USA > Arkansas > Johnson County > Johnson County, Arkansas, the first hundred years > Part 16
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18
On the morning following the falling of the stars in 1833, Jesse May began his westward move from Dixon County, Tenn., to find destination in Arkansas. Starling May; too, came along in his schooner wagon. Thomas May, who was destined for this country, also made his way about that time, across the miles between Dixon County, Tennessee, and Johnson County. Jesse May laid claim to land near the mouth of Piney Creek, extending to the Pope County line, and to Judge Andrew Scott's homestead. He was the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Abe Miller and Mrs. Sue Sarber. Starling May settled on a tract of land that lay south, in and above the town of Lamar. He was acci- dentally shot and killed many years ago.
Some two hundred yards south from the outskirts of the little town of Knoxville, over against the hill, stands one stone . room, all that is left of the old home of Hon. Thomas May. The farm land of this homestead extended over a portion of the pres- ent town. Mrs. May was, prior to her marriage, a Miss King. There were ten babies, as the years went by, in their home. At the time of Mr. May's arrival here, his two boys, Thomas King, and Alfred P., were four and one years of age, respectively. They grew up, receiving their education in little log school houses, and finishing at Cane Hill.
Thomas K. May married Mary J. Cunningham of Washing- ton county. Mr. May opened a store in Newton county and was there a short time before moving to Clarksville in 1851. For sixty years, barring the four he served in the army of secession, the May store was a fixture in that town, where they were success-
170
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
ful. Mr. May buried $500.00 at the beginning of the war, and when peace was made, with that amount he began his busi- ness again, which soon grew to be one of the largest in the state. Mr. May was unostentatious in manner, never seeking publicity, but because of his many financial successes, and christian generosity, he was a leader. For forty years he was superin- tendent of the Methodist Sunday School. Mr. May retired from active business ten years before his death, which occurred in 1912. His three sons, all eminent business men, continued the May es- tablishment as May Brothers. There were William T., Thomas Ed, and Lee C. Lee C. May died in October, 1914, and W. A. having previously moved to St. Louis, where May Brothers had interests, the business was sold.
Ada May, the daughter of T. K. May, resides today in Los Angeles, California.
T. E. May, a reliable gentleman, with sterling business quali- ties, makes his home in Clarksville. Mrs. May was Edwina James. The children of this couple are Raymond C., who is a noted baritone soloist and dramatic reader in New York City, and Lieutenant Frank C. May of the World War, who married Mildred Nichols, and is Assistant Cashier at the Bank of Clarks- ville.
A. P. May was also a successful business man of Clarksville. His activities date back, too, before the war, though he did not achieve so great a fortune as his brother. He married Sallie Brown, a devoted christian character. Their children were Elizabeth (Mrs. O. C. Ludwig), Minnie (Mrs. James Kendrick), Ruth (Mrs. Clyde Rogers, deceased), and Thomas B. May, whose home is in Clarksville.
Thomas B. May graduated from law school a number of years ago, but did not follow this profession. He superintends his farming interests, and has served as Mayor of Clarksville for several terms. Mrs. May was formerly Anna Leftwich of Missouri. Their children are Inez (Mrs. King Basham), Pauline (Mrs. Clyde Rogers), and Kathryne Louise.
Walter C. May died when forty years of age, leaving three children, Reed, Zoe, and Mary Louise. Mrs. Walter May was, prior to her marriage, Annie Reed, a sister to Neely Reed.
There was also William N. May, a cousin of Thomas May of the Knoxville country. £ He came from Carrol county, Tennessee,
171
BIOGRAPHIES
in 1838, but left Johnson county in 1862 and located in Dardanelle.
Back in the thirties, or thereabout, came Wiley Harris from Tennessee to the Piney settlement. Mr. Harris was a descendant of the Harris family who began their recorded lineage when one of them intermarried with a Stewart of Scotland, back in the mid- centuries. When Charles I, King of Scotland, was beheaded in 1649, and Cromwell turned his attention to sympathizers of the unfortunate King, a large number of those who were in line for punishment came to America, and among them were two Harris brothers who settled in Virginia. In 1680, a colony of Scotch people settled at Port Royal, and some of the Harris family went there too. But when the Spaniards from Florida marched up and burned Port Royal, the colony scattered. Hence, the Harris families are found later, in all southeastern states. The line to which Wiley Harris belonged went to North Carolina where the great grandfather of Wiley was one Edward Harris, who was the father of Edward Harris, who immigrated to Tennessee, and was the father of Wiley; Wiley was the father of Evans Harris of Clarksville, who was the father of Wiley, Walter, Sam, Dan and Annie. Edward Harris who immigrated to Tennessee, mar- ried Dicie Carrington. Wiley Harris married May Hogan of Piney, whose mother, before she married, was a Gosset. Evans Harris marricd Rebecca Blalack, also a pioneer family of Johnson County. Mr. and Mrs. Evans Harris lived in Clarks- ville where Mrs. Harris was Clarksville's lone photographer for thirty years. Her gallery was a small building which stood on' the Thomas Powers lot, west from the present Dunlap Garage building. Mr. Harris was afflicted with almost total blindness for many years.
Along Mulberry Creck, north of the mountains, by trails, those frontiersmen went on pack mules for many years. As before stated, William Collins was one of the first.
Mark Hill and his wife, Rachel, came from Tennessee to the county, in 1829, and settled among the Cherokee Indians. John and Marcus were two of their sons. The Indians did not leave Arkansas until two or three years after the Hill's moved here, The Hill boys hunted with the Cherokees, themselves dressed in Indian garb and supplied with bows and arrows. They enlisted in Col. Yell's First Arkansas Mountain Regiment in the Mexican War. John was given the brevit of First Lieutenant.
172
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
In the Civil War, John was made captain of Company "C" of the Sixteenth Arkansas Infantry. Later he received the distinction of Colonel. He was a tailor by trade; and owned and managed a mercantile store in Clarksville until the early eighties, when he died. He is buried in the graveyard of the Confederate dead. A tall obelisk was erected by the Masons, for he was once Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas.
Marcus Hill returned to his home on Mulberry follow- ing the Civil War, where he lived four score years.
The Byrds were on Mulberry too. Their double log house is still standing.
The Arbroughs were early arrivals and the Davises too. R. S. Davis, who is reputed to be one of the wealthiest men in Northwest Arkansas is one of the Davis family of Mulberry. He was a merchant at Coal Hill for many years before going into the hardware business in Clarksville, from which business he re- cently retired. He is a former president of the Bank of Clarks- ville. Mr. Davis is a Presbyterian, and an honorable, influential citizen. His children are Virgil, Homer, Hoyt, Richard, Garland, Kenneth and Viola. The late Mrs. Ralph Payne was also his daughter.
Some of the early inhabitants of Clarksville, not given else- where, were Jacob Rogers, Robt. Latimer, Andrew Brown, Felix I. Batson, Redmond Rogers, Samuel Strayhorn, Moreau Rose, John Jacob Dorsey, James P. King, Anthony Lewis, Rev. Anderson Cox, A. L. and B. F. Hersey, Dr. Richard Maffitt, Rev. Wm. McLean, William Swigart, Malcolm Hughes, T. R. Jett, J. W. Woodward, F. N. and S. G. Colburn, G. N. Gossett, Rev. Wm. Mears, Dr. Wm. Gray, G. W. Paine, J. E. Cravens, Dr. John P. Mitchell, John M. Wilson, J. B. Manley, L. Sykes, James Wilson, Daniel Farmer, Connelley Bros., and others.
Jacob and Redmond Rogers came from Virginia in the thirties, bringing with them many slaves. They bought lands, built houses, and took their places among the leaders of this new town. The Jacob Rogers home of the fifties is today occupied by R. S. Davis. Jacob Rogers was succeeded after a few years by his nephew Jacob. Arthur Rogers was a son of the younger Jacob. Mrs. Jacob Rogers, Sr., was Sarah E. Chandler of Vir- ginia, and lived to be quite old. Jacob, who was a widower, and his son, resided with her. Bennie and Fannie Chandler, her
F
S
to
3
173
BIOGRAPHIES
nieces, were later members of her family. Bennie married Judge Cunningham of the Fifth Judicial District of Arkansas. Fannie became the wife of F. R. McKennon, a promising young lawyer, who was shot and killed a few years later.
Hon. Felix I. Batson was one of Clarksville's first lawyers. In the early fifties he served as Circuit Judge. Later he was appointed a judge on the Supreme bench of Arkansas. Judge Batson was also a member of the Confederate Congress. Mrs. Batson was Jean Bettis of Missouri. Their only child, Emma, became Mrs. Jordan E. Cravens.
Col. Jordan E. Cravens was born in Missouri in 1830, and his father, Nehemiah Cravens, a native of Kentucky, and whose father was William Cravens, moved to Arkansas in 1831. He settled in Johnson County, south of the river. In 1850 or perhaps a short time after, Jordan E. Cravens came to Clarksville and read law in the office of Judge Batson. In 1854 he obtained license to practice, and in 1855, became a partner with J. M. Wilson. Col. Cravens went into the Civil War as a private and came out with the distinguished brevit of Colonel. He was later- elected to the U. S. Congress, serving in the 45th, 46th and 47th Sessions. Col. Cravens was a strong, honest, and conscientious man, who lived to be quite old.
Rev. Anderson Cox, a pioneer preacher of the Presbyterian faith, who rode a circuit from Conway to Fayetteville, was born in Crawford, now Franklin, county, Arkansas in 1821. His mother was a member of the famous Buchanan family, who came with the Cox family and others in 1819, or 1820, and settled in Crawford County, in the territory of Arkansas. Later they moved to Cane Hill. Rev. Cox, together with a Rev. Oliver, began to ride the circuit in 1844. Rev. Oliver died a few years later, leaving Rev. Cox the whole of the work. Rev. Cox organ- ized almost every Cumberland church between Conway and Fayetteville. Every neighborhood knew him, and he was always welcome in every home. He was the father of Colman and Lee .Cox, Mrs. Volney Howell, Mrs. Dora Nesbitt, and Mrs. Harris Johnson. When Rev. Cox died he was buried at Salem graveyard, near Hagarville, but was later removed to Oak- land Cemetery at Clarksville. Mrs. Cox was Miss Eliza May, the daughter of Phillip May, who died before his family moved to Clarksville. Mrs. Phillip May and her children settled the place
174
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
on East Hill, long owned by Joseph Evans, and later by Frank Carter.
Frank Carter is also a member of the early family of Carters, whose farm was near Breckenridge.
G. N. Gossitt came to Johnson County in 1835. He lived to be an octogenarian.
Judge Moreau Rose was a man with a high sense of honor and progressive ideas. His farm was one mile west of Clarksville, but he moved to the new town as one of the first citizens. He was the father of Mrs. A. C. Miller and Mrs. J. N. Sarber Information taken from the old scrap book of Judge Rose has furnished many of the facts given in this edition. A number of the articles pasted therein were from his own pen.
Judge John M. Wilson, who was an excellent gentleman of early days, was once Judge of the Fifth District of Arkansas, and made his home in Clarksville. He was born in Lincoln County, Tennessee, in 1817, and was the son of James Wilson, a native of South Carolina, born in 1773. The father of James Wilson was William Wilson. One James Wilson, a cousin of James Wilson, the father of John M., was a delegate form Pennsylvania to the Convention that formed the Constitution of the United States, and previously one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. J. M. Wilson's mother, Margaret McIlroy, was born in Virginia in 1775. In 1855 Judge Wilson entered into a part- nership with Col. J. E. Cravens, which lasted until some three years later, when Judge Wilson went to the circuit bench. Judge Wilson was the father of two sons and several daughters. One daughter became Mrs. Hezekiah Blackard of Clarksville.
The Connelley family, consisting of six brothers, came to the town of Clarksville in pre-war days. Judge John G. Connelley was the father of Mrs. Laura Eakin Thompson of Little Rock, and several other children. Theo. Connelley was the second brother, and William, the third, who was the father of Mrs. J. V. (Nelle) Hughes. Dr. N. F. Connelley was one of Clarksville's most influential citizens of the last two decades of the century. George and Lee were younger brothers who left Clarksville soon after the Civil War. The Connelley family came from Tennessee. J. G. was said to have been the first male child born in Jackson, Tennessee.
Rev. William Mears was a Baptist Minister and soldier of the war of 1812. He was the father of Elisha, Jerry and Jackson.
175
BIOGRAPHIES
Elisha was on the bench as Circuit Judge just after the Civil War, in the days of reconstruction, when he was shot and killed from the roadside by an unknown person.
John E. Manley, an Englishman, who was a lawyer by profes- sion, and an excellent cabinet maker by trade, came to Clarks- ville in the late forties. ' His family consisted of five boys and five girls. Mathew Manley was the father of Dr. R. N. Manley, a well informed physician, who has for several years followed his profession at Lamar and Clarksville.
Anthony Lewis was one of the first persons to move to the county seat. He became interested in the organization of a Methodist church, also a Masonic lodge. He was one of the charter members of Franklin Lodge No. 9, at Clarksville. Anthony, James, and Thomas, were three of six brothers who came from Tennessee prior to the statehood of Arkansas. The other three brothers went to Texas.
Malcolm Hughes did not reach Clarksville until the late forties, in fact he doubtless knew nothing concerning the place until he went to Mexico and met the Johnson County boys. He liked them, and there heard of the excellent country of Arkansas, so decided that he would like to live here. While others were making their way to the gold fields of California, in 1849, Mr. Hughes had just become settled in Arkansas. His former home in Alabama, proved in after years, to be a wonderful iron pro- ducing region, but he liked his adopted state, so remained herc. His son, J. V. Hughes, was a small boy then, but today is one of Clarksville's oldest and most respected citizens, and was, for long years, connected with the furniture business in Clarksville. His furniture store and all the contents were destroyed by fire in 1901, and again in 1912. Mr. Hughes has four children, Mrs. Janie Connelley, Mrs. Arthur Rogers, J. V. Hughes Jr., and Neal Hughes. Mr. Hughes has been married twice. His first wife was Anne Turner whose father was Wm. Turner, and grand- father, Samuel Turner, who came in the thirties to Johnson county. She was the mother of the two daughters, and the present Mrs. Hughes, the mother of his two sons, was Nelle
Connelley. Mr. Hughes was a soldier of the sixties, serving all four years. He encountered many difficulties and privations, but came through it all to live to be one of the few soldiers who is today as active as a much younger man, and whose mind is
176
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
alert and clear. In his younger days he took a hand in mu- nicipal and state affairs. He was often on the schoolboard and council and has been a zealous Mason for almost sixty years.
The L. Sykes family came to Clarksville in 1849. For twenty years J. T. Sykes was the coroner of the county.
Daniel Farmer had immigrated to Newton County prior to his removal to Johnson in the fifties. His five sons were William, Calvin, James, Hosia and John. James Farmer and his family have been citizens of Clarksville for many years.
The Jamison family, of which John H. Jamison is now the senior member, goes back with a lineage beginning in Pennsyl- vania before the Revolutionary war, and from that state they are followed into Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri and Arkansas. Back in Pennsylvania, in the year 1779, Robt. Jamison was mar- ried to Ruth Webster, a cousin of the distinguished Daniel Webster. They were the parents of Robert, George, Webster and Anseln.
Judge George Jamison came from Missouri to Johnson county, Arkansas , where, one night surmise, he had followed the girl of his choice, Polly D. Logan, a daughter of Jonathan Logan, late from the state of Kentucky, to which state George Jamison had immigrated a few years back, from Virginia, Upon the arrival of Mr. Jamison at the pioneer home of Mr. Logan, in 1830, he was married to Polly. Judge George and Polly Jamison's children were George, Thomas, Robert, David and Nancy Evans. Nancy Evans was married on Dec. 11, 1834, to John R. Homer Scott, of the famous Scott family of Pope county.
Andrew Scott, the father of J. R. H. Scott, was appointed by President Monroe in 1819, following the forming of the Arkansas Territry, as a Judge of the Superior Court of Araknsas. He at
once moved from St. Genevieve, Mo., to which place he had im- migrated from Virginia, to Arkansas Post. For eight years he resided in Little Rock, but in 1827, Judge Scott was made Judge of the first district of the territory, and in the spring of 1828 purchased from Indian McKey, a claim up in the Cherokee coun- try, and moved to the farm, which he called, and is yet known as Scotia. John R. Homer Scott was his father's prototype in in- telligence and ability; he held many positions of honor and trust. His sister, Eliza Scott, was the wife of Ben H. Campbell of Chicago, Ill., who was for eight years U. S. Marshal under General
177
BIOGRAPHIES
Grant. His sister, Elizabeth, was the wife of Hon. J. Russell Jones, also of Chicago, and U. S. Minister to Belgium under Gen. Grant, and a United States Marshal under President Lincoln. After Capt. John R. H. Scott's marriage to Nancy Evans Jamison he made his home in Johnson County for two years, 1834-35. He was a Master Mason, with his membership in Franklin Lodge No. 9, at Clarksville. He was a Whig until the Democratic party was formed, and opposed secession until it became an accepted fact.
Judge David A. Jamison and wife, Nancy, who was a daughter of Dr. E. E. McConnell and a sister of Hon. E. T. Mc- Connell had four boys born into their home, John H., Edward, Latta and Scott. Judge and Mrs. D. A. Jamison and Captain and Mrs. J. R. H. Scott, went to California in 1853. They crossed the plains with several head of cattle, for which they received fabu- lous prices. John H. Jamison was then ten years of age. He grew to manhood in California, returning to Clarksville when twenty years old. In 1872 he was married to Ori Woodward, a daughter of John W. Woodward. Of their children only two are living, Robert Jamison of Clarksville, and Scottie, wife of Dr. Marion E. Foster of Paris, Ark. Earlier generations spelled the name "Jemison" but the last three write it Jamison.
Dr. Wm. Gray came to Johnson County, Arkansas, in 1840. He had previously, when only twenty-two years of age, graduated from medical college. His success in this county as a physician was reputed to have been unparalleled. In the spring of 1845, when a call was made for volunteers pending trouble from the Indian border, he was one of the first to volunteer. He enlisted as a private, but was soon made Captain. When two Johnson county companies and one Pope county company, forming the First Battalion of Arkansas Volunteers, rode away to the Mexican war, Dr. Gray was in command, as Lieutenant Col. William Gray. His untimely death came at the age of 37. Mrs. Gray was, be- fore her marriage, Emeline Carothers, trained nurse from New York. Some years after the death of Col. Gray, she was married to Col. John F. Hill.
Col. T. R. Jett and his wife, Margaret C. (Utley) Jett, moved to Johnson County, in 1853. They had prevoiusly spent four years in Yell County, where Mr. Jett was a government surveyor. He was a lawyer by profession, but followed school teaching in
178
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
his former home state of Tennessee, also in Pope and Johnson · counties of this state. The Jett children were P. R., W. S., P. H., and Dee (wife of G. K. Choate). The late Judge P. R. Jett was once a merchant of Knoxville. He was afterward elected county judge and moved to the county seat. Judge Jett married Miss M. J. E. Craig, who was a Kentuckian by birth. They were the parents of eight children. Judge Jett was a Civil war soldier, as was also his younger brother, W. S. Jett, who was sixteen · years of age when he enlisted in Capt. J. C. Hill's company. W. S. Jett, a gentleman of honor and integrity is today a young man for his years. He served two terms as sheriff of Johnson county. He has been twice married, the first Mrs. Jett was Louisa Stilley, and the present Mrs. Jett was formerly Armelia Suddeth of Ashville, S. C.
Dr. Richard Maffitt left North Carolina, his native state, in 1849, and came to the new country of Arkansas, making Clarks- ville his lifetime home. He died in 1880. Mrs. Hugh Basham is his daughter. Another daughter is Mrs. Ruth Tani:ersley, and his three living sons are John, Jess, and Howell Maffitt. Dr Maffitt was an honest and dependable gentleman and a physician of ability.
John W. Woodward, who was a deaf mute, came to Clarks- ville, in the early fifties, sometime during the years when A. M. Ward was the county clerk. He came, a stranger, handicapped by an affliction, but Mr. Ward and others were only a short time finding out that his penmanship was beautiful and his English perfect. He soon became a valuable assistant to Mr. Ward at the court house. Many records there bear his signature. He was the author of a number of beautiful poems. "The Legend of the Broken Sword", is one which will doubtless indelible his name throughout the years to come. Mr. Woodward was born in Virginia, and Mrs. Woodward's maiden name was Virginia Cox. His poem called "Virginia", in which he eulogized and intermingled the two into a beautiful rhyme, is the work of a genius. Mr. Woodward was recognized over the state as one of the best educated men in Arkansas. He was left an orphan when twelve years of age, after which he was sent to Paris, France, for tutorage. During the years of 1858-59, Richard H. Johnson, who was the editor of the True Democrat of Little Rock, was elected to the office of State Treasurer, at which time he
179
BIOGRAPHIES
employed Mr. Woodward to fill his place on the paper. In almost every issue the topics of the day, which Mr. Woodward could not innunciate, were delt with in an editorial from his gifted pen. His non de plume was "Tototot". A lengthy magazine article on the life of Col. Mathew Lion, written by Mr. Woodward during the fifties, furnished a considerable part of the facts con- cerning Col. Lion in this volume. Mrs. Ori Jamison, one of Clarksville's best loved and most consecrated Christian mothers,
The Legend of the Broken Sword, a beautiful poem of some length, written by J. W. Woodward in the fifties, is replete with the following nar- rative: When Columbus returned from the "Sunset Land", the story of that wonderful country spread rapidly and soon grew to such proportions that thousands of adventurers set sail across the Atlantic. At least one boat landed on the coast of Florida, and one. Pedro, wandered alone far inland, with only his Spanish sword. The Indians told him that beyond forests and rivers to
He pushed forward, the west lay mountains of gold and fountains of youth. and on the banks of the Arkansas, at the foot of those mountains, he made
his abode with the friendly Quapaws. He soon grew to love the great chief's daughter, Coree, and she adored the palefaced stranger. But one day, in pathos, she said to him, "Ere another moon shall fall, my father has willed that I shall wed another." "Not so!" cried Pedro. then he told her where his
Following the canoe was hidden in the creek by the side of the river.
dictates of her love, she went with him.
On reaching the place from where
they would glide down the stream to their hearts' content, the good skiff was gone and the Indians were close behind. Nothing left to do but battle with them, Pedro drew his Spanish sword in defense, as the unequal combat ensued. When Coru saw a blow aimed at her lover's heart, she threw herself on his breast and there she died. Then he piled the dark forms all around him, but presently his good sword struck a stone and broke.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.