Phillips County Historical Quarterly

PHILLIPS COUNTY
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Published by
The Phillips County Historical Society

EDITORIAL BOARD
Mrs. Dick Cunningham
Mrs. C. M. T. Kirkman
Miss Dorothy James
Mrs. Gene Bradford
Mrs. Chesterfield Crisp

OFFICERS
Gibson Turley, President
Ben H. Davison, Vice President
Mrs. Basil Jones, Secretary
Mrs. C. M. T. Kirkman, Treasurer
Mrs. Austin M. Coates, Director
Mrs. T. E. Wooten, Director
Mrs. Katherine S. Hill, Director
Thomas E. Tappan, Director

Meetings are held in September, January, and May, on the fourth Sunday in the month, at 3:00 P. M. at the Phillips County Museum.

The Phillips County Historical Society supplies the QUARTERLY to its members. Membership is open to anyone interested in Phillips County history. Annual membership dues are $5.00 for a regular membership and $10.00 for a sustaining membership. Single copies of the QUARTERLY are $1.25. QUARTERLIES are mailed to members. Dues are payable to Mrs. C. M. T. Kirkman, Treasurer, 806 McDonough Street, Helena, Arkansas 72342.

Neither the Editors nor the Phillips County Historical Society assumes any responsibility for statements made by contributors.

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PHILLIPS COUNTY
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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On the front cover is pictured the store-boat, MOLLIE BELLE NO. 2. It was built about 1892 at Schooner Point, Indiana, had no motor or steam power, and was controlled by sweeps on the roof. See story on Page 35.

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"TANTE'S" FAMILY HISTORY

Lucy Alexander Sanders
Born: June 4, 1875 Died: November 1, 1968

Lucy, or "Tante" as she was affectionately called by all members of the family, lived a full and complete life and until November 1, 1968, never admitting to an ache or pain. Her fall in late November, 1967 left her with a broken hip, but after bone surgery, she made a remarkable recovery for one of her age. She was always cheerful, bright and interested in people and never complained about circumstances that fell to her lot. Her mind was clear to the end and her handwriting was delightfully legible. We all believe that her death was reasonably without pain and she went to God knowing that "a Place was prepared for her."

"Tante" was one of four sisters and one brother--all of whom predeceased her. She never married and worked in several jobs prior to becoming Librarian for the Helena Public Library. She will always be affectionately remembered by young and old for her pleasing manner and helpfulness in finding the right books for their use. The Library was kept neat and orderly during her term of office and the members of the Library Board constantly testified as to her efficiency.

The Sanders family history which follows was the work of "Tante." She researched and made copious notes from her remarkable memory as to the happenings and vicissitudes which befell the various members of the Sanders clan. The Earl of Stirling, being the earliest known family founder, was of English royalty and had he lived to enjoy the grant from the King of England, James I, of Long Island and adjacent lands in the then known American Colonies and Canada, his

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progeny would probably now occupy a much richer position from the standpoint of worldly wealth.

The Sanders women and men were smart, capable and industrious. They were endowed with courage to face situations as they arose and were devout Episcopalians with strong belief in an omnipresent God. While the last of the Sanders passed on with "Tante," they have left a heritage of continuing traits in the children, grandchildren, and great nieces and nephews now living in this age.

Hail and Farewell, Tante, and may you rest in peace among the saints of God.

Warren C. Brown, Sr.

November 25, 1968

(Note: Mr. Brown was a nephew by marriage of Miss Lucy.)

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ALEXANDER, William, (1726-January 15, 1783)

Revolutionary soldier, was better known as Lord Stirling. Sir William Alexander, from whose family he claimed descent, was a Court poet and favorite of James I, from whom he received an immense grant of land in North America. The grant afterward enlarged, included Nova Scotia, Long Island, and a large part of Canada, but was never carried into effect. The favorite was created Earl of Stirling, and the peerage became extinct with the death of the fifth Earl in 1739. William Alexander's father, James Alexander (q.v.), was a Jacobite who emigrated to America after the unsuccessful rising of 1715. He became a lawyer and held various public offices.

DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, edited by Allen Johnson. Vol. 1-Abbe--Barrymore.

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THE ALEXANDER FAMILY

A short sketch of the Alexander family, descendants of William Alexander, Earl of Stirling.

Lawson Henderson Alexander, son of Wallace Alexander and Nancy (Ann) Dobson of North Carolina, was born in 1800.

In 1823, he married Lucy Jane Alexander, daughter of William Alexander of Virginia, brother of Wallace. Although first cousins, this marriage was approved and sanctioned by both families. (Something in writing testified to this.) He was a planter and an owner of slaves.

Some pieces of the table silver are still in the family. This presumably was bought in the 1820s- initialled L H A, and tablespoons and teaspoons in the shell pattern, marked C A Burnett. This firm is listed as silversmiths (1793) Alexandria, Virginia. (BOOK OF OLD SILVER by Wyler, Crown, N. Y.--1937).

While living in North Carolina, three children were born of this marriage.

In 1825, Nancy--a familiar of Ann, according to WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY.

In 1828, Quintina. This is a family name, Scotch or Irish.

In 1830, Mark. This also is a family name.

In the early 1830s, Lawson Henderson Alexander with family, household goods and slaves moved to Arkansas.

In 1837, Sarah Jane Alexander was born.

In 1842, Lawson H. Alexander died.

(The D. A. R. papers were traced through Nancy (Ann) Dobson, child of Captain John Dobson.)

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Lawson Henderson Alexander was born in 1800 and he died in 1842. He married Lucy Jane (Alexander) Alexander in 1823.

Sarah Alexander (child of Lucy Jane), born 1837 died 1915--married 1868.

Matthew Thompson Sanders-born 1836, died 1897.

There were five children born of this marriage:

Maud Sanders Tanner: Charles Peake Sanders: Ethel Sanders Yaeger: Lucy Sanders and Christine Sanders.

There were children older than Sarah Alexander, my mother, and your great grandmother.

A daughter, Nancy, born 1825, married Dr. Joseph S. Deputy, and had three children: Lucy Deputy, who married Captain Penney, Quintina, and Mark. Nancy A. Deputy died sometime before 1860, and her mother helped raise her children.

Quintina Alexander married a Comfort. There was a baby, Quinney, but evidently this family died. We had some old copies of GODEY'S LADY BOOK with the Comfort name on them.

There was Mark Alexander, but I have no record of any kind regarding him. (Note: He was a law partner of Patrick Cleburne and died in 1860.) The name Marcus was a family name.

The family moved to Arkansas and had a plantation in St. Francis County. Sarah Alexander was born in Arkansas and was only five years old when her father died and twenty-three when her mother died. So as a young woman she had custody of her niece and nephew, Quintina and Mark Deputy, this care having passed to her because of the deaths of their parents and grandmother.

Lucy Deputy married Captain Penney and they moved to Colorado. There Lucy Penney died and her sister, Tina, went out there to look after the children, contracted typhoid fever and also died. She

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must have been a beautiful character and much beloved. There is a stained glass window in the chapel of St. John's Episcopal Church with this inscription--"In memory of Tina Deputy by those to whom she was exceeding dear." The Deputy sisters are buried side by side in Maple Hill Cemetery, and are near the drive behind the Chapel.

The children of Lucy Penney were Quintina, who married Jerry Cogan and had three sons and a daughter, Patricia Cogan Van deGraaff, and Mary who married a Wilson and had no children.

The Federal Census of Phillips County for 1850 includes the following information:

The same household in the Census of 1860 was without the mother, Nancy A. Deputy, who had died. The grandmother, Lucy J. Alexander, and son and brother, Mark Alexander, both died in this Census year after the Census had been taken. The discrepancies of the two listings are not unusual in early censuses.

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FAMILY LETTERS

Emory, Va.
October 25, 1850

My dear Sister:

I received your very interesting letter today and now with great pleasure embrace this opportunity to answer it. I acknowledge that it was full of news and all that it prevented of being exceedingly interesting was that it was not quite long enough, nevertheless it was very acceptable, and I would not care if you would write once a week. Quintina wrote to me that she was engaged, but she did not say when she was to be married, and I was very glad that you did.

You must write to me as soon as the wedding is over and let me know all about it. Tell Nancy that I have been waiting some time and have not received a letter from her, and tell her if she has not already written she must write immediately. You must tell Miss Jennie if she is determined to get married she must not do so until I return, so that I may be at the wedding. Tell her for my sake she must not be in as great a hurry as Quintina.

You say you are not going to Miss Black to school and you are waiting for the Misses Smith. Well, I hope that you will be going to a good school when I get back. I should like very much to be at home at Quintina's wedding. As you say, it seems as if I cannot be at home when anything of this kind is going on. Tell Mother I have determined to write to Capt. Preston for some time but have neglected to do so. I am tolerably well satisfied with this place and think that I can manage to stay until next summer.

Give my love to all and receive for yourself the same.

Your affectionate brother
M. W. A.

P. S. I want you to write often. I do not care how often.

M. W. Alexander

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Address on back of letter: Miss S. J. Alexander
Helena, Ark.

There was no envelope, but a daub of sealing wax still stuck to the letter.

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The following letter was written by Lucy Jane Alexander to her daughter, Sarah Jane Alexander, at the convent--Nazareth Academy, Nazareth, Kentucky.

November 15, 1851

My dear child:

Your sister, Quintina, received your letter a few days ago. We all were pleased and glad to hear that you were again in good health. I hope you will continue so. I will tell you all the news. We have had a great revival of religion here. A great many were converted. The minister was a Baptist. He baptized 28 and there were about 70 converted, E & S Beven among them. There has been one in your Aunt Gregory's neighborhood--two of her children joined the Episcopal Church.

The doctor has gone up for your sister Nancy. I am looking on every boat. I want to see them all very much but, my dear child, you will not come with them you left with and it seems as if you ought to return with them, but I know it is to your advantage to be where you are. Remember your Mother is a Protestant and she wants her children to be so too (don't let any one see this), I know you will be a good girl. Your brother has got you a Bible. I would have sent it by the doctor but he did not know when he started and I intended to have written by him, but I did not know until it was too late.

All are well here but there has been a great deal of sickness at the Lake (but we did not think for two weeks she would live but she is some better). Becky has a little boy baby, I have not seen it yet. The weather is and has been so very bad that I could not get down there. Fanny will not go up until some

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time this winter. She could not get ready to go with the doctor. She has been very sick. M. Hornor has or will write to you soon. Her Mother said a few days ago that Mary was going to write in a day or two.

Miss Black has a very good school. She and Miss Martha send their love to you. They say they knew Sarah would do well wherever she went. We will send your Bible in your box for Christmas. I am sorry the doctor did not take it.

All are well at Judge Hanley's and at William Landecker's the other day. I have not heard of any sickness in the other families. Mary Grant is dead and several others in town, most of them are infants. I have not written you much news, but I wrote so that you could hear from home. M. Comfort is still with us and will stay until the last of this month. She sends her love to you. Quintina will write to you next week. I hope Nancy will be home by that time so I can see dear little Lucy. I do want to see her so much. Nancy says she can talk right good. All send their love to you but your Mother sends her love and kisses too. Farewell, my dear child. May God bless you is the fervent and sincere prayer of your dear Mother.

L. J. Alexander

All the black ones send "howdy." Fanny says tell Miss Priss "howdy" for her and says she wants to see her.

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This copy is perhaps not perfect because the letter was hard to decipher as the ink was somewhat faded, but it gives a good idea of Mother love and the closeness of family ties.

Nazareth Academy was founded in 1812. Miss E. Black of Helena had an ad in the SOUTHERN SHIELD of April, 1840 for a school for girls of a five month session which was the length of time most schools ran. She offered a regular program, plus musical education on the piano, instrument and vocally, and

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drawing and mezotint. Miss Martha Black was mentioned as a teacher and the paper ran their ads through 1854. The school lasted into the 1860s.

The Bible mentioned in this letter as sent to Sarah Jane Alexander, was given by her to her oldest child, Maud Sanders, I presume at the time of her confirmation. This Bible was located here and sent to Jean Tanner Brown, daughter of Maud Sanders Tanner.

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Miss Sally Alexander was in Helena during the war and was arrested for buying boots to be smuggled to a soldier in the Confederate Army. Due to the fact that she was an orphan, and also guardian and protector of two orphan children and engaged in the honorable occupation of teaching a school, and having promised never to offend again, no penalty was attached to her offence.

Headquarters District of Eastern Arkansas
Helena, Arkansas
March 25, 1864

General Orders/
No. 18 /

Whereas conclusive evidence has been produced at this headquarters that Mary Elizabeth Lane of Phillips County did on or about the 18th instant attempt to smuggle two pairs of Cavalry boots, two pairs of spurs and an overcoat and other articles concealed under her clothes out of the lines at Helena and that Sallie Alexander of Helena did clandestinely purchase one pair of the said boots and caused them to be delivered to the said Lane for the purpose of being conveyed by her to a Rebel soldier and that J. T. Moore of Helena did deliver the said boots and spurs knowing or having good reason to know they were to be smuggled beyond the lines.

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Office of the Provost Marshal,
District of Eastern Arkansas
Helena, Ark.
April 5, 1865

Miss Sallie Alexander, you are hereby notified to hold yourself in readiness to leave the Post of Helena in compliance with the last paragraph of Circular dated at this office March 31st, 1865.

Very respectfully

Thos. J. Abel
Capt. & Provost Marshal

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Letter of Matthew T. Sanders to his wife, Sarah A. Sanders. Maud was the first child of this marriage.

Helena, Monday 18th July 1870

My dear Wife:

Your letters mailed at Petersburg and Ridgeway were received on Saturday. I am happy to know that you have arrived safely and thrice happy that you and Maud kept well on the route. The fatigue of travelling you can overcome, but if either of you had been taken sick I would have been very much troubled. I knew Mr. B. would be kind and attentive and told him if you got unwell to stop and rest a day or two or longer if necessary. I am glad to know that he kept well.

I hope by this time you have found in the society of your friends a comfort and pleasure which relieves your mind of the pressure of being away from me. I know I miss you more than you do me because I am all alone when you have Maud with you and plenty of pleasant friends and relatives to keep your mind engaged. I shall expect to hear in your next that our darling can walk a little. She stood alone so nicely while we were at Memphis. If she has not enough clothes you must buy more and get niece to help make up, that is

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if you have money to buy with. As I told you, I gave Mr. B. a $100 out of which I desired him to pay his and your extra expenses and hand the balance to you. But when you need more, you have only to write for it.

My last was dated Thursday, the 14th. My first was written the Sunday preceding, and I have besides mailed you copies of the "Clarion" and "Shield," from which you ought to keep well posted. It was very hot and dry all last week. Helena is as dusty as you ever saw it and in the country, the crops are suffering for rain. Cisterns are giving out all over the town. One of Mr. Thompson's is dry and the other will be shortly if we do not have rain.

The river is getting quite low. Last Sunday (yesterday) I worked hard on the river to save one of our coal barges. It was discovered Saturday night that one of the barges loaded with coal was leaking badly with three feet of water in it. It was impossible to get hands and the gentleman who has charge in Mr. B.s absence with the only tow hands he could get at that hour (midnight ) worked the pumps until daylight without relieving the situation, and was about making up his mind to hire the “Red Rover" to run the barge out and beach it on the sandbar. He sent over. I came down anyway, of course, very much stirred up as the barge had in it over three thousand dollars worth of coal and no insurance. The water was gaining. But we put in another pump and by dint of great effort, picked up men at fabulous wages, went to work like putting out a fire and after working the pumps vigorously succeeded in saving the barge from present danger. If it had gone down, Mr. B. would not have enjoyed Cape May much.

I took dinner with Dr. and Mrs. Augspath on Saturday. They are very well and I think Mrs. Augspath said the articles you sent down from Memphis were all right. Mr. and Mrs. Mangum are looked for this week. Dr. Rice gave a party--a benefit to Miss Emma--last week on Thursday evening. I never enjoyed myself more. I had the pleasure of Miss Blanche Gray's

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company. I never knew Miss Blanche to be more pleasant and entertaining or look more attractive than on that evening. I didn't taste a drop of wine or brandy. I gave Mr. Burke your commission to kiss Miss Blanche for you, but I really did not think you were so sensitive as to be unwilling for me to have had that innocent amusement. I have shaved my beard down to a delicate imperial, had my hair closely cut, and my friends tell me I am getting better looking every day, and wish to know what has brought me out so much, usually followed by some general remarks as to when I heard from my wife, etc. etc. etc. But it is getting time to go over home and will close for this evening and finish for tomorrow's mail.

Monday morning, July 19th. It is cool this morning with a fair prospect of rain. Hope we will have it and that abundantly. You gave me when leaving some directions about camphorating the blankets in the black trunk you had brought into the room, but I can't find a key to fit it. Where did you put the key? Mrs. Monnier says she will not neglect your flowers. The little woman is getting huge in dimensions and the hot weather worries her dreadfully. She with the whole household send you much love and miss you a great deal, particularly little Maud. What do your kinfolk say of her?

Affectionately yours,
M. T. S.

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PERSONAL MEMORIES OF "TANTE" ABOUT HER FAMILY

Why I do not know more about my Mother's people is something I regret very much and I blame myself for not finding out many things I would like to know. The D. A. R. papers of my sister, Maud Tanner, were traced through the Alexanders and this was the work of Mrs. Francis, mother of W. B. Francis, Mary Yaeger's husband, who was an enthusiastic and painstaking genealogist.

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Sarah Jane's Mother and father were both Alexanders, so cousins. We had a miniature of my grandfather, Lawson Henderson Alexander, a very aristocratic gentleman with blue eyes and curly red hair. Sarah Jane's sisters, Mrs. Deputy and Mrs. Comfort, and her brother, Mark, all died at young ages, and the only ones I knew were Lucy, Quintina and Mark Deputy. In fact, I only remember "Cousine" (Quintina), as we called her and Mark. But later I knew Lucy Deputy, married to Capt. Penney. Their children were Quintina and Mary. As Tina Penney, afterward Tina Cogan, was a little older and Mary a little younger, and they moved to Colorado when very young, it was not until they were both grown that I knew them. The two younger Deputy children were wards of my Mother. Mark studied medicine and became a very successful and beloved country doctor.

My grandfather owned a plantation in St. Francis County, and, of course, owned slaves. One of these, known to us as Mammy Fanny, had been my Mother's maid and was a nurse for all of her children. Her husband was the coachman. The family moved to Helena and lived in the brick house on the corner of Porter and College. Mammy Fanny Alexander was a tall majestic looking woman, who held herself erect and her head high. I think her people in Africa must have been of the royalty. There they raised a family of children, one daughter and I think five sons. One son, John, was, I believe, the first Negro to graduate from West Point. Mammy Fanny lived to carry Jean, Maud's daughter, down the aisle of the church to the baptismal font.

My Mother was an accomplished horsewoman and when a girl would ride into Helena on her beautiful and high spirited horse. During the War, she auctioned off this horse to get money for the Confederate soldiers. The first time the winner gallantly gave it back to her, so she auctioned it a second time. During the War, she was living in Helena, having lost her parents, her two sisters and brother,

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and had the two Deputy children as wards, when she was arrested for buying and sending a pair of boots to a Confederate soldier. She was released on account of the fact that she was taking care of two orphans.

My cousin, Lucy Penney, died in what I remember as rather peculiar circumstances and Tina Deputy went to Colorado and died of typhoid fever. My Mother was greatly grieved over her death. I can remember that we all thought she was beautiful and most lovable. She too was a horsewoman and the picture in my mind is of seeing her ride to where we were playing croquet in the long and cumbersome riding habit of that day, but to my eyes a most graceful and befitting costume. Mark Deputy lived until I was in High School and died at our home of pneumonia brought on by lack of care and overzealous work in his profession.

My Mother was educated at a convent in Nazareth, Kentucky, which seems to have been a popluar finishing school for I know that Mrs. Thweatt, a Hornor, went there. But the Catholic school did not make a convert of any of the young ladies from here who attended it.

I have often wanted to write an article for READER'S DIGEST about my Mother as "My Most Unforgetable Character." She had an inherent love of reading that she bequeathed to her children and encouraged and fostered every club or organization of a literary or educational purpose. So we became acquainted with all the then standard works that I expect would seem dull to the young people of this generation. She loved the outdoors with quite a passion and all living creatures, always having a lame duck or a stray cat or dog for a pet.

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TANTE'S TRIP TO EUROPE--1906

The other day, I looked up from the HELENA WORLD and said, "Mildred, don't you remember about

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my saying how wonderful it was for Betty F. and Louise B. to go abroad and here they are home again." We didn't do it that fast in 1906. Why, it took us several days to go from Boston to Naples. We did stop at the Azores and about all I remember was the houses were gay in many bright colors and had our first ripe pineapple. There were four of us, all eager for new scenes and adventures. Then there was Gibraltar where we walked over into Spain. It might have been any country except we knew it was Spain because it had to be, because our geography told us so. After the first two days when we were a bit squeamish, it was an ideal way to go, the sky so blue, the ocean so sparkling. Life on board was pleasant, with breakfast, then bouillon, then lunch, then tea, then dinner--in the lounge there was always fresh fruit.

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MRS. MATTHEW THOMPSON SANDERS

My first memory of Mrs. Sanders is by being stopped by her in front of the white frame school house which stood where the Jefferson School is, and of being invited to spend the following Friday night with her children. Our friendship began way back then when I went at the impressionable age of twelve to spend the night in the brick house which stood far back in the yard at the southwest corner of College and Porter.

We had a fine time. It was winter or after the fire-making time began in the fall. I know this because right now I can see Mrs. Sanders stirring the grate fire in the room where we slept, early in the morning and taking up a pan of rolls which she had set to rise on the hearth during the night, to be baked hot for our breakfast. And that morning we gathered in Judge Sanders' study, I think it was called, a room detached from the house, as I remember it, across a paved covered way, and we revelled in the books there. There was a most fascinating

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edition of Walter Scott's novels with lovely full page engravings of the wonderful heroines of these novels. Mrs. Sanders knew them all, could tell us about them and, most wonderful of all, took time to tell us about them.

That was before the days of Pacaha and the Library, as you see I knew Mrs. Sanders a long time and yet, it does not seem long, so fast do the busy days build bridges over the years. And we have been friends all these years. I was usually "Maggie" to her, my childhood's name, and even last Christmas I was among those for whom she made a pretty gift by hand. And these things express her life to me, giving herself in little natural spontaneous ways for the pleasure and benefit of others, especially children, I might say, though I know of the old and feeble to whom she went regularly to carry the cheer of books and other good things. When the Club was organized, it was natural Mrs. Sanders should be its first president. She had read everything, she wrote with ease and charm, she memorized without effort, she read aloud with marked feeling and appreciation of the author's meaning; we looked up to her as an authority in pronunciation and on historical and literary facts, in mythical and poetic lore.

She was generous and hospitable. Some of us remember the first anniversary meeting of the then Philomathic Club at the Sanders' home, the Bennett House it was called, at the northwest corner at Beech and McDonough. It was in the evening; our husbands were invited. I am sorry, of the program I can recall only my own number, and that with confusion. It was a long, and no doubt tedious, paper of "Classicism vs. Romanticism in German Literature," largely quoted from a certain HISTORY OF GERMAN LITERATURE. But I recall most clearly what a good time we had at that first anniversary meeting, how gracious were our host and hostess, what a feeling of companionship prevailed at the meeting, what jollity there was and what good refreshments our hostess provided.

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Before that anniversary meeting, the Women's Library Association had been organized, a few months after the Club was formed. We met in the Lodge Room which was in the Jefferson School. Again was Mrs. Sanders chosen a first president, and it is good to think that from that time until she passed away, she was a friend and helper of the Library. She continued a director until 1902. During the earlier years, no one was more generous in gifts of furniture, books and magazines to the Library and, in recent months, it was usual for the Librarian to report monthly the gift of new books by Mrs. Sanders.

She was not only a friend to the Library, but a user of its books. She loved books. She had that "taste for reading" of which Sir John Hershel said, "If I were to pray for a taste which should stand me under every variety of circumstances, and be a source of happiness to me through life, and a shield against its ills, it would be a taste for reading. It makes one a denizen of all nations, a contemporary of all ages. It is much to be a lover of books. In these busy days of striving, striving for ourselves, striving for what we believe to be the good of others, we find little time to cultivate a taste for good reading and thus we miss much that would refine, ennoble, enrich and, above all, give us an understanding of the present and some insight into the future."

There are so many things I should like to try to say of Mrs. Sanders in this feeble effort to express our appreciation of her worth. She loved nature, flowers, the things that grow, the great outdoors. She was a wonderful Mother. She had so many sterling qualities we will cherish in our memories; her almost austere simplicity of living, her absolute sincerity, her frank espousal of a cause, a principle, a friend; her utter lack of fear, her doing of little kindnesses, her appreciation of all true, good and beautiful things, her tender sympathy in trouble and distress; her unselfishness, her faith, her hope, her charity. It is my desire, and I believe it will

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be yours, that her picture may hang on the walls of our beloved Library--our first president, the sower of many precious seeds in the lives of those who knew and loved her. It is for them to carry the radiance of her life to others. Who, then, can measure her influence for good?

Margaret R. Ready

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A picture of Mrs. Sallie A. Sanders is on the following page. The original is in an album at St. John's Episcopal Church, Helena.

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INDIANA TROOPS: PART I

The diary which follows forms part of a continuing series of papers of troops stationed in Phillips County during the Civil War, that the Society has been publishing over a period of three years. It is used here by permission of the Indiana Historical Society Library at Indianapolis.

In mid-May, 1862, the 1st Indiana Cavalry Regiment (or part of it) had participated in a skirmish at Cotton Plant. In early June, it had made an expedition into Oregon County, Missouri, to look for Coleman's gang which was thought to have murdered some Illinois soldiers. On July 7th, it was in a hard engagement on the Cache River. By July 13th, a day after the first Federal troops had arrived at Helena, the 1st Indiana Cavalry arrived here. During the fall months of 1862 and in the spring of 1863, it was in several raids into the countryside near Helena.

During the Battle of Helena, July 4, 1863, under Lieutenant Colonel Pace, a dismounted detachment of the 1st Indiana Cavalry helped retake Battery C from Confederate forces on Graveyard Hill, also capturing a large number of prisoners. Late that summer, it formed a part of the expedition against Little Rock. At this time, it, together with the 5th Kansas Cavalry with which it was often grouped, had less than 500 men for duty. It also figured largely in the defense of Pine Bluff in November, 1863.

CIVIL WAR DIARY OF JAMES H. HOUGLAND, COMPANY G2, 1st INDIANA CAVALRY, for the year 1862.

Saturday July 12, 1862: 30 miles to Helena. Very pleasant morning.

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General Carr & Wimans' divisions came up. Found plenty of corn. The boys eating green corn. Good roads. Fine farms. Camped on Cypress Creek. The women very hostile.

Sunday July 13: Philips county, Arkansas. Marching. General Steel's division. Saw some good country & a big ferry. Some of the infantry gave out. Arrived at Helena 2 o'clock P. M. Saw Mississippi state & river. 120 miles to Jacksonport. 100 miles to Little Rock. One boat passed on double quick. Jeff Tomson over the river.

Monday July 14: A boat came in. Made $2.00. Got a bottle of wine. The weather is warm. Sent a letter to wife. Got plenty to eat. 50 miles to Memphis. 500 miles to Evansville, Indiana.

Tuesday July 15: A part of the town burned. A storm. 22 gunboats came in. The gunboat Lexington. A power of provisions & feed came in. The 2nd, 23rd, & 43rd Indiana came in. Got a letter from wife, dated July 1.

Wednesday July 16: The White Cloud, Emmy, John Bell, Acacia, & the U. S. Hospital at the wharf. Sent a letter to father. Plenty of whiskey & cider. Men drowned in river. General Pillow's house & big farm below town. Hard rain & wind.

Thursday July 17: All quiet and peaceable. Uncle John sick, gone to hospital. Got a letter from Mary Broshears dated May 30. Very rainy & muddy. Plenty of oats & hay to feed. General Curtis & Ticy gone down river. Several soldiers drowned. Dr. Guselborn gone home. The Conaway laying at wharf.

Friday July 18: Made $2.00 clear by trading. Everything very high price. Down on the levee, saw several boats. Swimming my horse in river. Several boats passing in & out. Plenty of newspapers to read. W. Richardson in the country. Whiskey $1.50 per pint.

Saturday July 19: Building a bridge across the creek.

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Went down in town. Made $5.00 trading watches. The Swan & Tesotia came in. The Soldenera went out. Some talk of going to Kentucky. Captain Pace & Lieut. Mellen sick.

Sunday July 20: About 20 reported sick. Got two letters from father dated June 22 & 29. Got a letter from wife dated June 20. Sent A. J. Broshears a letter. Writing & reading. Cheese 40¢ per lb. Lemons $1.00 per dozen.

Monday July 21: Philips county, Arkansas. 300 miles to Cairo Illinois. The weather very warm. Made $5.00 by trading. Four of our men in hospital. A man was drowned. Talking to the 1st Missouri. Sutler mad. J. Whitten & M. Read settles up. Spice & tobacco $1.00 per lb.

Tuesday July 22: Preparing to move our camp. Bad news from Indiana & Kentucky borders. Camped 1/2 mile below on river. Soldiers taking prisoners over river. The Swan went up the river. In swimming in the river. A hard storm & rain 12 o'clock at night. Timber falling on tents.

Wednesday July 23: Bad night. Muddy time. Paid W. W. Hudson $1.00. $21.00 stoppage on pay for six months for clothes. Got a letter from Caroline dated the 7th inst. T. McGill & Champion laying at wharf. A power of corn about town. Troops gone over in Mississippi on a scout. Started to go, couldn't get on boat. Our boats fired on above.

Thursday July 24: A clear warm morning. Down in town. The 11th Indiana regiment & General Hovey came on the City Alton. Several more boats & soldiers came in. Paid off $49.80 even up to June 30th. M. Geer cook for mess. Some Indiana citizens came down. Plenty to eat & plenty of horse feed. General Price crossed the river below.

Friday July 25: A clear morning. Paid W. A. Williams $50.00. Got a letter from W. T. Hougland. W. M. Richardson came to camp. Lost $20.00 by

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misfortune. Got $20.00 from W. M. Richardson. Warm days & cool nights. Some rain.

Saturday July 26: Some rain. Gone down the river. Colonel Woods & the 6th Missouri gone over river. Sent a letter to T. Richardson. Sent a letter to W. T. Hougland. Made $5.00 by trading. Drew one pair pants afterward. Soldiers coming & going out. Got $10.00 from C. A. Wood. A big singing in camp.

Sunday July 27: 15 reported sick. Out of tobacco. Had for four months. Got a shirt. Sent a letter to wife & $50.00. Sent L. B. Richardson a letter. Out $12.00 by trading. Got a letter from A. J. Broshears dated 6 July, 2 dated 12th. Colonel returned.

Monday July 28: Clear & some cooler. J. C. McGill & Champion at the wharf. Captured boats in St. Francis river. Made $3.00 selling lemonade & cakes. The gunboat Corondulet went up. Built a shed to sell in town. Beer $12.00 per bbl. Got a pair of pants.

Tuesday July 29: Ordered out on a scout. 1 o'clock A.M. Marching on the Little Rock road. Only 18 of our men out. Stopped & fed at Mr. Jones'. Having plenty of roasted corn. Camped at Trenton, Arkansas. Saw Joe Thralkill. Slept in wagon shop. 25 miles to Helena.

Monday August 11, 1862: Clear & warm days & cool nights. Sent a letter to father. Pasturing our horses. Very dry & dusty. Reading & playing cards consumes the day.

Tuesday August 12: Still warm & dusty. The Solar Star at the wharf. Dr. Caselberg & wife came in. The Kennett at the wharf. Down in town at the hospital. My horse climbing a hill. News from the 2nd Indiana volunteers. Drawed pay to each man. Got peaches. Firing our carbines. Went down to the branch to wash off. Captain Wethers sick.

Thursday August 14: All quiet about Helena. Pasturing my horse. Uncle John came to camp. Had chicken feet to eat. Writing & reading.

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Friday August 15: W. Spellman's & H. Hureng's wife came to see them. Our boys returned from the scout. Had some fighting. Four of our company gone out to guard a fire. Sent L. B. Richardson a letter. Got news from him. Singing at night.

Saturday August 16: Very cool morning. Got sweet potatoes to eat. All quiet down here. News from Baton Rouge. Jeff Thompson on the other side of the river.

Sunday August 17: A clear cool morning. Preaching by Fergurson. The artillery boys came in. Talking with Breckenridge. Singing in camp.

Monday August 18: A clear cool morning. Mustering & examination. Company "G" all present but three. On patrol guard. Had Dress parade. Reading books & papers. Horse racing going on.

Tuesday August 19: Very pleasant & dry. News from J. C. Small. Sent father a letter. Saw a large rattlesnake. A man sent to the provost marshal.

Wednesday August 20: Nothing new going on. News from Joshua Richardson. Reading a Boonville paper. Foot racing going on. The boys all lively. Out on Dress Parade. Went & saw horses run.

Thursday August 21: The boys getting better. Preparing to fortify Helena. A boat sunk up the river. Several lives lost. Cleaning out our quarters. Singing by note. Mr. James elected sutler.

Friday August 22: A clear morning. 50 rebels ate dinner within 12 miles. Colonel Wood gone to Indiana. Took Capt. Pace's mare to Gov. Morton. Captain Pace commanding. Drill at 7 o'clock A. M. Dress Parade at 6 o'clock P. M.

Saturday August 23: Out on drill, sabre exercise. Our boys came back from guarding Messrs. Butler, Gordon, Carpenter, Bonner property. Negro boys wrestling. Out on carbine exercises.

Sunday August 24: Cool pleasant weather.

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Inspection of arms. Mail came in. Heard from home by Uncle John. The weather some warmer. Heard Mr. Fergurson preach. Colonel Baker in camp. Wrote a letter to L. Richardson.

Monday August 25: 24th went over river. Went down on river. Load forage. Saw the 24th & 11th Indiana boys. Firing cannon & so. Sent L. B. Richardson & wife a letter. Brown & Forchune's wives came in. Got a letter from father-in-law. Collins of company "E" came in with 15 men.

Tuesday August 26: Acting orderly. Dr. Camp & company went home. Captain Barter whipping a negro. 2 pieces of our unit went out. Water getting scarce. Very dusty & dry. 33,000 soldiers here.

Wednesday August 27: Still acting orderly for headquarters. Lt. Hardin drill master. Cleaning up our camp. 1st Wisconsin cavalry watering at spring. Took a rebel boat & camels. Lieut. Wilhelm's trial going off.

Thursday August 28: Clear & warm. Got a letter from father dated July 27th. Got one from wife dated July 28th. Sent A. J. Broshears a letter. Received 18 letters from wife since January 1, 1862. Sent wife 18 letters since January 1862. Fighting down at Old Town.

Friday August 29: Canonading at a distance. Holey & Louis fighting. Out on drill. Our company guarding the spring. Polk Patch mail came in. Reading Boonville & Evansville papers. Went out to Mr. Lamb's & had singing. Ordered on a scout but didn't go.

Saturday August 30: Not very well. Cool morning. Uncle John horse trading. Lieutenant Mellen sick. Orders against horse racing.

Sunday August 31: A little rain. Mustered for pay. Got a letter from G. Hougland. Sent a letter to G. Hougland. John Marchel died, Company "D." Had a very high fever. Had a fine time. Joking a long time.

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Monday September 1, 1862: Some more rain. Took some wine. Sent a letter to father. Our artillery came back. Taking quinine bitters. Very sick all night. Negroes had money stolen. Hooker got his horse.

Tuesday September 2: Very puny this morning. Got a letter from father dated August 21st. Got a letter from wife dated August 26th. Heard from Bob Brown. Had the shaking ague.

Wednesday September 3: Clear & rather warm. Reading in the Bible. Our cook sick. All quiet about Helena. A fight in Company "A." General Wallis in Kentucky. General Curtis gone to Washington. Talking with Judge Moore. Good news from Bull Run.

Thursday September 4: Very warm. Missed the drill. Lieutenant Talbot's wife came in. Wrote a letter for W. M. Richardson. Had good syrup for dinner. Getting dusty again.

Friday September 5: 1200 prisoners just here to exchange. Sent a letter to wife. Receiving news. Getting better. Fighting in Virginia. Great confusion in Kentucky.

Saturday September 6: Very warm weather. Out after corn. W. M. Richardson gone out in the corn. Negroes arming themselves. Lieut. Woods & company gone to put them down. C. Lusk Dr. to watch $5.50.

Sunday September 7: Out on inspection of arms. Sent Caroline a letter. General Hovey came back. A man died in Company "C." Our black boys fighting.

Monday September 8: A cloudy morning. A very hard rain. Sent a letter to Deb. Hougland. Heavy canonading. All quiet on the Mississippi river. Some boys talking of going to Kentucky. Singing in camp.

Tuesday September 9: A clear morning. Got a letter from father dated the 1st. Got a letter from wife dated the 1st. Major Clendenin came back. Sent a letter to wife. Got papers from father. 44 of our regiment out on a. scout.

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Wednesday September 10, 1862: A clear morning. No commissioned officer in command. Out on dress parade. Sent A. J. Broshears & W. W. Wichardson a letter. After green corn to feed. Some of the boys gone out in the country to guard.

Thursday September 11: Rainy night. Lost. Some canonading up the river. The rebels fortifying on White River. Drilling on horseback. All quiet about here. News of fighting back of Memphis. General Hallock, Secretary of War, reported Lieut. Talbot wounded.

Friday September 12: A fleet of boats came down. A cloudy cool day. Reported General Hovey taking prisoners. Cleaning up quarters. On camp guard. 9,000 rebel prisoners came down on way to Vicksburg.

Saturday September 13: A clear morning. Mail came in. Our scout returned. All quiet at Memphis. The health of the boys getting better. Singing in Carey's mess.

Sunday September 14: Hauling green corn. Sent a letter to wife by Mrs. Brown & company. Heard Mr. Butler preach. Reading in the Testament. Got $1.00 worth of tickets. General Wallis in Kentucky.

Monday September 15: Went down in town. Was in the boat Empress. Mrs. Brown & company went home. Got horse shoes. Our negro sick. Major Clendenin gone home. Generals Bragg, Marchel & Smith--rebel pen in Kentucky.

Tuesday September 16: Several boats came in. A man shot in the 18th Indiana by the guard. Stevens cooking for two messes. A bad rainy day. Enjoying good health. General Sherman in command at Memphis.

Wednesday September 17: Rainy bad morning. All quiet down here. Horse racing going on. Major Forth in command. Boys caught stealing sweet potatoes. General Bewell in Kentucky from Tennessee. General Nelson at Louisville.

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Thursday September 18, 1862: Out on drill. W. Richardson & Camp & Marchel taken prisoners, last night. Singing in the Christian Minstrel. Colonel Anderson in command of the rebels out toward St. Francis.

Friday September 19: A pleasant cool morning. Camp & Marchel returned on parole from the rebels. Drilling on horseback. Richardson not taken prisoner, he came in. Singing in camp.

Saturday September 20: Good news from Virginia, Maryland & Kentucky. After comissary stores. Ate dinner with the 24th. Got a sore throat. The sick examined by doctors. General Curtis headquarters in General Hindman's house.

Sunday September 21: Got a pair of boots. Heard Brittel preach. On camp guard. All quiet in camp. A band of guerrillas caught out in the swamp. Plenty bare in cane brake. J. H. Crooks appointed Bugler.

Monday September 22: A clear cool morning. Good news from Virginia, Maryland. Not well today. Lieut. Mellen's wife came in. Our mess broke up. General Steel in command. Colonel Hovey down at Old Town.

Tuesday September 23: A cloudy morning. A rainy bad day. Got a letter from A. J. Broshears. Colonel Wilder & 17th, 50th, 60th, 61st, 68th, 89th Indiana regiments taking prisoners in Kentucky. Had a hard chill.

Wednesday September 24: A cloudy morning. News from home by Mellen's wife. Father moving again. Horse feed secured. Detar's & Herrington's wives came in.

Thursday September 25: A clear cool morning. The 15th Indiana taking prisoners at Harper's Ferry Virginia. Some talk of moving. Some of our boys out guarding cotton. General Grant had a fight at Corinth. Stone & J. H. Hudson sick. Some negroes marched out of camp.

Saturday September 27: A clear morning. Marchel & Camp gone home. Feeding on green corn. Done up some

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things to send home by A. J. Rhoads. Uncle John staying at McCoys. News from Colonel Woods. Had fight in Kentucky.

Sunday September 28, 1862: Heard Fergurson preach. Sent Ishim Hale a letter. Sent James Hougland a letter. General Curtis in command of the Western Division Headquarters at St. Louis. General Showfield coming through Missouri. Singing at night.

Monday September 29: A. J. Rhoads gone home. G. W. Morrison gone to St. Louis. Our boys fighting 18 miles below. Lieut. Carey & 15 men took prisoners--8 of company "C," 7 of company "D." Went down in town. The Fannie Bullet at the wharf.

Tuesday September 30: A clear morning. Got a letter from wife, Caroline, & A. J. Broshears. Got $1.00 worth of tickets. Had fresh meat & potatoes. Some of the sick gone home.

Wednesday October 1: Clear & warm. Got revolver holster. Captain Larners sick. Out on regimental review. Colonel reviewing. Had singing. General Sherman in command at Memphis.

Thursday October 2: All quiet here. A rainy bad day. Very warm. Out after corn. Had singing.

Friday October 3: Very warm. Took a dose of quinine. Moved camp over road. Bad water to use. Had pumpkin to eat. Lieutenant Mellen's wife gone home. Randolph Arkansas burned.

Saturday October 4: Had a Division review. A bad rainy evening. L. Nany came down. General Nelson shot by General Daily.

Sunday October 5: Ordered out on a scout. On two days' rations. Marching at 3 o'clock A. M. on the Cotton Plant road. 5 regiments of cavalry alarmed. Went 17 miles. Horse gave out & left. Returned to camp at 6 o'clock P. M.

Monday October 6: On another scout. Riding a kicking mule. Travelling over good country. Arrived

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at LaGrange. 15 miles to Helena. The place was surrounded. Some of the town burned. Had plenty of meat & potatoes.

Tuesday October 7, 1862: At LaGrange Arkansas. Some strong secesh, women. Marching north 5 miles. Saw some rebels. Returned to camp. Stopped & fed at Judge McKeel's. Arrived at camp at 6 o'clock P. M.

Wednesday October 8: A clear morning. General Steel gone. Several regiments encamped on river. Company "C" gone, Hovey bodyguard. Playing poker for horses & mules. One of our boys shot by rebel canon.

Thursday October 9: Bought a mule of John Hougland for $20.00. Several of our regiment on picket guard. Isaac Crosley died. The rebels at De Sark, Arkansas. No large force.

Friday October 10: Cool rainy morning. Signing the payroll. The 34th Indiana camped nearby. The 4th Missouri cavalry camped close by. Colonel Vandever commanding the 9th Iowa. Good news from Corinth. Colonel Veach wounded.

Saturday October 11: A power of trading horses going on. Building barracks in town. A very cool day. Alarm at dusk, To arms. 4th Iowa & the 21st Missouri had a fight. Our men went out on the double quick.

Sunday Octoner 12th: Out on a scout with 14 of our company. Major Walker of the Kansas 5th in command. The 1st Indiana, 1st Arkansas, & 5th Kansas out. Had a skirmish with pickets. Charge 5 miles. 1st Missouri went to camp. R. Drihurse left. Went to LaGrange, fired on pickets. Canons started. Fired off a gun in town.

Monday October 13: Arrive at camp 2 o'clock A. M. A clear beautiful morning. Out after forage. Helped skin a hog. Paid $50.80 by Uncle Sam. Paid C. A. Wood $10.00. Paid J. Hougland $15.00. Got $5.00 from C. Lusk. Wrote a letter to A. J. Broshears.

Tuesday October 14: Sent a letter to wife. Some of

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our boys on levee. One of the 5th ren. shot. Got a letter from wife & S. E. Sharp. Settled up with W. A. Williams. James, the sutler came in. Arrested a negro for shooting.

(Note: It was not explained in the material sent us where James H. Hougland was during the rest of October and November, except that he was not at Helena.)

Saturday December 6, 1862: Marching for Helena. Stopped at Moses Bayou & fed. Horses gave out. Caught up with the infantry camp. 10 miles to the Mississippi river. Some of the 5th Kansas caught up. Wife came to Helena. (Transcriber: This is the first time Hougland has had a chance to see his wife since the day of enlistment in '61.)

Sunday December 7: Marching very early. Came to the Mississippi river at 8 o'clock A. M. Crossed the river. Got to camp at 6 o'clock P. M. Met my wife. Got a letter from father. Colonel Wood in camp.

Monday December 8: Hunting a house. All quiet here. Andy Sumers came in. Sent a letter to father. Out on Dress Parade. Got $10.00 from Captain Pace.

Tuesday December 9: A clear cool morning. General Hovey gone home. Up in town. Had singing in camp.

Wednesday December 10: General Gorman in command. Visiting the Indiana regiment. Saw them on dress parade. Had oyster soup. Under Marching orders.

Thursday December 11: Cleaning up our quarters. Out on review. Saw General Gorman & Steel.

Friday December 12: A rainy bad day. Colonel Baker returned. River falling. Missouri troops coming in.

Saturday December 13: Sent father a letter. On fatigue after plank. Very muddy bed weather.

Sunday December 14: A very rainy bad day. Fergurson had meeting. Our regiment riding out. Had singing at night. J. H. Hudson, cook,

Monday December 15: All quiet down here. Very

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muddy. Hard place for getting wood. 40 regiments of troops here.

Tuesday December 16, 1862: 26 YEARS OLD. Major Clendenin came in. Our forces at Coffeeville, Mississippi. Out on Dress Parade. 8 in our mess sick.

***

Dues for the membership year, 1978-1979, are payable to the Treasurer as of May 1, 1978.

Our winter meeting which is customarily held in January, was held this year on March 12th. The meeting was well attended, and a very interesting talk on the Battle of Helena was given by Steve Jones, a member of the faculty at Phillips County Community College. This subject always seems to arouse much interest.

Our oldest member in point of age, H. W. Cook of Los Angeles and formerly of Phillips County, died this winter at the age of 97 years. Mr. Cook often illustrated his letters back to Phillips County with sketches in pen. It is hoped that some of these can be reproduced in a future issue of the QUARTERLY.

*

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NOTES

J. B. Lambert, a member of the Historical Society for many years, died on March 2nd. He had a great interest in Phillips County history, and one of the best articles that has appeared in the QUARTERLY was contributed by him, "The Phillips County Community Committee," June, 1976. He had placed his picture of the Machine Gun Company, 154th Infantry, 39th Division, of which he was a member and which served in World War I, in the Phillips County Museum. Shortly before his death, he had agreed to write his recollections of the First World War. This is our loss.

Mr. Lambert helped clear up a mystery that has been the cause of numerous questions in the last few years. This concerned the Gatling Gun which once stood in the yard behind the Museum. The gun was used by the U. S. Navy in the Spanish-American War, and had been secured for the Boys' Brigade, St. John's Episcopal Church, by the late Colonel Jerome G. Pillow.

The Reverend William M. Walton, rector of St. John's, 1910-1914, organizer of the Boys' Brigade and later a national leader of the Boy Scouts, took the Brigade to a camp at Petit Jean Mountain on at least one occasion, and maybe more. There they (including Mr. Lambert) practiced shooting the gun, which was in good working order. When the Museum was started in 1929 and there was no longer a Boys' Brigade, then the Gatling Gun was given as a curiosity to be displayed in the yard behind the building. Unfortunately, it was sold in 1942.

On the following page is a photograph of a Gatling Gun in the West Point Military Museum.

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IN THE JOHNSTON FAMILY IT WAS "LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI"

by

Thomas E. Tappan

I ran across the following news article in the Goodwyn Institute Library while looking for some other information. As some of the information in it was different than I had heard locally, I sat down with Warren Johnston the other day and discussed the article. His comments follow the article.

WOMAN STILL THRILLED BY RIVER AFTER THIRTY YEARS AS PILOT.

Mrs. C. M. Johnston of Helena, has many interesting stories to tell of her experiences on the Father of Waters
by Clarence Taylor
COMMERCIAL APPEAL Staff Correspondent

Helena, Ark. March 14 (1931). A full moon on the river at night, with the waves slushing against the side of her boat as she pilots it through the muddy waters, is the greatest thrill that comes to Mrs. C. M. Johnston, only known woman pilot along the Mississippi at this time.

For the past 30 years Mrs. Johnston, known as Mollie to her many friends in this city, has been piloting steamers on the rivers along the area from Louisville to New Orleans and during all these years the fascination of the restless stream has been growing until now she says that she intends to keep her pilot's license just as long as her eyes retain the keenness required of those who wish to guide steamers on the rivers.

Scared To Death

Not always has she loved the water. She declares that the first time she was introduced to a

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boat she was almost "scared to death." It was at a time when high water covered the area where she lived, and it was necessary to cross in a small boat. Captain Johnston, her husband, wanted her to get in the boat to cross the water. She was afraid she said and when she stepped in the boat she tipped the side so that it almost turned over. She kept it right side up with difficulty, but the experience is one of her keenest recollections.

Mrs. Johnston was reared on a farm but her husband's people have followed the river as far back as he can remember and it came natural that he would follow in their footsteps. So, not many years after their marriage they were operating their first boat, the MOLLIE BELL II, named in her honor. The MOLLIE BELL was not a steamboat, but a storeboat that floated down the river, stopping at the towns along the way to be towed back upstream again from New Orleans by different craft.

It was in connection with this trade that Mrs. Johnston and her husband came in possession of their first steamboat, the GRACE VELEY. They had been trading down the river and were being towed upstream by a Captain McAnally, now dead, when they were left stranded near Helena.

Bought Boat

The Johnstons had paid the captain to tow them up the river, and when they were left at Helena with no power to continue up the stream there was nothing left to do but buy a boat of their own, so negotiations were completed, whereby they became the owners of the GRACE VELEY and continued their trading up and down the river on their own power.

It was during these days of operating a storeboat along the river that Mrs. Johnston got some of her greatest thrills. Certain sections were jealous of the trade of river boats and occasionally they would receive threats that they were going to be "shot up." At such times Captain Johnston, with his wife at the wheel, would barricade the decks and

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prepare for a siege. He always sent word to the would-be attackers that he was ready when they chose to commence hostilities. Although there were instances when such people attacked other trading boats, none of the Johnston boats were ever actually molested.

There were storms occasionally, too. Mrs. Johnston remembers vividly one which occurred on White River when they were towing logs. The rafts were whipped and lashed by the wind until many of the binding poles were torn asunder but the steamer weathered the storm with another exciting adventure added to her list.

After the GRACE VELEY the Johnstons acquired the C. M. JOHNSTON, named for her husband. This steamer continued in service until 1909 when it sank at the mouth of White River. After that they operated the steamer HARDWOOD, which continued in service until a few months ago. At the present time they are building the MARIE, named in honor of "Captain Mollie's" daughter. It will be ready to launch in a short time and a christening ceremony is planned for the occasion.

Finds Time For Home Duties

During recent years, since the Johnstons have operated the C. M. Johnston Sand and Gravel Company, the scope of Mrs. Johnston's piloting has been limited to a smaller scope up and down the river with occasional visits to Memphis and Greenville.

Although "Captain Mollie" spends much of her time on the river she finds time for other duties of the home, civic, fraternal and other work. She has been elected recently to the office of worthy matron of the local chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, in which order she has long been a faithful worker.

In connection with this story it might be interesting to note that Helena has had one other woman pilot, Mrs. Nettie Johnson, mother of Capt. A. C. Johnson, who operates the ferry boat here. Mrs. Johnson was owner and operator of the ferry ROCK ISLAND,

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which plied the river here many years ago and which has been dismantled only recently to make room for the new city park on the river front. Mrs. Johnson is dead now but her son carries on the work of the river.

"I don't know what it is," states "Captain Mollie," "but there is something about the river that gets into one's soul and makes you always want to be on it. I am never so happy as when my son Warren and myself get out on the river on our boat together."

***

Taped Interview With Warren Johnston, Jan. 24, 1978.

T. E. Tappan: Warren, I ran across this old article written on March 14, 1931, by Clarence Taylor about your mother. I find some minor errors in it and would like to go over it with you to get the correct information and add any further information you might recall. The first question is, was there a MOLLIE BELL #1?

Warren Johnston: Yes, there was a MOLLIE BELL #1 but that was before I was born and I do not remember any of the details about that boat.

Tappan: I understand that you were born on one of the boats. Is that correct?

Johnston: Yes, I was born on the MOLLIE BELL #2 at Paducah, Kentucky in 1896.

Tappan: Can you give us a little more information on the problem of being shot up mentioned in the article?

Johnston: Yes. Each large farmer along the river had his own commissary and was charging his tenants extremely high prices and resented my daddy and other store-boats selling at competitive prices, so they would threaten to shoot into, or dynamite the storeboats. My daddy would anchor the boat at a reasonable distance out from shore and have the deck hands

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row the tenants out to make their purchases. I do remember that we had sandbags on the deck to hide behind in case of an attack. They were ready to fight if necessary; however, we were never shot up like some other boats were. The tenants at Graves Bayou were offered $1.00 a head for shooting up store-boats. Also, there was bitter rivalry among the store-boat owners. Warnings that their boat would be blown to bits frequently were received by the Johnstons, but Captain Claude had a reputation for fearlessness and the threats were never carried out. Holdups were not uncommon; an uncle, Will Jenkins, was murdered on his own boat for his money, at New Orleans. Ironically enough, he had not collected his pay for the load he had towed there.

Tappan: I understand that a lot of the store-boats were robbed.

Johnston: Yes, that's true, but Daddy had worked out a foolproof method to cover that and was never robbed. The main entrance was in the store section of the boat and the living quarters in the other end. Daddy had a small porthole cut into the wall between the store and the living room, and he would remain in the darkened living quarters with a shotgun. The intended robber would come in and ask Captain Mollie where her husband was and she would reply, "Don't worry--he has a bead on you, in the back room."

Tappan: What commodities did your family sell?

Johnston: Well, there was everything--hardware, dry goods, groceries--you name it, they carried them. During the trapping season, Daddy would buy skins and pelts from the people along the river and sell them in the spring when they went back up north.

Tappan: One article stated that your father did not have a pilot's license. Do you care to comment on this?

Johnston: Mother had her license first and Daddy had an engineer's license first, and he worked that way

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for several years. About 1900 he applied for a license and he got one then. My brother, Stanley, had a license but I never had one because I have one bad eye and cannot pass that part of the exam. But, we all worked on the different boats--all of us doing whatever needed to be done; at times, deckhands, firemen, roustabouts.

Daddy had a regular schedule working down the river and the tenants and other customers knew when to expect him and would save their money to buy from him because they knew that he was not cheating them. He would stock his boat well at Louisville, Kentucky or Evansville, Indiana (the usual starting places), and as he depleted his stock he would stop at the larger cities and restock, ending up in the fall just before Christmas at Modoc, Arkansas, where he had a large number of customers.

Tappan: How did they handle the store-boat without any motor power?

Johnston; They had two side sweeps, which were merely long oars, a heavy plank on a pole that sat in a swivel on top of the boat--you could push forward or backward. On the back they had what they called a "gouge," which was a steering oar that turned either way. It was Mother's duty to handle that steering oar. The deckhands and Daddy would operate the sweeps.

Tappan: Well, that was quite an operation. How large was the boat?

Johnston: It was about 98 feet long and about 20 feet wide.

Tappan: Can you give me some information as to the ages of your parents?

Johnston: My daddy was born February 20, 1868, in Crawford County, Indiana. He grew up in Schooner Point, Indiana and taught school for about three years in Maringo, Indiana. But, being from a steamboat family background, he soon felt the call of

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the river and started his store-boat career. He died on October 24, 1954, at the age of 86. My mother was born January 27, 1871, in Crawford County, Indiana. She received her first license in 1904 and kept it renewed through 1949. He license permitted her to pilot steamboats between Louisville, Kentucky and New Orleans, including tributaries--St. Francis to Madison, Arkansas; White to Clarendon; Arkansas to Bankhead Landing. She died on March 27, 1953, at the age of 83. My parents were married December 31, 1889, in Crawford County at the bride's home.

Stanley Johnston, my brother, died in the fall of 1977.

Tappan: Taylor's article mentions a boat named the MARIE for your sister. What happened to it?

Johnston: I just don't remember any boat by that name. (Note: Warren turned to Lacey Clayborne, his nephew, and asked him if he knew of a boat named for his mother and he said he had never heard of it. He called his mother and asked her. She also said she did not know of one named for her.)

In 1930 the CITY OF HELENA, a steam powered sternwheel towboat, 150' x 28' with three boilers and a 14 inch bore, 6 foot stroke steam engine, was built on the banks of the river at Helena. This boat burned September 6, 1937 (Labor Day), just below Cairo on the Ohio River, where it had been operating since about August 1936, under charter to Campbell Transportation Company.

Tappan: Can you tell me how your family started the C. M. Johnston Sand and Gravel Company?

Johnston: After Mother and Daddy were stranded in Helena, they bought the GRACE VELEY from Zerah Oldham. They used this to tow their store-boat. They decided to settle in Helena and got a contract towing logs for three sawmills in Helena. As the area became logged out and the mills were closing down, Daddy bought the F. R. Beil Sand and Gravel Company in Helena. He continued to use the GRACE VELEY

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until it was in such poor condition that they put it in dry dock in Paducah, had it rebuilt completely, and renamed it the C. M. JOHNSTON. In the meantime, they purchased the HARDWOOD, formerly named the NEPTUNE, from the Maley Lumber Company of Evansville, Indiana. The C. M. JOHNSTON sank at the mouth of the White River during a storm that fouled the rigging of the tow they were handling at the time. The HARDWOOD was dismantled in 1930.

We hauled gravel from a dredge location in the Mississippi River just above Island 62, a few miles south of Helena, and also from Prairie Point, just above Helena, near Brushy Lake.

When the new seawall was being built after the 1927 Helena Flood, we hauled all the gravel used in that construction.

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On the following pages are pictured:

Claudius Milo and Mollie Belle Johnston, Stanley Carlyle Johnston, standing, and Warren Niles Johnston, seated, photographed at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904.

The C. M. JOHNSTON.

At left, the C. M. Johnston Sand and Gravel Company on the Helena riverfront. Pictured during the high water of 1927, before the seawall was built.

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MUTINY ON THE MISSISSIPPI

by

W. H. Woodin

The only case of mutiny on a Mississippi River steamboat was told to me by Captain Charles Warner who had it happen to him back around 1910.

At that time, he was Skipper on a logging boat owned by one of the sawmills on the bank of the River at Helena, Arkansas.

At the regular inspection by the Steamboat Inspection Service, her hull was condemned and the Captain took her down to Vicksburg to go in dry docks for repairs. The repairs were completed and the boat put back in water on the first of July. Captain Charley took her up to the coal fleet and cooled her for the trip back to Helena. He also took on ice and supplies for the galley (kitchen-on a steamboat).

The weather was hot as blazes--about 105 degrees in the shade. On a sternwheel steamboat, the boilers are located at almost the extreme forward end of the boat. From there, the steam and exhaust pipes run aft to the engine room at the stern. Although the boilers, pipes and engines are well lagged with asbestos, they still give off enough heat to make life in the cabin quite miserable in hot weather.

Captain Charley backed out and stood up river at daylight on the morning of July 2. The thermometer was standing on 106 degrees before the sun got to it. There was a nice breeze out of the South which the Captain hoped would give some relief. Much to the disgust of the entire crew, the breeze was making exactly the same speed as the speed of the boat so that they floated along in a cloud of their own heat. To be still more exasperating, the breeze followed the bends in the river as if it were being

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steered like a boat.

About 3 o'clock that afternoon, the Captain saw a woman's head appear on the steps coming up from the Cabin Deck to the Hurricane Deck (Roof) of the boat. The head was that of his wife. It was followed by another head--the chambermaid's. Both women were in hysterics and were screaming, "Oh Captain! Land this boat and let us off. We are dying! I tell you, we are dying! Fo' land's sake, Captain, land dis year boat and let us off."

The Captain said he was as miserable as they, but he could not help being amused at the situation. He looked over at the Arkansas side and there was Old Town Landing. There never had been a town there, but it was a landing much used by the packet boats which brought freight down from Memphis for several large plantations back from the River. There were several fine, big cottonwood trees on top of the bank, any one of which would be just right to take the headline of a steamboat and furnish shade for a superheated steamboat crew.

Captain Charley eased the boat in to the landing and his wife and the chambermaid went up the bank ahead of the deck hands who had to drag the heavy headline up and make fast to a cottonwood tree.

The Captain said he was the last human off the boat. Even the engineer, whose post of duty was at the extreme stern of the boat, was at the top of the bank waiting for him.

In the shade of the tree, they got the benefit of the southern breeze and were more comfortable.

About 6 o'clock, the cook said, "Well, I guess I better go and start some supper."

"No, cook," said Captain, "You take the deck hands with you, get a washtub and load it with a ham, some eggs, a few loaves of bread, and whatever else you see that is good to eat, and we will cook and eat on the bank here."

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"Oh Lord bless you, Captain. We sho will." So they cooked and ate supper under a cottonwood tree and ran on up to Helena about 10 o'clock that night.

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