, the firm of Cunningham & Clarke was a partnership. Hon. George Cunningham was the grandfather of Mrs. Lucy Adams Simpson, a former resident of Clarksville. Mrs. Simp- son was a daughter of Mrs. E. W. Adams, who was Eliza Jane Cunningham. Dr. E. W. Adams was a resident of Clarksville in the late sixties and seventies. He fell dead at Low Gap Springs in the summer of 1879. Charley Adams of Little Rock is his son. Dr. Matthew Cunningham, in that period lived at Little Rock. His wife was Mrs. Eliza Wilson Bertrand Cunningham, who was the
145
BIOGRAPHIES
first woman resident in the capital city. She was the mother of Mrs. Lorenzo Clarke. Mrs. Clarke's younger sister, Matilda, be- came Mrs. Fredrick Hanger of Little Rock. In the year 1843, Mr. Clarke's firm was changed to Clarke & Strong, his partner be- ing John H. Strong. In the year 1845 Mr. Clarke visited in Baltimore, and while there was taken ill and did not recover. Mrs. Clarke brought his body back to Morrison's Bluff for burial. After Mr. Clarke's death his widow was married to John H. Strong, and then the style of the business was "John H. Strong". In 1848 Mr. Strong also died. His friends held him in high esteem, judging from a lengthy account given in the minutes of the old Secretary book of Franklin Lodge No. 9. Mrs. Arabelle Bertrand Clark Strong was married the third time. Her last hus- band was Joseph Newton, an uncle of Gen. R. C. and Maj. T. W. Newton. Sometime in the early fifties Mrs. Clarke Strong Newton died and was buried in the Mt. Holly cemetery at Little Rock.
J. S. Houston & Co. was the name of another Morrison's Bluff firm of the forties. The old town that was, is entirely obliterated. The stream that laved against its banks, year after year, threw the soil inland and each rise in the river pilled it higher, and soon boats could not anchor there. A landing was made below and then a warehouse was built, and some one put up a little store, and in that way the new replaced the old. On the scarp of that bluff are chisled names and dates covering the century past.
Lorenza N. Clarke left no heirs save his wife and when she went away the beautiful home was abandoned. An abode, once the pride of a "Master and Missus", where liveried servants bided every wish, and where belles and beaus from down the stream came to parties, held in peerage style. £ Soon the tangled vines and bats and owls had found the place, and then the vandals came. It is said that many chimneys in the country there about were taken from the walls of that old ruins, and even someone unhung the doors and moved them away. Many of those brick were taken as far as Clarksville for foundations, et cetra. A colony of Germans have purchased much of the farm lands about Morrison's Bluff and German merchants sell goods there. A beautiful little Catholic church and school house are resplendent
146
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
of the religious and moral bent of the populace. A prosperous habitation mingles in and out. But few of the residents there know that underneath a vault of solid stone only a few rods away is the place where a form was laid most eighty years ago. That vault is after the fashion much used in those days. The casket was said to have been lowered into a bed of cemented stone with a covering of solid glass, cemented too, then the four well pro- portioned walls were securely capped by a heavy portable slab. This vault is intact today, although no care has been given it for more than half a century. Lorenza N. Clarke, a man who radiated progress in his solvent array of business, who managed affairs of state with wonderful executive ability, and who entertained his friends after the fashion of a king, lies there unknown today.
But the ways of the world are ever the same. Man lives but a day as he flits across the screen, and is gone, then another takes his place and soon he too, is gone, and each in turn are forgotten for someone else,-passing too-stands in his stead.
Huey Logan and Wm. Logan were brothers who left Ken- tucky early in the twenties of the past century. They took out land near Morrison Bluff. Huey was the father of Conduct Logan, and Conduct was the father of Green G. Logan and Green was the father of Bettis Logan and Mrs. Lera Anderson of Clarksville. Col. James Logan located south of the river in 1830. He took out land on Sugar Creek south of Petit Jean River. There was also a David Logan. Steve Logan is a descendent of this same family. When Logan County was formed in 1875 it received the appellation, Logan, from this prominent family, who was then in the territory that belonged to Johnson.
The Hardwick family was said to be the wealthiest on the south of the river. Col. D. Hardwick had scores of negroes and his lands lay stretching away up and down the river. Wm. Hardwick of Clarksville is a grandson of the Colonel.
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