Phillips County Historical Quarterly

Published by
The Phillips County Historical Society

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 $2.00. Institutional, contributing, and sustaining memberships are $5.00. Single copies of the Quarterly are $1.00.

Neither the Editors nor the Phillips County Historical Society assume any responsibility for statements made by contributors. Correspondence concerning such matters should be addressed to the authors.

Dues are payable to Miss Bessie McRee, Membership Chairman, P. O. Box 629, Helena, Arkansas 72342. Make checks payable to Phillips County Historical Society, or payment may be made at County Treasurer's office, Courthouse, Helena.

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PHILLIPS COUNTY
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Please Support, your Quarterly by submitting articles for publication, by picking up your copy promptly, and by helping to sell extra copies.

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OFFICIAL RECORDS IN THE RECORDER'S OFFICE
AND THE FIRST COURT HELD IN PHILLIPS COUNTY

by

Dorothy James

One of the very few counties in Arkansas which has not lost any of its official record books by fire is our own County of Phillips. Some are now missing or misplaced, but the majority of the essential records, or copies thereof, are still in the courthouse, in use, and available for research.

The approach of the Union Army in 1862 is reflected clearly in the records. On June 4, 1862, Deputy Clerk John W. Stayton made his last entry, lay down his pen, and no further entry appears in the deed records until 1866. Since many counties lost their record books by fire, or otherwise, during the Civil War period, how were our records preserved? One of our members, Floyd E. Curtis, heard the story many times from his grandfather, William Larkin:

"William Martin Larkin, my great-grandfather, came from Cobb, County Cork, Ireland, to Phillips County around 1840 to build levees for the Horners at what is known now as Phillips Bayou. During the War Between the States he left Helena and went out about 15 miles to a community known as North Creek. During the occupation of Helena by the Union Army he visited the town quite often. On one of his visits a young lady approximately 20 years old, a friend of the family, told him there was a plot by the Federal forces to confiscate and destroy the books at the Phillips County courthouse. I presume they wanted to destroy the records so the carpet baggers could follow and take up the land. Whatever their reason, the land records were in danger.

"Great-grandfather immediately made his plans, came through the Federal lines with horse and wagon, and took the books out of the courthouse. Federal soldiers stopped and challenged his passage cut of town. On being told there was a dead man in the wagon who had died of an infectious disease, and that the driver was on his way to bury the man, the wagon and its contents were hastily allowed to proceed. The books were taken to a place near North Creek and hidden in hollow logs.

"Removal of the books was soon discovered as well as the name of the man who removed them. Soldiers came to North Creek,

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hung William Martin Larkin to a tree with his toes just touching the ground, and tortured him, but he never told about the books or where they were. After the occupation the books were returned to the courthouse.

“My grandfather, William Larkin, was approximately 10 years of age at the time and well remembered all the facts about the incident, and it was told to me many times during my youth. Grandfather became County Judge of Phillips County in 1924, serving two terms, and one of his first acts, or duties, was to have the books rebound because they were in bad condition. He felt that his father practically gave his life for them – his health was never the same again - and they should be preserved."

At the time of the occupation of Helena, in 1862, there were less than 50 official record books. Now there are approximately 577 volumes in the Circuit Clerk's vault and 568 in the County Clerk's vault, totaling 1145 volumes, and not counting tax receipt books and the records in the offices of the County Tax Assessor, the Sheriff and Collector, and the County Treasurer. However, when the present microfilming project is completed, and if all the records were included, the “records" might still be transported in the modern equivalent of a small wagon - with room to spare.

When the present courthouse was built in 1913-1914, fireproof vaults were included to house the records, those adjoining the offices of the County Clerk and Circuit Clerk being large rooms, while those adjoining the offices of the Sheriff and Collector and the County Treasurer are very small. At the time these supplied ample space, but at present they are overflowing with books and necessary files.

To date, as in most counties, there have been three methods of recording used in our County - handwriting, typewriting, and photostating. Microfilming is now being used, but not for initial recordation of the records. Sylvanus Phillips, our first Clerk and Recorder, wrote the first instrument in Deed Record Book "A" on November 18, 1820, his deputy clerks, Edward Swamson and William B. R. Hornor, and his successors, inscribing succeeding instruments. The first typewritten record appears in Book 100, page 528, by Renfro Turner, Deputy Clerk for James R. Bush. Jennette Thurmond and Henry Truemper, Deputy Clerks for Jack Mc-

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Donald, photostated and developed the first instrument recorded by this method, which begins with Book 285, on November 17, 1949. The present photostat machine, nicknamed "George" by its operators (from “let George do it"), a vast improvement on our first one, which required two persons to operate, was put into use in April, 1962, by Patsy H. Nicholls, Deputy Clerk for Gus Ladd. Which was the most thrilling event, the first typewriter or the first photostat machine, would be hard to determine!

Deeds, mortgages, deeds of trust, and other instruments affecting land titles, are recorded in the office of the Circuit Clerk and Ex-Officio Recorder, as well as chancery and circuit court proceedings, official bonds, soldier's and sailor's discharges, judgments, official plats, indictments, delinquent improvement district tax records, and a variety of miscellaneous instruments. The official records of Phillips County contain not only the legal history of our county, but the history of its people as well, and as the years go by their value increases. Instruments concerning our homes, our businesses and industries, our churchs, our benevolent and social organizations, our naturalized citizens, our rights, privileges and responsibilities, and our families are found in these records. All are well indexed, most having a direct index in the book itself, and all instruments recorded in the Deed Record Books (including mortgages, deeds of trust, and miscellaneous instruments) are also indexed in separate direct and reverse indices, 30 volumes in all, as well.

Our first deed book is Record Book "A", a handwritten, 9 by 13 inch volume, which includes instruments recorded from November 18, 1820, to April 14, 1824. There are 555 pages, and approximately 205 instruments are recorded in this book during a period of about 3 1/2 years. In contrast, in the current record book 302 instruments were recorded in a period of one month only. The most important document recorded in Book "A" is the dedication of the Town of Helena, with a descriptive list of the town lots. The plat, or map, of Old Helena which was filed with this dedication, now deteriorated and partially illegible is framed and hanging in the Phillips County Museum. A copy of the original plat made by L. R. Parmelee, Civil Engineer, and long time City Engineer of the City of Helena, is now used as a part of our official records. Book

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"A" is still legible, but the paper, over 140 years of age, tears easily and its pages are dog-eared from age and use. This old record is still in use.

A glance through the records shows that while Daniel Mooney is generally credited with being the first Sheriff of Phillips County Abner P. Spencer's bond "as Sheriff of Phillips County" is dated November 19, 1820, and appears on page 9 of Deed Book "A", His securities were Sylvanus Phillips and John Hatley, signatures were witnessed by N. Richtor, and the bond was approved by Wm. B. R. Hornor and D. Mooney, two of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas. Daniel Mooney's bond as Sheriff appears on page 172 and is dated May 11, 1821.

Deed Record Books A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, 11, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, XX, Y, YY, A-1, A-2, A-3, A-6, A-9, B-3, B-4, B-8, cover the years from 1820 to 1878, and Books 1, 21, 32, 35 to 431, both inclusive, the years from 1878 to date. The books missing are Chattel Mortgage Record books which have been stored or disposed of as of no further use. The miscellaneous instruments recorded in these books are varied, and of great interest historically. There are contracts of all kinds, partnership agreements, antenuptial agreements, marriage contracts, schedule of property of wives separate from their husbands, bills of sale of personal property (want to know what they were selling and how much it cost in the 1800s? Find one of these.)

The first Circuit Court records are lettered and numbered rather erratically, some being neither numbered nor lettered, but there are 19 books which cover the period from 1821 to 1879. We are unable to find the record covering the period from 1879 to 1889, but beginning with Circuit Record Book "M" the years from 1889 to date are recorded in 16 books. Chancery records begin in 1839, and proceedings from this year to the present are recorded in 31 volumes.

Two volumes in the Recorder's Office contain ministerial credentials from 1882 to 1937. The balance of these credentials appear in records of County Clerk. Soldiers' and Sailors' Discharge Records begin in 1917. These discharges are recorded free of charge and veterans have long recognized the wisdom of having their discharges recorded. Official Bonds from 1897 to

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date appear in the Deed Record Books.

Our first legal actions as a county subsequent to May 1, 1820, when Phillips County was formed from a part of Arkansas County, are recorded in Circuit Record Book "A", which has been bound into one volume with the next two court records "B" and No. 1. The first court held was the Court of Common Pleas, which began its January term, 1821, in the Town of Helena, on Monday, January 15, Judges D. Mooney and Wm. B. R. Hornor presiding. The first order of business was the appointment of a deputy clerk - James Q. Pitts - and the empanelling of a Grand Jury. The first Grand Jury was composed of the following “seventeen good and lawful men": John Hampton, who was appointed foreman, John Linch, James Daniels, Townson Webb, William Wammach, Samuel Fillingin, Right Tyer, William Strong, James I. Davies, David Welsh, Samuel Lewis, Silas Bailey, Philip Ramer, Joseph Robins, Isaac East, Silas Pledger and William H. Bailey. Wade Hampton, Julius Christy, Daniel Mitchell, Berry Armstrong, John H. Fooy, and Jesse Morton were also summoned as Grand Jurors, but did not appear.

The Grand Jury returned only four indictments, one being “not a true bill", during the three day term of court. One trial was held in the case of the United States of America vs. Zackariah Hagermen, on a charge of larceny. The jury, composed of George Lear, Charley Ewell, Stephen Syer, John Bailey, John Patterson, John Burrus, John Ussney, Joseph Black, James Hanks, L. Humphrey, John W. Hunt, and Arnold Kelley, foreman, returned a verdict of "guilty" and the prisoner was sentenced to pay a fine of $20.00 and costs of prosecution and "to receive on his back 20 lashes." Two other defendants indicted on the same charges of larceny escaped from the custody of the Sheriff.

This Common Pleas Court carried on the business of the County, as well as those proceedings which would now be held in Circuit, Chancery, and Probate Courts. Motion was granted permitting Sylvanus Phillips to establish a ferry communicating with Town of Helena and the opposite side of the Mississippi River. He was ordered to pay a tax of $5.00 and be subject to the following rates: for man and horse, 100 cents; for foot man, 50 cents; for single animal of any kind, 37 1/2 cents; for two-wheeled carriages, $2.00, and for a four-wheeled carriage, $3.00. James Hanks was permitted to establish a ferry across Big Creek, "in front of his present residence", and paid a tax of $3.00 and was governed by following rates: for man and horse

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25 cents, for foot man, 12 1/2 cts., for single beast, 12 cts., for two-wheeled carriage, 50 cts., and for four-wheeled carriage, 100 cts. In January, 1822, Joseph Robins was authorized to keep a ferry across the St. Francis opposite his plantation at the mouth of said river, paid a tax of $1.00, and charged same rates as James Hanks. In September, 1822, William Ritchey was authorized to keep a ferry across Big Creek opposite his house at rates charged by James Hanks, and paid $1.00 tax. In December, 1824, Sarah Fooy, widow of Benjamin Fooy, was licensed to keep ferry across the Mississippi opposite her present residence, at Hopefield, on payment of tax at same rate of ferriage allowed Sylvanus Phillips.

Three townships were created: all that part of the County of Phillips lying between the Rivers St. Francis and Languille was stricken off of the Township of St. Francis and made a separate township to be known ae "Union Township". "Turk Prairie" was created from "all that part of the Township of Cash within the following lines, beginning where the road as it now runs leading from Patrick Cassidy'’s to the mouth of the Cash crosses the main channel of the large cypress above the ten mile prairie, thence up the said main channel of said cypress & its eastern fork to its source, thence in a due east line to Big Creek, thence down Big Greek to its mouth, thence up White River with the line of the County to a point directly west of the place of beginning, thence east to the place of beginning." "Walnut Township" was formed of "ali that part of the County of Phillips embraced within the following bounds, to wit: Beginning on the bank of the Mississippi River one mile above the house where Goshua Fletcher now lives, to run from thence due west to the River St. Francis, thence down the middle of the St. Francis to its mouth, thence with the eastern boundary line of the Territory to the place of beginning." At the May term of court, 1821, the Township of Turk Prairie was consolidated with Cash Township, and in December, 1824, on motion of William B. R. Horner, it was ordered that St. Francis Township extend to the middle cypress, where said cypress mouths, up said cypress until it strikes Languille River, said boundary to be boundary of St. Francis Township.

Constables were appointed for various townships: Arnold Kelley for Hopefield Township, George Lear for Walnut Township, Silas Bailey for St. Francis Township, William Wammack for Union Township, and Isaac East for Cash Township. The following were appointed Assessors: Silas Pledger for St. Francis Township,

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George Lear for Walnut Township, George Seaborn for Union Township, John H. Fooy for Hopefield Township, Isaac East for Cash Township, and William Rees for Turk Prairie Township.

A few probate orders were made in January, 1821. A. P. Spencer, guardian of John and Nancy Dickerson, orphan children, was ordered to bind them out, as they had no property. Indenture recorded in Deed Record Book "A", page 179, dated January 17, 1821, shows that he bound out John, aged 5, and Nancy, aged 7, as apprentices to John Burriss of the County of Phillips "to dwell and serve" until John reached the age of 21 and Nancy the age of 18. They were to faithfully serve their master on all lawful business according to their power, wit & ability and honestly, orderly and obediently behave themselves toward their said master and all his during said term. In return John Burriss was to find, provide and allow complete and sufficient meat and drink, apparel, washing, lodging, mending and all things necessary and fit for their situation and cause them to be taught or instructed to read and write, "and the said John to cypher to the rule of three." At the end of their apprenticeship they were to be provided with one suit of good comfortable clothes. Various other indentures appearing in the deed records show this was standard practice for orphans and those with no means of support.

Few, if any, County Courts adjourn without passing at least one road order, and this court was no exception. Establishing lines of communication by way of ferries and roads, as well as upon the navigable waters of the County, was of prime concern to our first citizens. Therefore, the following commissioners were appointed to view and lay out a road leading from the Town of Helena to the settlements on Sugar Creek: J. Dunn, A. Stanley, and Samuel Mitchell. George Lear, William Dunn, Joshua Fletcher, and Peter Edwards were to view and lay out a road leading from the Town of Helena to the residence of Benjamin Fooy, one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas. A road leading from the residence of Benjamin Fooy to the Town of Wappanocky by way of the mill seat of Benjamin Fooy was to be laid out by John Sphar, Arthur C. Welsh, and John Stain. Commissioners were appointed at subsequent terms of this court to lay out the following roads: from the house of Mrs. Rachel Pyburn on White River in Cache Township by the nearest and most practicable route to intersect the road from the town of Helena to Sugar Creek and to the residence of Benjamin Fooy in Hopefield Township; from the Town of Helena to White River so as to

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communicate with the Post of Arkansas by nearest route; from White River to commence near the mouth of Cach so as to intersect the Post road from Helena to the Post of Arkansas; from Helena to most practicable crossing of River Languille in direction of Sugar Creek Settlement in Union Township; and a road from Sugar Creek settlement so as to intersect the road leading from town of Helena at River Languille. In January, 1822, Sylvanus Phillips was appointed to superintend and appropriate a sum of money subscribed for opening roads, etc., which money was made subject to the order of the court.

At the May term, 1821, Judges William B. R. Hornor, Benjamin Fooy, and Isaac Forbes presided, Edward Swanson was appointed Deputy Clerk, and Daniel Mooney presented his commission and took the oath of office as Sheriff. R. C. Oden was appointed Prosecuting Attorney for the May term and Thomas P. Eskridge was allowed $15.00 for such services at the January term. Edward Swanson was also appointed Surveyor of the County of Phillips, holding the office until Aug. 24, 1825, when Nicholas Rightor was appointed to same, in preference to Benjamin Burriss, who also qualified for the job. Prosecuting Attorneys were appoint for each term of court until December 22, 1823, when Wm. B. R. Hornor presented his commission as Prosecuting Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit, took the oath of office, and held the same until November 5, 1828. The records reveal that. Wm. B. R. Hornor was a man with many hats. He was a judge, a deputy clerk, a justice of the peace, kept a tavern in the town of Helena, for which he paid a tax of $10 per year, was a lawyer, prosecuting attorney, land agent for this district, postmaster of Helena, and we find that he was a charter member of the Bar Association of the State of Arkansas when it was organized on November 24, 1837, and a member of the First and Third Territorial General Assemblies.

The first settlement presented to court by a Sheriff of Phillips County was that of A. P. Spencer, who had a balance of $15.00 to be delivered to the next Sheriff. George Seaborn settled in January, 1822, for county taxes for the year 1821, which amounted to $383.41. On final accounting he was charged with a balance of $28.33. At this time he also presented the court a statement of expenses of building a jail for the county and also the amount of money subscribed and collected for defraying the expense. There was a deficit, and the Court ordered the Sheriff to levy and collect from the owner and occupant of each woodyard where cord wood was kept for the use of steam

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boats the sum of $5.00. Further taxes were levied for this purpose at the rate of 50¢ for each 100 acres of confirmed land, 50¢ for each slave over 10 years of age, and 25¢ for each horse, mule or ass.

At the May term, 1821, the court appointed the following judges of ensuing election and ordered that the election be held at following places: William Strong, Sam Fillingin, and Daniel Mitchel, Senr., for Township of Union, and election to be held at house of George Seaburn; John H. Fooy, Waitman Goslin, and Edward Procter for Township of Hopefield, election to be held at house of John H. Fooy; William Dunn, George Lear, and Wade Hampton for Walnut Township, election to be held at house of William Dunn; Zacheus Phillips, P. Cassidy, and John Kepler for the Township of Turk Prairie, election to be held at the house of Z. Phillips; William H. Bailey, Griswold Latimer, and Joseph G. Perry for St. Francis Township, election to be held at house of Sylvanus Phillips; and Isaac East, Benjamin Odle, and William Smith for Cash Township, election to be held at house of William Smith.

Some of our early constables and deputy sheriffs not heretofore mentioned were John Hadley, Deputy Sheriff, during the January term, 1821, Julius Christee, constable for Union Township; Fleetwood Hanks, Deputy Sheriff for George Seaburn, and later Constable for St. Francis Township (he also became Sheriff of Phillips County); William Patterson, Constable for Walnut Township. Early judges not already named were Richard Searcy, Thomas P. Eskridge, James Woodson Bates, and Samuel S. Hall. Some of our early Clerks were Sylvanus Phillips, Samuel N. Rutherford, Henry L. Biscoe, George W. Ferebee, Austin Kendrick, S. C. Mooney, J. R. Sanford, and J. S. Hornor.

The value of our official record books in the office of the Circuit Clerk and Ex Officio Recorder alone cannot be estimated. As a historical record they are irreplaceable, and as a legal record the cost would be enormous. No definitive history of Phillips County has ever been written as such, but our recorded history is here in the courthouse. What remains, of course, is the task of arranging and re-arranging this wealth of material and writing a readable, but accurate, narrative.

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THE FAIR

The second annual Fair of the Phillips County Agricultural and Mechanical Association was held on October 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st, 1870, at the Fair Grounds. The grounds were "some thirty acres, beautifully situated, north of the city, with the Mississippi River for an eastern boundary, and picturesquely enclosed on the west by the hills." The area was enclosed by a plank fence.

The buildings, water supply etc., were just completed in time for the second Fair, and included the Judge's stand, the Floral Hall, an Amphitheater large enough to protect several hundred people from possible rain. The track was a half mile circuit. Competition of "all the world and the rest of mankind" was invited. Officers of the second Fair were, President, Judge J. T. Jones; Vice-president, A. G. Jarman; Treasurer, Major John J. Hornor; Secretary, John E. Bennett.

Some of the premiums awarded:

Running match for a purse of $200.00, best three in five, half mile heats, Wm. McMahon's "Chickasaw" beat B. Riley's entry and Lyman Cage'’s "Minnie Minton."

From "Helena Weekly Clarion."

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"ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ARKANSAS
FOR 1889", Vol. 11
by R. Ellsworth Call and John C. Branner,
State Geologist

Following are some excerpts from this report:

PREFACE

"This volume of the Geological Survey's reports relates principally to Crowley*s Ridge - the only marked topographic prominence in the country between Little Rock and Memphis. From near Cape Girardeau in Missouri to Helena, Arkansas, Crowley's Ridge is broken in but few places, and rises usually over a hundred feet above the level of the country on either side of it.

The striking contrast between the ridge and the broad belt of flat country on either side of it has not failed to impress the people living in the region as well as geologists: how, and when, and the conditions under which it was formed are therefore matters of general as well as of special interest.

The origin of Crowley's Ridge. Inasmuch as Professor Call devoted himself to the study of the Arkansas part of Crowley's Ridge only, the following brief sketch of the history of the ridge and of its relations to the country about it is given here for the purpose of embracing features that are necessarily omitted from his part of the report.

In Tertiary times, the predecessor of the Gulf of Mexico extended much further north than the Gulf does now. That body of water covered a large part of Texas, all of Louisiana, most of Mississippi, much of western Tennessee, and all of eastern and southern Arkansas. The western shore of this sea in Arkansas, entered the state near Ultima Thule in Sevier County, followed the foothills through Howard, Pike and Clark counties, passed near the old town of Rockport in Hot Springs County, and thence kept west of the Iron Mountain Railway to Little Rock. All the ground upon which Little Rock now stands was covered by the waters of that sea, while to the north the shore line followed west of the Iron Moun-

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tain Railway, and at the northwest corner of Clay County passed into what is now the state of Missouri. From this point it bent eastward to the vicinity of Cairo, Illinois, passed into Kentucky and curved southward past Paris, Huntingdon and Middleton, in West Tennessee.

Into the great sea thus briefly outlined the water of the Mississippi, of the Arkansas, and of hundreds of other streams poured vast quantities of mud which were deposited over the bottom of this body of water just as similar materials are being deposited today in the Gulf of Mexico. We know this to be true, not by analogy alone, but because we find here and there over this old sea bottom the remains of the ancient deposits of clay and sands containing the fossil remains of the marine animals that lived during Tertiary times. The total depth of the deposits originally made in this Arkansas sea we do not know, because the upper parts of the beds have been washed away, but the remaining fragments throw much light on the subject.

In Crowley’s Ridge itself we have the Tertiary capping the ridge at many, though not all places, and rising to an elevation about 350 feet above present tide level, 120 feet above the lower lands to the east and west. Now bearing in mind that these Tertiary beds were all laid down in the same sea bottom, and that the parts now visible are but fragmentary, it follows that the extension of these beds between Little Rock and Grand Glaise on the west and Crowley's Ridge on the east once carried them across the entire valley from which they have been removed. The same line of argument applies to the valley region lying between Crowley's Ridge and the high Tertiary lands of West Tennessee from which similar beds have been eroded. In general terms, then, it may be said that Crowley's Ridge is the result of the erosion along both sides of it.

The Mississippi River, instead of having always cut through the solid rock as it now does southeast of Cape Girardeau, formerly flowed west of Crowley’s Ridge having a southwest direction at Cape Girardeau and flowing through the lowlands shown on the accompanying map. It flowed past Delta, Poplar Bluff and Neelyville, and joined the Ohio somewhere south of Helena; subsequently it cut through Crowley's Ridge at Chalk Bluff and flowed down the St. Fran-

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cis valley, and still later it cut the ridge between Bloomfield and Benton, Missouri, and joined the Ohio south of New Madrid. It and its predecessors were then the principal agents in the removal of the Tertiary beds that once filled the flat country between the ridge and the highlands west of it. While the Mississippi flowed through this Arkansas Valley, to the east of the ridge the Ohio was washing down similar beds on its opposite side, and it was not until towards the close of the glacial epoch that the old channel southwest of Cape Girardeau was filled up and the Mississippi cut through the hills to the southeast and joined the Ohio at Cairo.

It should be noted, however, that the materials forming the surface of the valleys both east and west of Crowley's Ridge are not Tertiary, but of later date; in other words, while these valleys were cut in Tertiary strata, they were cut much deeper than we now find them and were afterwards partly refilled by the loose sands, gravels, clays and loams that now form the surface of the country. The well sunk in the bottoms at Helena was in this old refilled channel, while those at Lonoke, Augusta, Cotton Plant, England, Morton, and at all other points in the valley at which data have been collected are in material brought down by the Mississippi during the second glacial epoch and spread out in these old channels. It was during the latter part of this period that the long silt ridges like that extending along the east side of Black River from near Newport past Walnut Ridge were formed.

From this brief sketch it will be seen that Crowley's Ridge has been produced by the simple processes of building up and tearing down sediments, and that it is in no respect an upheaval as is often suggested.

Acknowledgments. The people of all portions of the region studied have taken a deep interest in the work of the Survey, and their constant courtesy to the assistants has greatly facilitated it.

The Geology of Crowley's Ridge. The eastern half of the state of Arkansas is included within an area which, is comparatively recent geological time, was entirely submerged under a northward extension of the Gulf of Mexico. Reaching

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away southwastward from near the mouth of the Ohio river, in a nearly direct line, this old gulf had its western shore along the paleozoic escarpment which is approximately indicated in the state of Arkansas by the line of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern railway. The old shore line is just west of this road and rarely more than five miles and never more than twelve miles away.

Crowley's Ridge enters the state of Arkansas in the northeast portion of Clay county and extends in a general north to south direction as far as Helena, in Phillips County, where it abruptly terminates in bold bluffs facing the Mississippi River ....... the Arkansas portion of Crowley's Ridge consists of two unequally divided parts; the northern extending from the Missouri boundary to Poinsett County, and the southern extending from the latter limit to the Mississippi at Helena.

Great deposits of loess occur in and about Helena. In the Spanish Grant no. 2388, north of the central portion of the town, is a deposit anywhere from fifty to eighty feet in thickness. It here weathers into vertical cliffs, becomes a little stiffer and darker yellow in color, and is often sufficiently blotched with red to greatly modify its appearance. This coloration is due to oxidation, and is but a superficial coloring of the individual grains. It is usually seen near some great fissure or in faces which have long been exposed to weathering. At this locality the nature of the deposit differs somewhat, in places, from typical loess, being a little more sandy and the sand being rather coarse.

Vertebrate fossils. The loess is succeeded downwards, at this locality, by a stiff blue black carbonaceous clay, of fetid odor, and having likewise an occasional pocket of very fine sand. This place, which is in the rear of a dwelling, is known in the neighborhood as the place in which some mastodon bones were found, The fossils are said to have been taken from the bottom of the section at a distances of some twenty-five feet from the present face of the cliff The bones taken out were forwarded to the Smithsonian Institute at Washington. It is believed that the greater part of the skeleton still lies buried in this clay, which is not stratified, but has the character of bog clay and is quite

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local in its occurence.

Loess fossils. The loess in this same Spanish Grant, as it is in all the sections about Helena, is very rich in fossils, all of those found with a single exception, being land shells. As in the case of the concretions there is no indication of orderly arrangement of these fossils either in point of abundance or in zones. They are scattered indiscrimately and abundantly throughout the vertical faces of most exposures, and may be obtained in great numbers in the gullies where they have been separated from the loess by the action of water.

Land-slides. At the west end of Porter Street, Helena, on the east slope of the ridge and near its base, is evidence of the numerous land-slides which have characterized the region. These land-slides suggest that the great thickness of the loess, as observed at several localities, may be due in part to the fact that the faces exposed are vertical ones possibly formed in the line of a re-excavation of ancient drainage channels. Indeed the writer believes that the general features of the topography about Helena and at most other places along Crowley's Ridge were formed prior to the deposition of the loess, which was laid upon them like a blanket of silt.

Features of erosion. The ridge about Helena, as at all other points in it, is much carved by gullies and ravines. It results from this that though the east slope is generally steep and often nearly or quite vertical, it has many spurs standing out from the main ridge. Ascending one of these ravines for a short distance, usually less than half a mile, the observer finds himself on the main ridge, which is generally heavily wooded, and stretches away to the north in a tortuous line. Projecting from the west side of the ridge are many spurs, similar to but not as high as those on the east side. These are the residua of lateral erosion, and they often extend away to the west as many as seven or eight miles. A further distinguishing character of the westward projecting spurs is that their sides are less precipitous and their channels less deeply eroded than those of the spurs on the east of the main ridge. This feature gives to the surface of Phillips County west of the ridge, a rolling appearance that it nowhere else exhibits. In short the

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two sides represent different topographic types, and present fairly characteristic illustrations of what President T. C. Chamberlin calls topographic old age and topographic youth, the east side representing the newer and the west side the older topography. The cause of the difference in the topography in the two sides of the ridge is principally that the Mississippi River was not long since, geologically speaking, actively employed in cutting down the eastern side of the ridge just as it is now engaged in a similar work along its left bank. The precipitate character of the east face of the ridge is evidence that the river's work has been quite recent.

Section exhibited by borings at Helena. No opportunity presented itself to study these formations below the level of high water in the Mississippi, there being neither wells nor excavations of any other sort to be found. Fortunately, however, we have the results of a series of borings made by Professor Eugene W. Hilgard, of the University of California. These borings continue the Helena section well into strata of Claibornian age. Two borings were made, the first of which was started on the bluff southwest of town and reached a depth of nearly 237 feet. The second boring was a mile and three quarters east and a little north from the first. It began at a level 138 feet lower than the preceding and reached to a depth greater by 116 feet.

... It would seem then to be very clear that the City of Helena lies not far from the western limit of the ancient trough of the Mississippi; indeed, at this point the river is now probably flowing above its early Pleistocene channel."

Notes on the Forest Trees of the Crowley's Ridge Region.

"The Magnolia - (Magnolia Grandiflora, Linnaeus). This species has not been observed outside of the gardens and yards, and then it was not noticed as attaining its maximum development. Inquiry revealed the fact that the ornamental trees were derived from shoots or slips, and that failure invariably followed attempts to grow the tree from the seed. Numerous fine examples may be seen in gardens in Wittsburg, Forrest City, Marianna and Helena. It is, so far as could be learned, not indigenous to this portion of Arkansas.

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The Cucumber Tree - (Magnolia acuminata, Linnaeus.) The 'cucumber tree' is abundant throughout Crowley's Ridge on either slope, where it attains magnificent proportions. It is very common about Forrest City and south of there. The wood of this tree is said to be excellent for interior finishing.

The Paw-Paw - (Asimina triloba, Dunal.) The paw-paw is one of the most abundant trees in the lower lands along the Cache, White and L'Anguille Rivers. It is common on the St. Francis; but it is far more common to the north in the regions about Crowley's Ridge than to the south. Comparatively few specimens were seen about Forrest City and Helena. The fruit appears to be relished much by children and is quite nutritious, being likened by some to the banana, but we are not aware that it is used to any considerable extent by the residents. The valley of the White River is mentioned by Sargent as being one of the localities of its greatest development. It is not mentioned in our notes as having ever been seen on the ridge at any point.

Wait-A-Bit, Tear-Blanket - (Xanthoxylum clava-herculis, Linnaeus.) The 'wait-a-bit' or 'prickly ash' occurs throughout the ridge and is especially abundant on the steep banks above Little Crow Creek. Its bark is an 'active stimulant' and is a popular remedy for tooth-ache.

Buckeye - (Aesculus, sp. indt.) A species of buckeye is abundant near Crowley and near St. Francis. Neither flowers nor fruit were available and the species was not determined. It might have been A. glabra, which occurs abundantly in some parts of the state according to Harvey.

Black locust - (Robinia pseudacacia, Linnaeus.) The black locust is one of the most common trees of the open glades throughout the ridge, on both sides. It is superior for use as fence posts, standing the action of moisture admirably.

Coffee Bean - (Gymnocladus canadensis, Lamarck.) The coffee bean is of very common occurence all along Crowley's Ridge, and on both sides of it.

Flowering Dog-Wood - (Cornus florida, Linnaeus.) This tree is common along the small streams which flow from Crowley's Ridge, along their higher banks.

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The Persimmon - (Diospyros virginiana, Linnaeus.) The persimmon is of most abundant occurence throughout the eastern portion of the state. It is found on nearly all soils but in greatest profusion and development in the bottom lands of the rivers and creeks. In nearly all fields that have been abandoned for purposes of agriculture the persimmon is now common. Its fruit is too well known to need description.

Catalpa - (Catalpa speciosa, Warder.) A number of specimens of catalpa grow in Forrest City, in Helena and at Wittsburg. Probably these were all introduced. Its chief use is for ornamental purposes.

Sassafras - (Sassafras officinale, Nees.) This species, the common sassafras, has been already mentioned in connection with its encroachments on the prairies. It is excessively abundant all over eastern Arkansas, north of the river of that name wherever our observations have extended. Along the base of Crowley's Ridge trees of this species two and a half feet in diameter are common. In all waste fields, on the margins of woodlands, in dry and sandy soils, even in wet or clayey soils, it is to be found. The bark is well known, since it enters largely into professional medicine and in the more homely pharmacy of the housewife. The part used is chiefly the root and its bark. The decoction or infusion of sassafras has a pleasant and warm effect on the stomach. Though a useful plant, where excessively abundant, as it is in this region, it becomes a nuisance to agriculture.

Winged Elm - (Ulmua alata, Michaux.) This is the 'wingeed Elm' and is of very common occurence all over our area. It was especially noticeable along the ridge, on both sides, though most of the ridge specimens were comparatively small. It is very easily detected among the elms by the winged character of the bark, which is corky and arranged in more or less flattened and roughened rows on each side of the smaller branches. In the St. Francis and White River bottoms, with their tributaries, it is very common and somewhat larger than on the ridge. It does not appear to be used for any economic purpose in this section, but in many other localities in the area of its distribution it is a valued source of material for wagon hubs.

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Butternut or White Walnut - (Juglans cinerea, Linnaeus.) The butternut occurs very often in various localities on the east side of the ridge. According to Harvey it is found nowhere else in the state except on the ridge. It is not sufficiently abundant to enter into the lumbering interests of the region though its value for interior finishings and for cabinet work is well known. It is yearly becoming more and more valuable for this purpose as the natural forests are being leveled by the injudicious lumberman -- the man who dwells not on the possible needs of the future. It is quite likely that this form will eventually become of great economic value provided the existing specimens are carefully saved against the encroachments of the professional lumberer. Though of comparatively slow growth it will in the end repay protection.

White Oak - (Quercus alba, Linn.) The white oak is a beautiful tree and one which is most abundant all over eastern Arkansas, and on Crowley's Ridge. It is very abundantly distributed along the slopes of the ridge even in those portions where the soils are too siliceous for its great development.

The Willow Oak - (Quercus phellos, Linn.) The willow oak is readily distinguished by the character of the foliage, the leaves closely resembling those of the willow. It is a very abundant tree in Arkansas, attaining its greatest development in the low and wet lands west of Crowley's Ridge. It is usually regarded as indicative of poor land.

The Beech - (Fagus ferruginea, Aiton.) The beech is of erratic distribution along Crowley's Ridge, but does not appear to occur in any quantity in the lowlands to the west. It occurs abundantly from Helena to the Missouri line on both sides of the ridge, but most commonly along the slopes of its west. face."

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SOME HELENA ‘BUSINESS HOUSES, 1904

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Straub Pressed Brick Co.

"One of the most important of the manufacturing industries of Helena is the Straub Pressed Brick Co. It was organized in 1890, by the late Nicholas Straub, and for two years made brick by hand by the soft mud process, at the rate of something like 20,000 per day. In 1892 the plant was moved to its present location on the railroad tracks in the southern suburbs of the city, and a horse power machine of 20,000 capacity was put in. Mr. Straub died in that year, 1892, and the present president and manager, Mr. Sebastian Straub, succeeded to the management of the plant and operated it until 1894, when a 50-horse power plant was added with a daily capacity of 30,000. In 1901 a new soft mud brick machine of 35,000 daily capacity, a dry press brick machine of 20,000 capacity, and a steam power outfit of 125-horse power capacity were added to the plant, thus bringing it to a point of perfection where it could accommodate its fast increasing business. All this new machinery was purchased of the Anderson Foundry and Machinery Co., of Anderson, Ind., the makers of as good brick machinery as can be found anywhere. The Straub Pressed Brick Co. employs the rack and pallet system in its mud brick department, but the dry press machine turns cut 20,000 pressed brick daily ready to go immediately into the kilns. Four up-draft kilns, with a capacity, are used in burning the brick. The annual output is from five to six millions, according to the demand, and is sold in the states of Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. The plant is located on a side track 700 feet long, for convenience in loading and in unloading, as the company purchases and sells in large quantities, fire brick, tiling, fire clay, lime, cement, boiler and grate tile. The clay used in the manufacture of brick is taken from Crowley's Ridge, nearby, and is of the best quality. The Straub Pressed Brick Co. uses 1,500 cords of hardwood and 1,000 tons of coal annually, in the burning of brick, employs about sixty men and boys, and has a weekly payroll of about $450. It is a private corporation, W. N. and S. Straub being sole proprietors. Sebastain Straub is general manager and George Rawes superintendent."

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Wooten-Agee Company

"The Wooten-Agee Co., Grocers, Cotton Factors and Plantation Supplies, is one of the oldest and most substantial institutions of the city. The founder of the house, Mr. S. A. Wooten, was, in 1878, a member of the firm of C. Wooten & Co., at that time one of the leading mercantile houses in the city. In 1882 Mr. Wooten went into business on his own account at the southwest corner of the public square, and remained there until 1891, when, having bought twenty-four feet of ground at the southwest corner of Cherry and York Streets, he built a store there for the accommodation of his fast growing business, and soon afterwards occupied it. The business thriving to the extent of his earnest expectations and hopes, Mr. Wooten bought forty-eight additional feet to the south of his store and erected thereon two additional two-story brick stores, and moved into the southern-most of them, renting the others to desirable tenants. In 1893 Messrs. T. M. Jacks and Z. D. Agee bought into the business and the firm became Wooten, Jacks & Agee, and began to push its operations with renewed vigor. Mr. Jacks retired from the business three years later, and in 1901 Mr. George L. Davidson, of Tennessee, came into the business, which was incorporated under the name of The Wooten-Agee Co., with S. A. Wooten as president, Z. D. Agee as vice-president and G. L. Davidson as secretary and treasurer. The Wooten-Agee Co. carries a prodigious stock of grocers' sundries, and does an enormous volume of business in Mississippi and Arkansas. The corps of salesmen and attaches of The Wooten-Agee Co., as at present constituted, consists of George L. Gholston – inside and outside man -- who has been with the concern eleven years; Mack Gibson and Herbert Brown, of Mississippi; Govan Wellborn and Pit Cranford, of this city.

The above is an illustration of the Wooten block (picture included), showing an entrance on both the north and east sides of The Wooten-Agee Co. It is in the very heart of the business district, and is very valuable property, Messrs. Wooten and Davidson of the company are stockholders and directors in the Peoples' Savings Bank and Trust Company, are prominent members of the Presbyterian Church, and Mr. Davidson is a member of the school board.

The vice-president of The Wooten-Agee Co., Mr. Z. D. Agee, sold his stock in the company on the 18th inst., and was succeeded in the vice-presidency by Judge John I. Moore.

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Page 22 is missing.

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ago, but came to Arkansas in 1889 and settled at LaGrange, in the lower edge of Lee County, where they were associated with Mr. W. D. Reeves under the firm name of Reeves, McDonald & Co., for several years. In the fall of 1893, Messrs. Dan and Jack McDonald purchased Mr. Reeves' interest in the LaGrange plant, and from that time until now the firm has been McDonald Bros. They remained at LaGrange until 1899, at which time they had about exhausted the timber on the several tracts of land owned by them. They removed to Helena in 1899, opened an office and began the transaction of a general brokerage business in lumber. The following year they admitted to partnership M. Neely, who, for sixteen years, had been one of their trusted employes.

McDonald Bros. own two sawmills at McDonald, on the Iron Mountain road a few miles east of Wynne, mills that cut an average of 50,000 feet daily. They also have a mill at Vincent, on the same road, and another at Smithdale in the immediate vicinity.

They have contracted to handle the products of the following mills, to wit: One at Whitehall, Poinsett County; one at Leachville, Mississippi County; one at Postelle, Phillips County; one at Hollywood, Tunica County, Mississippi; one at Redwood, Miss., below Vicksburg; one at Eola, La., in which they are interested.

From these several mills they handle a vast quantity of lumber, first in importance being white oak, with poplar, cypress, ash, gum and cotton-wood following. They ship lumber into almost every state in the Union, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans.

Naturally, during their many years in this business, they have accumulated considerable bodies of lands, owning at this time 8,000 acres near LaGrange, in this county and Lee County, 6,000 acres on St. Francis River, 4,000 acres in Louisiana, and probably 2,000 acres more in scattering quantities, or say, in the neighborhood of 20,000 acres. Many of these several tracts have increased in value to the extent, in some cases, that the denuded land is worth now more than it was when they bought it clothed with the finest growth of timber."

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D. T. Hargraves & Co.

"In 1889 Henry E. Coolidge and Davis Thompson Hargraves, having grown up together, and having attended the Poughkeepsie (N. Y.) Business College as room-mates and classmates, decided to embark in the grocery business as partners. They engaged the handsome store adjoining Mr. J. B. Pillow's immense stables, the same having been built for their use, and established what was then and is now the handsomest grocery store in Eastern Arkansas. Mr. Coolidge sold his interest in 1892, and Mr. Hargraves remained and built it up to mammoth proportions by hard work and business capacity. Having ample capital, and being a man of industry, ambition and capacity, Mr. Hargraves surrounded himself with a corps of the best salesmen and bookkeepers he could find, and went from one success to another until he has an ideal grocery business. In 1899 he built upon his own lot on the lower end of Cherry Street the magnificent building he now occupies. This store is 40 x 132 feet, with double decks, an immense warehouse in the rear, fronting on his own private railroad tracks, while he is now building another and a larger warehouse across the alley, also with railroad tracks alongside it, for the especial purpose of accommodating his daily increasing business in lime, cement, plaster and builder's materials.

Mr. Hargraves’ business is divided into several departments, to-wit: city department, which caters to the city retail trade, in which he stands without a rival; the grain and hay department, in which he is not surpassed by any other establishment in this end of the state; the cement and lime department, the largest of its kind in Eastern Arkansas; the contractors' supply department, which caters to the many builders of railroads, levees, etc., that are doing business in this part of the country, and a plantation supply department.

Mr. Hargraves, as may well be imagined, is a very busy man, but he has time to devote to municipal affairs and to other matters of public interest. He was one of the sewer commissioners that carried to successful completion our present system of sewers; he is secretary of Maple Hill Cemetery Association, to which he devotes considerable time; he is a director in one of our local building and loan associations."

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A. Cottem

"One of the handsomest stores in Helena, and in all Eastern Arkansas, in fact, is that of A. Cottem, on lower Cherry Street. Mr. Cottem began business a dozen years ago, and was for a time connected with the furniture line, which he quit for the more congenial one of general stationery and queensware, in which he has won signal success. For several years Mr. Cottem had a beautiful store in Hornor Block, which was the headquarters of the school book trade, and which was one of the show places of Helena. Two years ago, having outgrown the store in question, he had constructed for him, by the owner, a very handsome 25 x 132-foot store building, with double plate glass show windows, in what is known as the Wooten Block, farther down the street, which he fitted up with the most approved furnishings known to his line of business, and where he carries at all times a most carefully selected and assorted stock of general stationery, books, ledgers, journals, cash books, memorandum books, copying books, a full line of the latest novels, magazines, periodicals, etc. He also carries a big line of queensware, glassware, cut glass, vases, letter presses, feather dusters, inks, pencils, pens, rulers, slates, tablets; in fact, everything needed in the counting room, the schoolroom, the dining room, the library.

For holiday occasions Mr. Cottem carries the biggest assortment of toys of all kinds, dolls, doll buggies, wagons, and everything that delights the hearts of the little folks, ever seen in this or any other town, and the volume of business done by him in this line is simply enormous.

Mr. Cottem visits the New York market at least once in each year, and is usually accompanied by his wife, whose taste he consults to his profit when buying his various lines of goods.

Just before the Christmastide, or a few days prior to the opening of the various schools of the city, it is a veritable beehive of activity. Mr. Cottem grew from childhood here in the city, his parents being natives of France."

. . . The above sketches are from the 'Helena World', Souvenir Edition, May 11, 1904.

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MARVELL, The Best Town of Its Size in Arkansas

"The best town in Eastern Arkansas, outside of Helena, is the live and wide-awake corporation twenty-four miles west of this city on the Arkansas Midland Railroad, called Marvell. Marvell was named for Col. Marvell M. Carruth, the leading citizen of the little burg, and one of the leading citizens of the county. Marvell is not such an old town; it has been built up since the war, but it is the hustlingest little town that ever started out to do business, and its live people are not afraid to tackle any kind of a proposition. They are noted, in fact, for their entire independence and for their ability and disposition to do their own thinking along business, manufacturing, political and social lines. In fact the town of Marvell is a typical independent American Town, and its people are patriotic and loyal to their country and its institutions, and are heard from whenever occasion demands. They do not always think alike; the people of no community do, but they are honest and earnest and have the respect and confidence of the community at large. Situated at practically the center of the county with a rich country surrounding it, owned and tilled for the most part by an intelligent and thrifty white population, Marvell is well located. Her people have done the rest.

For instance, the Garner Stave Company, Frank R. Garner, president, and Ike Mannheimer, secretary and treasurer, does a mercantile business running to an average of $100,000 per annum. The Garner Stave Company has a thoroughly up-to-date store building, carries a big stock of miscellaneous goods, including everything needed by a farming and manufacturing people, have half a dozen salesmen, and during the recent holidays had no less than fourteen people waiting on the trade in its crowded store. The company owns a big stave plant in Helena, and is engaged in the manufacture of gum staves. It also has a big cooperage plant at Waukegan, Ill., where the product of its Helena plant is put together for the trade. It is a live concern and has been very successul.

Then there is the firm of Moore & Webster, & co-partnership consisting of the firm of C. L. Moore & Bros., of this city, and Mr. Daniel M. Webster, of Marvell. Mr. Webster is a merchant, farmer and land owner, being the owner of considerable bodies of improved and unimproved lands. He is a thoroughly reliable man in very way, and under his able management the firm of Moore & Webster does an immense business. Moore & Webster own the only brick store in Marvell, having just moved in-

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to it. It is a well appointed home for their business.

Alongside of the Moore & Webster store is the Bank of Marvell, an institution not yet a year old, but which is doing a phenomenal business. The capital of the Bank of Marvell is $20,000, and its deposits already aggregate near $50,000. Mr. Samuel L. Cooke, a leading merchant of Marvell, and a native of the county, is president of the bank, while J. Boyd Swift, a young but level-headed and capable gentleman, is the cashier. The stock of the Bank of Marvell is owned principally in Marvell and vicinity. J. L. Turner, of Cypert, a nearby town, is the vice-president of the Bank of Marvell.

Cooke Bros., consisting of Samuel and Thomas Cooke, sons of the late W. C. Cooke, of Cypert, himself a lifelong merchant, is another of the leading mercantile firms of Marvell. These young gentlemen commenced business at Cypert and afterwards moved to Marvell. They do a large but a conservative business, and are gentlemen of probity and worth. The senior member of the firm, Samuel L. Cooke, has represented Phillips county in the legislature on two different occasions to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. He is the president of the Bank of Marvell and has a handsome and comfortable home at Marvell.

One of the best merchants in Marvell, or any other town for that matter is J. L. Beard. Mr. Beard has never been consumed with a desire to get rich quick. On the contrary he has been content to do a safe, conservative, reliable business, within his capital and his ability to manage. It is a current belief in Marvell that Mr. Beard always collects 100 cents on the dollar of his credit business. He is a man of sound opinions and convictions, and is held in high esteem by his fellow citizens.

Henry C. Daniel is another of the leading merchants of Marvell. He is a partner in the firm of V. E. Cooke & Co., of Cypert, which is managed by Mr. Virgil E. Cooke, but looks after his Marvell business himself. Mr. Daniel is one of the thriftiest citizens in the county, is a farmer, dealer in lands, cattle, etc., and is known as a tireless and successful trader. His mercantile business is one of the best in the thriving town of Marvell.

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L. J. McKinney & Co., dealers in general merchandise, farm implements, hardware, etc., is another strong concern. Mr. McKinney admitted to partnership with him only a few months ago, Messrs. Elijah Whitfield and Benjamin Knowles, two well-equipped young gentlemen, thus making a combination hard to beat. Mr. Whitfield is a good business man, who has held several places of importance in neighboring communities, while Mr. Knowles was for several years one of the most valuable men in the employ of N. Straub Sons, of this city. Mr. McKinney, the senior of the firm, is a stockholder in the Bank of Marvell, and largely interested in both the Marvell Gin Company and the Tate Gin Company, both thriving institutions. He is also the owner of valuable farming lands in the vicinity, and is as good a man as you will find in any community.

The oldest establishment in the town, however, and the parent of several of the above-named concerns, is that of A. Hirsch & Co., established by Adolph Hirsch many years ago. Mr. Hirsch is a born merchant, a man of indefatigable energy and fine business acumen. He has from time to time admitted his best clerks to co-partnership with him, and as they grew older and stronger financially they branched out for themselves and are now leading citizens of the community, which speaks well for them and for Mr. Hirsch. At this time the firm consists of Adolph Hirsch and Abe Hanft. A. Hirsch & Co. have always done an immense mercantile business, and have from time to time accumulated valuable lands in the vicinity. Mr. Hirsch has an interesting family, who reside the greater part of the time in Germany, although he has a good home at Marvell. Mr. Hirsch is at this time in Germany with his family, and returns to Marvell once a year, usually in the fall, and spends a few weeks with his partner, who is the manager, and a very successful one, too, of the business.

Harry Grauman is another dealer in general merchandise and plantation supplies who does a large and lucrative business. He is not as long established as some of the others, but he is industrious, energetic and smart, and is rapidly pushing his way to the front.

Other business houses are: Sidney Hudson, groceries, a live concern; Dawson & Oliphant; W. G. Kendel; J. L. Belsha; J. K. Moody, druggist; S. H. Patch, undertaker; the Marvell Telephone Exchange, of which Mrs. Ada Evans is the efficient manager.

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McDonald Bros., consisting of Banks McDonald and Sam McDonald, are engaged in the manufacture of hickory spokes at Marvell, and are doing a big business in that line. They are wide-awake,. industrious men, thoroughly understanding the timber business in all its aspects. McDonald Bros. turn out as good a hickory spoke as can be found in the country, and have no difficulty whatever in disposing of their large output to regular customers. Their factory is one of the arteries of the town of Marvell.

The postoffice of a live town like Marvell, of course, transacts considerable business. Mr. I. Mass, one of the employees of A. Hirsch & Co., is the nominal postmaster, but he has an able assistant in Miss Willie Carlock, who has full charge of the office and who is implicitly relied upon, both by Mr. Maas and the community.

The Marvell Hotel, a popular hostelry, is now under the charge of Mrs. Brooker, a most capable and accommodating lady, and one who understands her business thoroughly. The hotel is a large two-story structure and is well kept and clean.

Lucien Davison and Will Molitor, two of the cleverest young men of the community, are proprietors of a number one livery stable, and do a thriving business in that line. They haul hundreds upon hundreds of traveling men and their sample trunks to and from the various outlying country stores and Marvell, and have good teams and reliable drivers at all times.

The public school at Marvell is one of the best to be found in any community. The principal is Mr. Ferd Humphries, younger son of the late J. F. Humphries, a young man of large experience and undoubted talent as a teacher. Mr. Humphries has an able corps of assistants, including his wife, who is also a splendid teacher.

Drs. G. E. Penn and H. M. Thompson, two very reliable and popular physicians, reside at Marvell and practice their profession in that town and the adjoining country.

The town of Marvell is presided over by the following officials, to wit: Mayor - Dr. G. E. Penn; Recorder – Walter Underwood; City Marshal - Joseph Impey."

.....From the "Helena World”, May 11, 1904.

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ARKANSAS IN 1836

by
D. Allen Stokes
History Department
Memphis State University

Ambrose Hundley Sevier, Delegate from Arkansas Territory to the Twenty-Third Congress, offered the House of Representatives, December 17, 1833, a resolution instructing that its Committee on Territories consider allowing the citizens of Arkansas to draft a constitution preparatory to its admission into the Union ¹. Thus began a series of events which culminated June 15, 1836, with the signing by President Jackson of the Arkansas statehood bill ². News that the House had passed the bill, assuring its adoption, reached Arkansas in the form of the June 14 issue of the Washington National Intellegencer, which "a Friend in Baltimore" sent William T. Yeomans, editor of the Helena Constitutional Journal.³ Yeomans hurried it along by an express to Little Rock, where it arrived June 28, in time for William E. Woodruff, editor of the Arkansas Gazette, to publish its exciting news in the Gazette of that date.⁴

The new state stood astride the frontier. On the one hand were the settled communities of middle Tennessee, the lower Ohio valley and southeastern Louisiana; on the other were Texans, Indians, and Mexicans, ill-defined borders, raids, and revolution. Passing through the state were settlers bound for cheap Texas land, adventurers joining the Texas fight for independence, Indians herded toward reservations they had never seen, and traders who would barter or traffic with any or all the others.

Arkansas pad some 53,000 square miles and in 1835 had 52,240 people.⁵ According to an incomplete tabulation of this census of 1835, which listed a total population of 51,809, there were 9,269 slaves and 209 free Negroes in the territory.⁶ Substantial portions of the inhabitants of the "river" counties were slave.⁷ ‘The farmers of these areas had cheap transportation and could export cotton in quantities large enough to warrant heavy investment in slaves. The state had only the most primitive roads; its upland areas were as yet thinly settled and hill settlers were often confined to subsistence crops. In all Arkansas as late as 1838 fewer than 2,250,000 acres were taxed.⁸

Although river transportation was the best available it was by no means ideal. The Arkansas River would occasionally fall so low that steamboats were unable to visit Little Rock. This of course dried up news and commerce and harassed editors, merchants and travelers.⁹ The St. Francis, the Black, and the Red Rivers were all interrupted by "rafts," the accumulations of countless trees washed into a river's channel where they wedged together so tightly that they made floors upon which other vegatation eventually grew.¹⁰ Less formidable but more treacherous was the soli-

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tary tree which lodged in a river's bed and in time became a "snag" which could tear open the hull of a steamboat. Periodically "snag-boas" were put to work removing these menaces to navigation.¹¹

The rivers of the state, so vital to transportation, could change from blessings to curses in only a few days. The Arkansas River rose in September, 1836, to a mark higher than any since the 1833 overflow and severely damaged crops in its flood plain.¹² Earlier in 1836, during the Mississippi River's annual spring flood, Editor Yeomans wrote that there was almost as big a river behind Helena as before it. "One foot rise in the river now, and we should require a lead and line to find the town."¹³

Arkansans wore prospering in 1836 and skilled craftsmen were in great demand.¹⁴ The business season began early in New Orleans that fall,¹⁵ which, of course, pleased the planters upriver. During the following winter a correspondent of the Gazette wrote that business was "quite lively" in Batesville, Arkansas, and noted that the "country around us is in a thriving condition – produce high - and times generally brisk.¹⁶

Batesville was the seat of justice for Independence County. It was near the practical head of navigation on the White River, the largest community in north central Arkansas, and growing. Town lots increased in value 300% during 1836 in spite of the reduced corn crop in the area caused by heavy rains during the growing season.¹⁷ Batesville had a jockey club and September 29 was announced as the opening day of its regular fall meet.¹⁸

Fayetteville, the other village of any size in north Arkansas, lay in the northwest corner of the state, less than thirty miles from the Cherokee line. The town had been settled in 1828,¹⁹ and was one of the very few important settlements in the state not located on a navigable stream. It was the seat of Washington County which wag the most populous county in the state,²⁰ and perhaps had the most diversified economy. By 1838 Washington County would have four of the state’s nineteen tanyards, nine of its twenty-three distilleries, and seven of its forty-nine sawmills; it had 9.35% of the state's white population, but only 3.10% of the state's slaves and 3.14% of the taxable land.²¹ Town lots in the county - and Fayetteville was the site of virtually all there were – were valued at $36,152, out of a state total of $601 ,903 while merchants’ and brokers’ stock in the county was valued at $4,685, with a state total of $401,932.²² The disparaty between the value of town lots and the value of merchants' stock would perhaps indicate considerable speculation in lots and an accompanying lack of town development.

Washington, Arkansas, county seat of Hempstead County, lay close to the terminus of the military road that ran southwest from Hix's Ferry on the Current River at the Missouri line through Little Rock to a point on the Red River near the present town of Fulton, Arkansas, and close to the area in dispute between the Republic of Texas and the United States. Washington was in the midst of a great

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farming country: 226,364 acres of taxed land, about 10.06% of the state’s total, late within Hempstead County. It had only 4.47% of the state’s white population, but 10.01% of the state's slaves, and its citizens paid $2,103.60 (9.94%) of the $21,159.74 ¾ collected in state taxes in 1838.²³ Soil in the valley of the Red River was rich, but as yet the river's gigantic raft posed a transportation problem, which though attacked by men of means - as witness the county's huge share of the state's slaves and taxes collected - nevertheless discouraged many poorer farmers. Since Washington was the principal settlement in the county it may be surmised that most of the $86,324 assessed on town lots and $4,039 assessed on merchants’ and brokers’ stock²⁴ represented mainly Washington values. Again, as in the instance of Fayetteville, the gap between lot and stock values would indicate speculation in lots.

On the Mississippi River, roughly half-way between the town of Memphis, Tennessee, and the mouth of the Arkansas River, lay Helena, second in importance among the towns of Arkansas only to Little Rock. It enjoyed year-round water transportation, something denied the other villages of the state with the exception of Arkansas Post. In 1836 William T. Yeomans began publication of a weekly newspaper, the Constitutional Journal, successor to John Steele's Herald.²⁵ Until the spring of 1836, expansion and development of the business district had been retarded by most of the choice lots in the area being owned by "minor heirs", who could lease, but not sell. "Consequently the buildings (evidently those erected by the lessees) are rather of a temporary kind." Matters were improving, however, and several persons were now erecting "large" buildings on Front Street "which bid fair to be ornaments to the town," wooden though they were.²⁶ Land values in Helena were rising rapidly. Lots that had been purchased for $100 or less early in 1835 could not be bought in June, 1836, for less than a $1000.²⁷ By 1838 Phillips County had town lots valued at $120,445 and merchants’ and brokers’ stocks worth $48,600; in all, property owners in the county paid $3,088.10 in state taxes,²⁸ about 14.6% of the state total. After the summer "sickly season," business revived as usual, and during that fall of 1836 many newcomers appeared in the town.²⁹

Several old settlements lay along the Arkansas River. Arkansas Post was the oldest village in the state and lay on the first high ground above the mouth of the river. It was the county seat of Arkansas County and in 1838 had town lots valued at $14,480 and merchants’ and brokers’ stock valued at $63,659; the county paid $1,230.92 1/2 (5.8%) of state taxes collected that year.³⁰ Another river settlement lay on and near the Pine Bluffs, about half-way between Arkansas Post and Little Rock. The community of Pine Bluffs was the seat of justice of Jefferson County, which in 1838, after considerable growth of its county seat during 1836-1838, had town lots valued at $16,900 and merchants' and brokers’ stock valued at $55,800. Jefferson also had ten of the state's forty-nine sawmills,³¹ which would

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indicate considerable demand for lumber and hence would imply growth. The ratio of stock and lot values indicate both Arkansas River settlements had strong financial position.

Lying on the south bank of the Arkansas River, only a few miles east of the geographic center of the state, was Little Rock, capital of the state and its political, economic, and social center. Its importance in these fields was enhanced by its transportation facilities. It lay at the junction of three important lines of communication: the Arkansas River, the road west from Memphis to the Indian territories, and the road from St. Louis to the Red River; all these routes intersected Little Rock. The town lay on high ground safe above even the highest overflows. Travelers from the north and east almost always passed through the town on their way to western Arkansas, Texas, or the Indian reserves. Travelers might use the Washita – or Ouachita - River, or as much of the Red River as its raft would permit to reach southern and southwestern Arkansas and perhaps the Choctaw Nation, but most other visitors to the far outposts of civilization in the southwestern United States passed through Little Rock.

The state's capital had three weekly newspapers. The oldest of these was the Arkansas Gazette established by William E. Woodruff at the Post of Arkansas in 1819 and moved by him to Little Rock in 1821 when the territorial government shifted upriver.³² In 1830 the Arkansas Advocate began publication, edited by Charles P. Bertrand.³³ By January 1835, Albert Pike was operating the Advocate as sole proprietor; he took C. E. Rice into partnership the following April. But Rice soon left the paper and the state to join the Texans in their fight against Mexico and was killed at the battle of San Patricio.³⁴ During the winter of 1834-1835 Andrew Jackson Hunt purchased from John Steele the printing press and subscription lists he had used to publish the short-lived Political Intelligencer, and on January 30, 1835, Hunt published the first issue of the Times.³⁵ Late that spring he sold a half-interest in the Times to Jefferson Smith, who became its printer.³⁶ Hunt died September 16, and some two weeks later Smith took into partnership John H. Reed, who became sole proprietor in May, 1836, when Smith retired from the business.³⁷

Little Rock had a jockey club and Bertrand was its secretary in the fall of 1836.³⁸ The town lacked a fire company, but after fire destroyed the kitchen of Daniel Ringo, attorney and member of the city council,³⁹ editor Hunt proposed that an engine be acquired and a fire-fighting company be formed.⁴⁰ His suggestion was not immediately acted upon, although as matters developed, the proposal was seminal.

Like Batesville and Helena, Little Rock was unmistakably prosperous in 1836. During the usually slack summer months Hunt noticed that business was brisk and the taverns were crowded with strangers.⁴¹ In 1838 Pulaski County had town lots valued at

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$29,745 (48.5% of the state's total) and merchants' and brokers' stock valued at $107,606 (26.3% of the state's total). The county paid a total of $1,948.86 in state taxes (9.21% of the total).⁴²

The new state had no tax-supported schools, but each of the larger communities and many of the smaller ones had at least one teacher, who more or less supported himself. A school referred to only as "Reed's school" was open in Pulaski County in 1835⁴³ and Aaron W. Lyons was operating a school at Batesville during that year.⁴⁴ In April, 1836, J. S. Hornor announced the opening of a new school in Helena. Its first quarter would begin April 25 and classes would continue until August 28, five days a week, 8 a. m. to 5 p. m. each school day. Hornor charged $6.00 each quarter for instruction in orthography, reading, writing, and arithmetic; he charged an additional $8.00 if he included English grammar, geography, history, and composition; $10.00 was the added tuition for those who wanted to study algebra, geometry, surveying, and Latin.⁴⁵

Other schools in the state had more elaborate organization and facilities. Spring Hill Academy, which for a time was one of the state's leading boarding schools for girls, was in operation in the spring of 1836.⁴⁶ The Fayetteville Female Academy was governed by a board of trustees which included several of the important political figures of Washington County.⁴⁷ During the course of the year, Lyon's school at Batesville was re-organized and re-introduced to the public as the Batesville Academy, complete with a set of trustees which included Lyons himself.⁴⁸

The people in 1836 were relatively unconcerned about religious matters. The newspapers carried little information about church activities and noted no unusual religious fervor. Very little was to be found of frontier revivalism. There was no evidence, either, of hostility toward organized worship; apparently no one objected when the officials of the constitutional convention obtained permission to use the Baptist Meeting House in Little Rock for their deliberations.⁴⁹

Religious enthusiasm was weak or lacking, but certain of the reform movements of the nation found expression in the state. Several anti-gambling societies were organized during the summer of 1835 and in Little Rock a skirmish occurred among the three editors over the matter of professional gamblers, with Pike defending and Hunt and Woodruff castigating the black-leg gentry.⁵⁰

This then was the newest state of the southwest. It had a scattered population of some 52,000, 80% of whom were white. Slavery was an accepted institution and the slaves, even more than the population as a whole, were grouped along the principal rivers of the state. The great staple of Arkansas was cotton, and steamboats carried each year's crop to New Orleans, incurring heavy risk of being sunk by snags or left high and dry by low water.

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River transportation, treacherous as it often was, remained in 1836 the only facility for shipping heavy freight long distances, for the state's roads were usually poor and often little more than trails. There were few settlements that had developed towns in their midst. No census figures are available for any of these communities in the mid-1830's, but indirectly an approximation can be calculated for the population of Little Rock in 1835. In 1842 Pulaski County had a population of 4,356⁵¹ and Little Rock, 1,531. (52) The county had 3,513 people in 1835,⁵³ so if county and town grew in even proportion from 1835 to 1842, there were 1,239 people living in the state capital in 1835. Arkansas had four weekly newspapers, a scattering of private schools, an indefinite number of churches. It was remote from the centers of civilization and this remoteness was enhanced by bad roads and rivers filled with snags.

This was the stage upon which began the drama of statehood.

This paper was given before the Phillips County Historical Society on November 24, 1963.

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Footnotes:

¹House Journal 23 Cong., 1 sess., 83-84.

²Lonnie Joe White, Arkansas Territorial Politics, 1819-1836 (Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Texas, 1961), 407.

³Helena, Arkansas, Constitutional Journal, June 30, 1836. (hereafter cited as Journal.)

⁴Little Rock, Arkansas, Arkansas Gazette, June 28, 1836. (hereafter cited as Gazette.)

⁵Abstract of Territorial Census, dated January 6, 1836. Territorial Papers, XXI, 1144-1145.

⁶Gazette, August 25, 1835.

⁷Arkansas, Chicot, Hempstead, Jefferson, Lafayette, Miller, and Union Counties had a slave population of more than 20% of their total number. These seven counties had 4,783 slaves, 49.76% of the State's total, and 39,239 whites, 32.03% of the white population of Arkansas. Derived from census figures in ibid.

⁸The exact figure is 2,233,984 acres. Taken from a table prepared by Elias N. Conway, state auditor. (Referred to hereafter as Auditor's Table.) Gazette, November 11, 1839.

⁹See Woodruff's complaint in Gazette, September 12, 1837.

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¹⁰For descriptions of the St. Francis and Black River rafts, see W. Bowling Guion, U. S. Civil Engineer, to Lt. Col. John J. Abert, Topographical Bureau, Helena, January 17, 1837, in Gazette, May 9, 1837 (St. Francis); and Jos. D. Webster U. S. Asst. Engineer, to W. B. Guion, U. S. Civil Engineer, Batesville, Arkansas, July 14, 1837, in Gazette, February 21, 1838 (Black). The great Red River raft is described by Henry M. Shreve, who labored long to destroy it, in an article clipped from the St. Louis Bulletin, and, into the Gazette, February 7, 1838.

¹¹Gazette, September 27, 1837.

¹²Ibid.

¹³Constitutional Journal, May 12, 1836.

¹⁴Gazette, October 18, 1836.

¹⁵Unsigned letter, dated New Orleans, November 19, 1836, Gazette, December 6, 1836.

¹⁶Unsigned letter, dated Batesville, January 23, 1837, Gazette, January 31, 1837.

¹⁷Unsigned letter, dated Batesville, January 12, 1837, Advocate, January 20, 1837.

¹⁸Advertisement, dated August 22, 1836, Gazette, August 26, 1836.

¹⁹History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas (Chicago, 1889), 234.

²⁰Auditor's Table, Gazette, November 11, 1839.

²¹Abstract, territorial census of 1835, Gazette, August 25, 1835.

²²Auditor's Table, Gazette, November 11, 1835.

²³Ibid.; percentages derived from abstract of territorial census, Gazette, August 25, 1835.

²⁴Auditor's Table, Gazette, November 11, 1839.

²⁵Some confusion exists among writers on the subject of Helena’s newspapers. The Herald was established by John Steele, former editor of the St. Louis Times. Gazette, October 3, 1832; Fay Hempstead, A Pictorial History of Arkansas (St. Louis, 1890), 884; and Fred W. Allsopp, History of the Arkansas Press for a

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Herald seems to have continued to appear at least until the death of Samuel S. Smith, October 23, 1835. Advocate, October 23, 1835.

In a prospectus dated January 6, 1836, William T. Yeomans, former secretary to the Legislative Council, proposed to publish the Constitutional Journal. Times, January 25, 1836. His first issue appeared the following March. It was a careless piece of work: the front page bore no banner and was dated March 8, while the editorial page carded the date March 10. William F. Pope, a contemporary, wrote years later that Yeomans edited the Helena Democrat. Dunbar H. Pope (arr. & ed.), Early Days in Arkansas; Being For the Most Part the Personal Recollections of an Old Settler. By Judge William F. Pope (Little Rock, 1895), p. 163. But there is no other evidence that the Helena Arkansas State Democrat, and Commercial Advertiser appeared earlier than the winter of 1839-1840 - the earliest extant copy is dated February 14, 1840 - and Yeomans was never one of its publishers or editors.

²⁶Constitutional Journal, May 26, 1836.

²⁷Ibid., June 23, 1836.

²⁸Auditor's Table, Gazette, November 11, 1839.

²⁹Constitutional Journal, November 24, 1836.

³⁰Auditor's Table, Gazette, November 11, 1839.

³¹Ibid.

³²White, Arkansas Territorial Politics, 32, 62.

³³Ibid., 211.

³⁴Gazette, January 27, 1835; and Advocate, April 10 November 20, and April 22, 1835.

³⁵Times, October 10, 1835; White, Arkansas Territorial Politics, 358.

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Page 38 is missing.

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⁵¹Abstract of 1852 census, Gazette, April 6, 1842; Times and Advocate, April 11, 1842.

⁵²Times and Advocate, February 21, 1842; Gazette, February 23, 1842.

⁵³Abstract of 1835 census, Gazette, August 25, 1835.

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Editor's note: Mr. Stokes' comments about The Helena Herald reminded us of the following clipping in the U.D.C. Scrapbook at the Helena Public Library. There is no date on the clipping nor does it have a banner, but it looks as if it came from the Helena World:

"STARS FALL AND 100 CHOCTAWS CROSS THE MISSISSIPPI
AT Helena"

"The Arkansas Gazette of Dec. 11, 1833 contained the following items:

"The Falling Stars - The meteoric phenomenon witnessed here on the 13th ult. was general throughout the United States. The Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York papers give the same description of it, as those who witnessed it in this region and to the north and south of us.

"Emigrating Choctaws - The Helena Herald of the 28th ult. says that about 100 emigrating Choctaw Indians cross the Mississippi river at that place on the preceding Saturday, on the way to their new home west of Arkansas."

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MEMBERSHIP

***

Our Phillips County Historical Society year runs from May 1 to May 1, and when you receive this Quarterly, your May 1, 1964, to May 1, 1965, dues are due and payable. Annual dues are $2.00, and checks and money orders should be made payable to Phillips County Historical Society and mailed to our Membership Chairman, Miss Bessie McRee, P. O. Box 629, Helena, Arkansas 72342, or delivered to her in person at the County Treasurer's Office, Phillips County Courthouse, Helena. In the membership list following those members who have already paid their 1964-1965 dues are marked with an asterisk (*), and do NOT need to remit again until May 1, 1965. This is the last issue of the Quarterly for the current year, and all others must pay NOW in order to receive the next issue of the Quarterly. All local members are requested to pick up their copies of the Quarterly at the Helena Public Library. Issues are available usually on October 1st, January 1st, April 1st, and June 1st, being the September, December, March, and June issues. There will be a notice in the Helena World; so check about these dates. Out of town members will receive their issues by mail.

Our membership chairman says she will need lots of help during the drive to te conducted in the next two months - especially with regard to new members. If each member could recruit two new members, wouldn't we have a good organization?

MEMBERS OF THE PHILLIPS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
(as of May 17, 1964)

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******

How many of you would like to buy a copy of the first issue of the Quarterly? There were only 100 copies of that issue made, and we have often been asked to reprint it. If we receive enough advance orders, we are considering doing so. If you will buy a copy, please send a postcard to Miss Dorothy James, P. O. Box 655, Helena, Ark. 72342 saying: "I would like a copy" (or more than one copy)" of the 1st Quarterly. I will pay $1.00 and pick up same"- or "I will pay $1.25 and my mailing address is: _________ " We'll report on results in next issue of the Quarterly.

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NEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTS

Our new officers, elected in April and installed in May, 1964, are: President: John C. King, Jr.; Vice President: Mrs. Fred Faust, Sr., Secretary: Mrs. E. B. Carvill; Treasurer: Mrs. Curtis Jeffries; Director (for a term of three years): Miss Dorothy James; Director (for a term of two years): Jack M. Young; Director (for a term of one year): Mrs. C. M. T. Kirkman.

Our thanks to Frances (Mrs. E. B.) Carvill for doing most of the typing of this issue of the Quarterly. Also, our thanks to Miss Ruth Green for the signs which are helping to sell the Quarterly. We do appreciate the help so graciously given.

This is the last issue of the Quarterly for the current year, and for your information we are listing the back issues and the copies available of each.

Vol. No. 1, No. 1 - Summer, 1962 - our first issue is not now available unless we reprint - see page 41 herein if you wish we would, and send in your postcard at once.

Vol. No. 1, No. 2 - December, 1962 - 5 copies only.

Vol. No. 2, No. 1 - March, 1963 - 13 copies.

Battle of Helena booklet - July, 1963 - plenty.

Vol. No. 2, No. 2 - Sept., 1963 - 45 copies. Did all members pick up their copy of this issue?

Vol. No. 2, No. 3 - Feb., 1964 - 50 copies.

These back issues are $1.00 each, while they last – first come, first served.

We now have 49 out of town members, counting 14 who live in either Marvell, Elaine, Barton, or Lexa, to whom we mail the Quarterly. The balance of you should pick up your Quarterly at the Library. Our Quarterly goes to Texas, Mississippi, California, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Washington, D. C., Florida, Alabama, and Portugal. Copies are sent to the Arkansas History Commission, Arkansas Library Commission, University of Arkansas General Library, Phillips County Library, and the Library of Congress. (We just thought you might be interested in knowing all this.)

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