USA > Arkansas > Pulaski County > Little Rock > The annals of Christ church parish of Little Rock, Arkansas, from A. D. 1839 to A. D. 1899 > Part 2
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There was an additional list of donations made by non- "residents of Little Rock to the Vestry of Christ Church for the purpose of completing their building. These gentlemen lived on plantations on the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers, and in the interior of the State, viz : Simeon Buckner, Win. B. Wait, Wm. S. Fulton, Jas. S. Conway, Wm. P. Reyburn, Young Stephenson, S. C. Faulkner, David Walker, Anthony
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THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
HI. Davis, G. Hill, and D. Twitten, Silas Craig, Wm. H. Gaines and Thos. Thom.
Little Rock, May 20, 1843.
To the Wardens and Vestry of Christ Church, Little Rock:
Gentlemen-The undersigned members of the congrega- tion of Christ Church, with the assistance of other ladies of Little Rock, held a fair in December last to raise funds for the benefit of the Church.
It was our intention to appropriate the profits of the fair to the purchase of an organ ; but in consideration of the embar- rassment under which you labor in consequence of the debts of the Church and the difficulty in raising money to pay that debt, which we are informed is large, when compared with the means of the congregation, we have thought that the interest of the Church would be better promoted by diverting the fair money from the original object to the debts of the church.
For these considerations we are willing to forego our individual wishes for an organ, and now tender to the Church the money in our hands, amounting to $1,106.50, to be applied by you to the payment of her debts. Trusting that you will approve of our views and accept our contribution, and that it may relieve you of embarrassment, and tend to promote the interests and prosperity of the Church, we remain
Yours very respectfully,
This list of names was signed individually, the last two in pencil :
Jane P. Crease, Mary C. Watkins, Frances M. Trapnall, Mildred Field, Ann Reardon, S. F. Johnson, P. A. Reardon, I. L. Butler, M. M. Johnston, Jane J. Holt, Mrs. Cocke, Mrs. Cook.
Cost of Christ Church, from treasurer's book, $4,243.17. Cost of the lots donated by Bishop Polk, $900.
Acknowledgment from Vestry of Christ Church to "Lady Managers of Fair," for amount of $1,106.50:
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THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
To. Mrs. Crease, Watkins, Etc. :
The Vestry of Christ Church, Little Rock, acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 20th of May, tendering to the church, to be applied in payment of her debts, the sum of $1,106.50, being the profits of a fair held by you for the pur- pose of purchasing an organ.
We thank you for ourselves, and, as the guardians of the temporal interests of the Church, we thank you in her name for your kindly relief in removing the heavy pecuniary respon- sibilities under which she labors. And in accepting your con- tribution, we cannot but admire the generous self-denial of which you have given evidence by this disregard of private wishes when the necessities of the Church have called upon your sympathies. We trust that you may always remember with pleasure and an approving conscience this act of generous self-denial ; that you may continue to grow more and more in every Christian grace, and become worthy members of the body, by whatever name called, of many of which He is the Head.
Following these faithful records of the planting of the Church in Arkansas, the annalist will place the biographies of the first Bishop and the first Wardens and Vestry, that of the first Missionary Rector having been given.
NOTE .- Bishop Polk left Little Rock March, 1839, and on the 26th of June, 1840, sent Dr. Yeager, first minister to Christ Church. The fair, held December, 1842, net proceeds, $1,106.50 .- J. HI. Crease.
NOTE .- Rev. James Young arrived on steamer Governor Morehead, De- cember, 1843. John Robins contracted for the brick work, plastering, etc. Geo. S. Morrison contracted for carpenters' work .- J. H. Crease.
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RT. REV. LEONIDAS FOLK. S. T. D.
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THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
RT. REV. LEONIDAS POLK, D. D.,
FIRST MISSIONARY BISHOP OF ARKANSAS AND THE SOUTHWEST.
A. D. 1838. On September 16, 1838, the Rev. Leonidas Polk, Rector of St. Peter's Church, Columbia, Tenn., was elected missionary bishop of Arkansas, Indian Territory, and the Southwest.
A. D. 1806-1841. He was born in 1806, in North Caro- lina; graduated at West Point Military Academy in 1827, and was appointed brevet second lieutenant of artillery. Re- signing this position, he entered the Episcopal Theological Seminary at Alexandria, Va. Soon after his marriage, in 1830, to Miss Frances Devereux, of Raleigh, N. C., he was ordained deacon and priest in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and entered upon the duties as assistant to Bishop Moore, in the Cure of the Monumental Church at that place. Eight years afterward, December 9, 1838, he was consecrated bishop and appointed missionary of the Southwest, which included Texas, Indian Territory, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama-too large a field, it seems, for the jurisdiction of one man. In 1839 he made his first visita- tion to Arkansas. Bringing to his work exalted piety, enthusi- asm and energy "his labors so multiplied that he was com- pelled to restrict the arena and, on May 20, 1841, was elected bishop of the separate Diocese of Louisiana."
A. D. 1839. During Bishop Polk's first visitation to Little Rock, in March, 1839, he was the guest of Hon. Chester Ashley, who had previously made his acquaintance, during a journey, either to or from New Haven, Conn., where young William Ashley matriculated at Yale College. Mrs. Chester Ashley on that occasion had emphasized the faet to him that
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all the prominent Christian denominations were represented in Little Rock except the Episcopalian. On this, his first official visit to the diocese, Bishop Polk was also entertained at the homes of Mr. and Mrs. Jared Newton Causine and Mr. and Mrs. John H. Crease. Besides these, there were but few families familiar with the Prayer Book at that time, and these were the families of Mr. Lambert Reardon, Mr. D. W. Galloway, Mr. Luke E. Barber, Senator William S. Fulton (former territorial governor), Judge Daniel Ringo, Hon. Frederick W. Trapnall, Mr. John Wassell, Mr. Abner S. Washburn, and Mr. Nicholas Peay. The Presbyterians kindly granted the use of their Church for Bishop Polk's first service. This was on Main street, near the corner of Cherry (now Second), and, as there was no vestry room, the bishop robed at the residence of his host, Mr. Causine, on the corner of Main and Mulberry (Third street), and walked along the square in his official vestments to the Church. This occasioned open-mouthed speculation on the part of the uninitiated vil- lagers and may have helped to collect the bishop's first audience. He afterwards gathered together the little band of Episcopalians and organized a parish with the following gentlemen as wardens and vestrymen :*
John H. Crease, Senior Warden.
Luke E. Barber, Junior Warden. Lambert Reardon. Charles Rapley. Jolm Hutt. J. P. Norman. John Adamson.
*It was the desire of the annalist to give brief biographies of each of these gentlemen, but in four instances, after much correspondence. failed to procure the necessary information.
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THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
Lambert J. Reardon.
F. W. Trapnall.
D. Butler. John Wassell.
William Prather.
Bishop Polk selected the site for the Church building on the southeast corner of Orange (Fifthi) and Scott streets, and donated nine hundred ($900) dollars for the purchase of the lots, the deed to which is here copied from the records of the clerk of the circuit court and ex-officio recorder made two years afterwards.
A. D. 1841. "Thomas W. Newton and wife to John Wassell and Abner S. Washburn, wardens of Christ Church, dated February 2, 1841. Consideration of the sum $900 conveying lots 2, 3, and 4, block 29, city of Little Rock."
Another deed is also recorded, eight years later, for an additional lot on the south side :
A. D. 1849. "Joshua F. Green and wife to Daniel Ringo and John Wassell, wardens of the Protestant Episcopal Church, dated May 1, 1849. Consideration $250, lot 1, block 29, city of Little Rock."
A. D. 1841-1863. It is thought that Bishop Polk did not visit this mission after he was made bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana in 1841; but his memory has been reverently cherished in the traditions of those who survive, and, in the history of this, his first Episcopal charge, he will ever figure as the beloved Apostle who planted the Episcopal Church in Arkansas. Later, he belonged to the South, where, as the bishop-general, the embodiment of Christian chivalry, his memory has been perpetuated by a nation. In 1861 he took up arms against the Union ; was appointed major-general of
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THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
the Confederates ; occupied Columbus, Ky., September, 1861, and evacuated it March, 1862; commanded a division at the battle of Shiloh in April, 1862, also at Murfreesboro, Chatta- nooga and Chickamauga; served as lieutenant-general at the battle of Stone River in 1863.
A. D. 1864. He was killed June 15, 1864, near Kene- saw or Pine Mountain, Ga., where, as he was reconnoitering the enemy in company with some comrades, a cannon ball, well aimed, released him from further duty.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
HOW BISHOP POLK DIED.
TIIE TRUE STORY OF HIS KILLING NOW FIRST MADE PUBLIC- A THRILLING NARRATIVE FROM THE PEN OF CAPTAIN DOYLE, WHO WITNESSED THE FIRING OF THE FATAL SHELL-GENERAL HOWARD'S TRIBUTE TO IIIS ANTAGONIST.
[Copyright by American Press Association. ]
Captain J. E. l'. Doyle, who died some time ago, ieft among his unpub- lished manuscripts the following article, which is of great ilstoric vaiue. as it is the first authentic account made public of Bishop Poik's death .- EDITOR.
The writer at various times has read many alleged accurate narratives of the manner in which Lieutenant-Gen- eral and Bishop Polk met his death on Pine Mountain, Ga., June 15, 1864; but not one has at all approached the true facts. Even Dr. Lossing, in his "Civil War in America." volume 3, page 378, in a foot note, says that "Polk, Johnston, and Hardee were upon the summit of Pine Mountain when the cannonade commenced reconnoitering. Seeing the group, General Thomas, it is said, ordered a shot to be fired at them from Knapp's battery. This caused them to retreat to a place of safety. Polk soon reappeared, when another shell was fired which exploded near him and killed him instantly.
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The two shells were fired by a young man named William Atwell, of Alleghany City, Pa., attached to Knapp's battery."
I have generally found Dr. Lossing's accounts of military operations that came under my personal observations correct, but in this case he has most certainly been imposed upon. I propose now to tell the incident just as it occurred, and I believe its accuracy will not be questioned by General O. O. Howard or any other witness living who that morning formed a group of which I was one. I was at that time attached to the headquarters of General Howard, then commanding the Fourth Corps. On the night of the 14th the corps bivouacked about two miles north of the mountain, with General Stanley's division under orders to lead the advance on the morrow. About sunrise General Howard, with his staff, rode to the front. We found that Stanley had broken camp, and his command were waiting on the road with stacked arms for orders to advance. When we joined General Stanley and his staff at the extreme front, after the usual exchange of morning salutations between the two generals, Stanley remarked to General Howard :
"General, direct your glass to that mountain"-pointing with his hand to its summit-"and see if you can make out that group. I think there is a woman in the party."
We all whipped out our glasses in a moment and looked at the point indicated. Sure enough there was a group of about twenty in full view. In the fore were three persons standing up, the one in the center being dressed in what appeared to be a long dressing gown, and behind a number of men apparently seated. After a careful survey through bis glass General Howard said : "It does look like a woman, General. I think probably it is Bishop Polk. He is in the habit of wearing a morning gown sometimes. They are evidently there to reconnoiter."
"Well, suppose we give the bishop a shot or two before we advance," said General Dave Stanley, "just to disturb his morning meditations."
General Howard interposed no objections. Stanley then turned to Captain Sampson, his chief of artillery, and
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remarked, "Sampson, suppose you order up a section, unlim- ber and stir up the bishop !"
Away rode Sampson. At that time I sat on my horse between General Howard and Captain Leonard, his chief signal officer, on the right of our party. The Captain, Captain Howgate, Captain Taylor, Captain Messenger and other signal officers during the winter previous, while we lay in garrison at Chattanooga, had interpreted the whole signal cipher code of the Confederates, and during the entire Atlanta campaign all dispatches signaled over the mountains were almost instantly translated by the Union signal corps. Presently Sampson arrived with two field pieces of some Indiana battery, I believe, under a lieutenant. One gun was placed in position on the right of Signal Officer Leonard, and about twelve feet
distant. The lieutenant, after the gun was loaded, took the elevations, the gun was fired and the shell exploded, as far as we could tell by our field glasses, a little to the rear, over and on the right of the group on the mountain. When the gun was reloaded Sampson threw himself from the saddle of his horse, whose flanks touched those of Captain Leonard's horse, and rushing to the gun remarked :
"Let me sight her, lieutenant, I think I can do better than that."
Down on his knees he fell, sighted the gun, it was dis- charged, and as the shell burst on the mountain we noticed a sudden scattering of the group. The gun had been recharged and Sampson was on his knees sighting it for a third messen- ger of death, when Signal Officer Leonard exclaimed: "That shot killed General Polk !"
"What !" exclaimed several. "Bishop Polk killed ?"
"Yes," was Leonard's answer; "they are signaling it over the mountains."
"What's that ?" exclaimed Sampson, still on his knees sighting the gun.
Captain Leonard told him the news.
For a moment Sampson's head dropped forward and his hands rested on the breech of the piece. Then looking up he remarked : "Thank God ! They killed my brother the
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other day-only a lieutenant. I have killed a lieutenant- general."
The third shot was not fired, Sampson rising and remounting his horse. All of our party were visibly affected by the incident, no one more so than General Howard, who, after recovering from the effects of the news, solemnly remarked: "Bishop Polk killed! Then we have killed a Christian gentleman."
Shortly after the signal officer reported that the enemy was evacuating the mountain, and an advance was ordered. I went up the mountain with the first troops to the spot where the Confederate group had been stationed, and there found a fallen tree, about thirty feet long, before which Bishop Polk and his associates had stood, and upon which their staff officers had been seated. On the fallen timber I found what colored guides told us was the blood of General Polk.
Thus did General Polk fall at Pine Mountain. Neither Thomas nor Sherman was near us at the time, as they did not reach the front until later.
J. E. P. DOYLE.
LINEAGE.
A. D. 1777-1659. Right Rer. Leonidas Polk, D. D., was the seventh son of Lieutenant-Colonel William Polk, of Mecklenburg County, N. C., and Sarah Hawkins, his second wife, who was a daughter of Colonel Philemon Hawkins, Jr., one of the heroes of the Revolutionary War. "Lieutenant- Colonel William Polk was with General Washington at Brandywine (September, 1777, and Germantown October 4, 1777) where he was wounded. He was then ordered South and was with General Gates in the battle of Camden (August, 1780), and with General Greene at Guilford (March 15, 1781), and the hard fought battle of Eutaw Springs (Sep- tember 8, 1781), at which battle he received a severe wound,
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the effects of which he carried to his grave."1 Grandson of Thomas Polk, Sr., and Susan Spratt, his wife. Thos. Polk was a signer of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, declared at Charlotte May 20, 1775, and colonel of the second battalion of minute men in 1775, and afterwards colonel of the Fourth Regiment of the Continental Army in 1776; great grandson of William Polk and Priscilla Roberts, his wife; great great grandson of John Polk and Joanna Knox, his wife; great great great grandson of Robert Pollock (the original name) and Magdalen Tasker, his wife (widow of Colonel Porter, Chancellor of Ireland), who emigrated to Maryland, United States, in 1659; and great great great great grandson of John Pollock, of Lanarkshire, Scotland, situated not far from the Cathedral City of Glasgow.
The children of Bishop Polk and Frances Devereux, his wife, were:
Alexander Hamilton, deceased.
Frances Devereux (Polk) Skipwith (Mrs. P. H. Skip- with), of Oxford, Miss.
Katherine (Polk) Gale (Mrs. William D. Gale), of Nashville, Tenn.
Sarah Hawkins (Polk) Blake (Mrs. Francis D. Blake), of New Orleans, La.
Susan Rayner (Polk) Jones (Mrs. Joseph Jones), of Columbia, Tenn.
Elizabeth Devereux (Polk) Huger (Mrs. Wm. H. Huger), of New Orleans, La.
Dr. William M. Polk, who married Miss Ida Lyon, New York City.
Rebecca Lucia (Polk) Chapman (Mrs. Edward Chap- man), of Chestnut Hill Seminary, Philadelphia, Pa.
1. See Wheeler's History of North Carolina.
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, ASHWOOD, TENNESSEE.
1
JOHN H. CREASE, FIRST SENIOR WARDEN.
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THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
A numerous posterity are descendants of these worthy ancestors.2
As Bishop Polk's first communication relating to the Church in Arkansas was addressed to Mr. John H. Crease, who became Senior Warden, the annalist places his biography in the first place among those of the laity.
JOHN H. CREASE,
FIRST SENIOR WARDEN OF CHRIST CHURCH, LITTLE ROCK.
A. D. 1780-1789. In Bishop Meade's interesting work, "Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia," the reader is especially attracted to the account of the Church at Alexandria, Va., where, in 1780, the Rev. David Griffith officiated. Among his congregation was George Washington, who, though "having just been engaged in the erection of Mount Vernon Church, which was finished the same year and in which he had a pew, gives the highest price for one in Christ Church, Alexandria, Fairfax Parish. This pew was occupied by him and his family during his life, and has been by some of his name and family ever since." In the list of Vestrymen of this parish of Fairfax in 1789 (George Taylor and Edmund J. Lee being named as Church Wardens), occur the names of John H. Crease and his brother, Anthony Crease.
A. D. 1851-1872. John H. Crease was called from Alexandria to Little Rock to fill the position of cashier of the State Bank. He was afterwards made treasurer of the bank, and served in that capacity from 1851 to 1855 and from 1856
2. For account of Bishop Polk's ancestors, see American Archires, vol. 11 fourth series, pages 55-858, May 20-31, 1775: and vol. 1, fifth series, pages 11. 489, 1343.
-3 -.
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to 1859. He came in advance of his family, a wife and six children, in 1839, and took up his residence in the State Bank building, corner of Markham and Center streets, which had been arranged with a suit of living rooms with a view to his occupation. Mr. Crease was a man of slight stature, with nervous, energetic action, cheerful, affable and courteous to all. In character he was inflexibly honest, ahnost to stern exact- ness, incapable of deceit or treachery. His rigid sense of justice cost him his place twice in his life, but with him "a good name was rather to be chosen than great riches," and he carried one unspotted to his grave. He and his wife were
earnest and devoted Church people. John H. Crease and Luke E. Barber were Wardens of the first Episcopal Church. The new building was consecrated by Bishop Otey in 1842. Mrs. Crease's maiden name was Jane Newton. In West-
moreland County, Va., the Newton family was one of note and the name occurs frequently on the Vestry list of the Church. At "Wilmington," the family seat of the Newtons, an inscription on a grave arrests attention. It is this: "Beneath this stone are deposited the remains of Mrs. Sarah Newton, daughter of George Eskridge, and late wife of Cap- tain Willowby Newton, of Westmoreland County, who, after having justly established the character of a dutiful child, a faithful friend, an affectionate mother and sincere Chris- tian, departed this life on the 2d of September, 1753, in the forty-sixth year of her age." This was an ancestress of Mrs. Crease, who perpetuated her virtues. Mrs. Crease died on Good Friday, March, 1872. As she was passing away, she turned to her husband and said, "We have journeyed long together," to which he replied, "I shall not be long in follow- ing you." She was buried on Easter Sunday by Rt. Rev. H. N. Pierce. The chancel had been beautifully decorated
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,
with flowers for the Easter service. These were draped with black crepe for the funeral, which was attended by a large concourse of relatives and friends. Her husband did not long survive. He died nine months later in the following Decem- ber of the same year. They were both buried from the Church they had helped to build and sleep together in Mount Holly Cemetery, having left a numerous posterity.
The children of John H. and Jane Newton Crease are:
1. Jane Crease. Married first Rev. George W. Nelson, of Virginia. Children: George W. Jr., Jane Crease, and Thomas Crease Nelson. After his death she married Philip
Nelson. Children : Frank, William, and Caroline Peyton Nelson. George W. Nelson, now Episcopal minister of Warrenton, Va., married Mary Nelson Scollay, of Virginia. Children : Page, Thomas C., Harry Lee, George W., Philip, Charlotte, Carrie P., Scollay, and Mary Nelson. Page Nelson married Hugh Nelson, of Virginia. Children : Nancy and Hugh. Thomas Nelson married Miss Withers, of Virginia. The rest unmarried. Jane Crease Nelson, unmarried; principal of Episcopal Female Seminary, of Chatham, Va. Thomas Crease Nelson, dead. Frank Nel- son married Miss Withers, of Virginia. Children: Page, Blanche, Frank, and Caroline. William Nelson, M. D., of Danville, Va., married Miss Moorehead, of North Carolina ; one child, William. Caroline Nelson, dead.
2. Louisa Crease. Married Thomas Johnson, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Arkansas from 1836 to 1844, eight years. Children : Anthony, John and Thomas (twins), and Benjamin Johnson.
3. Anthony Crease. Died unmarried.
4. Mary Crease. Married George C. Watkins, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Arkansas from 1844 to 1852,
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THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
eight years, when he resigned office and resumed the practice of law. Their children are (1) Anderson Watkins, killed in Civil War; (2) Dr. Claiborne Watkins, who married Mildred Farley, and had Annie, Mary, Mildred, and Gertrude Wat- kins; (3) Walton Watkins, who married Sue Trezevant, and had Anderson and Heyward Watkins; (4) Louisa Watkins, who married Wm. Fulton Wright, and had Moorhead, May, Watkins Fulton, and Louise Wright; May Wright married S. F. Hoge, of Kentucky. They have three children, Virginia Briggs, Fulton Wright, and Charles Eugene Hoge. (5) Mary Watkins who died in the bloom of early womanhood unmarried, a beautiful and accomplished member of society.
5. Caroline Crease. Married Dr. Craven Peyton, a distinguished and beloved physician of Little Rock, who died in 1872. His widow still survives, and, as a sincere and pious Christian, has wielded a silent, but power- ful influence in the Church of which she is a beloved member. The mausoleum in Mount Holly Cemetery, the most promi- nent one there, which she caused to be erected to the memory of her idolized husband, is but one evidence of her fidelity as a wife and widow. On the massive marble pedestal, a life- size marble bust of the deceased arrests the attention of all visitors.
6. Henry Crease. Died unmarried.
7. Sophia Crease. Unmarried. Secretary of the Board of Guardians of "The Old Ladies' Home."
S. Susan Crease. Married Gordon N. Peay, Captain of Sixth Arkansas Regiment, C. S. A., afterwards colonel, and mayor of Little Rock before the act of secession, and for many years clerk of Pulaski Chancery Court. He died in 1876. His widow survives and has been twice president of "The Ladies Aid Society" of Christ Church. There is a window
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