Phillips County Historical Quarterly 

March, 1971

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 $3.50 for a regular membership and $5.00 for a sustaining membership. Single copies of the QUARTERLY are $1.00. QUARTERLIES are mailed to members.

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

Dues are payable to Miss Bessie McRee, Membership Chairman, P. 0. Box 629, Helena, Arkansas, 72342. 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.

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PHILLIPS COUNTY
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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REQUIEM

By

Gordon E. McCarty

The old town clock atop the tower of Jefferson School slowly tolled twelve. The year was 1951. The mellow tones of the huge bell reverberated and echoed back and forth for three miles in all directions through the hills and hollows of the city of Helena. This was not unusual. She had tolled the hours for over half a hundred years. Unusual was the fact that these were her last utterances. She was on her deathbed while still full of life. The workmen had come to literally tear her limb from limb, to rip off her eight hands, to tear off her four faces, to dissect her inner anatomy as thoroughly as though an autopsy were seeking the cause of her death before her demise.

She was born in Thomastown, Connecticut, U. S. A., at the Seth Thomas Clock Works on May 15, 1886. We assume an A. S. Hotchkiss midwifed since his name and the number 405 appeared on her nameplate. She probably came to Helena by rail and riverboat, we can't know for sure, and she may have joined her golden toned voice en route, since her 1100 pound bell was cast at Louisville, Kentucky, by Wm. Kaye Lowe.

She witnessed much of the history of Helena. She had seen the Kate Adams and other great river boats with her view originally unimpeded by any levee. She had seen the great floods of 1927 and 1937 rage through the nearby river bottoms. She had faithfully tolled her message of time through these calamities, as well as in the good times, and now she was sentenced to die.

She saw the old street cars pass on Porter

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Street and was annoyed that they did not keep on time as well as she did. She saw boys on Halloween harass the motorman by running behind the car, and pull the rope and detach the trolley from the overhead cable, thus stopping the car. She saw the motorman jump out and shake his fist at the boys runing from their prank. She saw the street cars pass from existence.

She saw the plank walk across the slough on north Pecan Street replaced by concrete sidewalks when the slough was filled. She saw streets paved with brick and later the brick and street car tracks covered with asphalt paving.

She saw multitudes of horses and miles and carriages and surreys. She saw them give way to those noisy monsters the horseless carriages---the automobiles.

She saw the Opera House burn to the ground just one block east on Porter Street.

Yes she saw many, many changes.

But the inexorable march of progress had decreed that the old lady had to be sacrificed for the demands of business---Safeway Supermarket was coming to take her half block on Pecan Street between Porter and Rightor.

She had benignly overseen dozens of generations of first through sixth graders romp on the schoolyard below. She could even remember the outdoor rest rooms in the southwest corner of the yard with the green lath latticework screens in front. She had witnessed the annual occurrence of first grade boys suffering the ultimate in embarrassment- mistakenly entering the girls side of the bathroom area and rushing pell mell out to escape the shrieking of the little girls, only to face the equal humiliation of the jeers of the older boys. Little girls are smarter than little boys. She never saw a little girl make this same mistake.

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She had suffered indignities herself at the hands of countless generations of pigeons that nested under the crown of her peaked roof hat, who raised their squabs, and then ungratefully befouled her working parts and her faces and hands as well.

She was assisted in her faithful chores for some years by F. W. Haury, Watchmaker and Jeweler, of Helena. She lost this friend who moved in the 1920s at a time when the school board lacked sufficient funds to pay for a replacement. But another jeweler, A. V. McCarty, Sr., came to her rescue. He had always admired her and had wanted to get his hands on her. And he had enough low cost labor available in his five sons that he offered to keep her for next to nothing, so the school board consigned her to him.

He and his sons scrubbed her faces, rouged them with white paint, manicured her nails, hands and arms with shiny black enamel clear up to her elbows, and cleaned and oiled all her inward parts. She responded magnificently by keeping track of time better than ever.

She apparently loved summer for then she was at her most accurate best. In winter, snow or ice or freezing rain disturbed her and frostbite slowed her action or stopped her completely. It then became necessary to heat her with blow torches to free her from winter's icy grasp, her rescuer becoming almost equally benumbed in the rescue process.

Her heart was a tremendous weight on steel cables in a wooden chimney like chamber that extended vertically from the tower down through all the floors below to the basement. Her heart seldom failed but occasionally the cables became twisted and it was a tedious process to straighten them, especially if the weight were near bottom. It was necessary to peer down the shaft with a flashlight and untwist the cables ever so gently or they would overtwist in the opposite direction.

The cable was wound on a large drum at the

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tower level by means of a hand windlass. Huffing and puffing the McCarty "boys," as they were then known, would wind a while and rest a while and then wind some more until the weight was drawn to the top. Then the old lady's heart was ready to run for another week. The proudest moment for the McCarty boys came when their father announced that he was purchasing for the old lady an electric motor to wind the cable. Oh the ecstasy of just pressing a button to prepare her heart for a week's work.

She outlasted another keeper. He ran down before she did. A. V. McCarty retired in 1937. He reluctantly turned her care and keeping into the hands of his jeweler son, A. V. McCarty, Jr. (who had really been caring for her several years already). Alto gave her the same affectionate care for all the years she had left. A. V., Sr., from high on Carvill Hill in north Helena, would listen for her each hour and at her first stroke would pull his big railroad pocket watch to check, and if she was more than a few seconds off, he was on the telephone calling Alto, Jr., to say, "Hap, do something about that clock. Everybody in Helena depends on her."

She numbered among her fondest admirers the members of the congregation of the Methodist Church just across Porter Street. For, while ministers sometimes lose track of time, she never did; and at high noon on Sunday she would literally vibrate the Methodist Church with her joyful tolling of twelve o'clock. At the first stroke the entire congregation straightened up, put up hymn books, arranged coats and purses, and the pastor knew he was through even if he had not finished. New pastors learned to be briefer in a very few Sabbaths.

She was a faithful old lady for all her days. It was a shame she had to die. A little bit of history is gone with her and can never, ever return. Postscript: Her clock works may be seen in front of Cohen Salvage Co., 600 Ohio Street, Helena, Ark. Her bell is on display on the south yard of the Phillips County Library at 623 Pecan Street.

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PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN HELENA, ARKANSAS,
AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY

by

Albert A. Hornor, M. D.
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

The purpose of these notes is to add a little to the interesting data on schools in Helena already published in the Phillips County Historical Quarterly, "Early Schools in Helena" (December, 1965) by Dale P. Kirkman, "What I Know About Helena's Public Schools" (December, 1967) by Jacob Fink, and "Sacred Heart Academy" (June, 1968) by Betty Faust, and others.

Like most memoirs the accuracy may be questioned. I hope it will, so that more data will be presented. The non-scholastic notes are given because of fond memories.

The following undated clipping from the Helena World has recently come to hand:

The Kindergarten School

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Miss Annie Wendland and her brother had come to Helena from Bloomington, Illinois. He opened and operated a bakery at the corner of Beech and Porter Streets. Miss Annie, already imbued with advanced ideas, started a kindergarten in 1888 on Perry Street at a home with a big yard. (Incidentally, 1888 was the year the world-famous Wheelock School was founded in Boston for the training of kindergarten teachers.) This property extended back to Porter Street from which it was separated by a "branch" (creek if you prefer) of slow-running water, and covered by a narrow footbridge. The property was bounded on the west by the home of Judge Clark (later Postmaster) and on the east by the home of Mr. C. L. Moore. Across Perry Street from the school was the Clark brickyard.

Soon Miss Annie's sister Miss Lucy joined her and the school expanded to include elementary grades, both girls and boys. Frank Clark, Mosby Hornor, Harry Trieber, Elisabeth Hornor, Hattie Hornor, Mary Hornor, Josie Moore, Margaret Tappan, Mattie Tappan and Ree Thweatt were among the early scholars. Later pupils included Madeline Tanner, Margaret Crebs, Harry Crebs, Camille Pillow, Maude Pillow, myself and Nannice Thompson: She lived the farthest away and I believe walked from her

home on Biscoe Street Extended to and from school at least 14 miles each way. I wish I could recall the names of more of these wonderful childhood friends and classmates.

The Wendland house had a front room with a piano where mothers were received and interviewed. Back of this, two rooms together formed the school room. The school teacher heard recitations at the western end of the room. Spelling bees were held and greatly enjoyed, usually won by one of the girls.

East of the home where school was held was a big yard in which all kinds of games were enjoyed

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and where the lunches carried by the pupils were usually eaten during Big Recess, 12--12:30 P. M., Little Recess having been held from 10:30--10:45 A.M. School ended at varying times for the different aged children. The walk home with classmates who frequently stopped to play was greatly enjoyed.

Because the younger children did so well at Miss Wendland's School, a group of parents concluded that a small private school for older boys and girls would give these pupils more individual attention than they could get at the Public School, The Jefferson. Among this group of parents were John J. and Sidney H. Hornor, who were delighted to underwrite the building of a one-room school on land they jointly owned on the west side of Columbia Street between McDonough and Walker Streets.

Neither Columbia nor Walker Street had been improved in this area. One reason for the selection of this site for a school was that it was less than a block from the Street Car Line. This line ran from the town line on Biscoe Street Extended north to the corner of Biscoe and Arkansas, then east on Arkansas to Cherry, near "The Elevator" where the steamboats landed; north on Cherry Street by the Arkansas Midland R. R. and Y, & M, V. R. R. Depots and the stores on Cherry Street, then west on Porter to Columbia, then north on Columbia to McDonough and west on McDonough to College and north on College to the city limits at Walker. At the corner of Porter and Columbia there was a turntable so that the street car could make a sharp right angle turn. This turntable was a favorite playground for children who could make it go round and round if enough of them were near its outer border.

The street car was moat convenient on rainy days, but more important it afforded a chance to help (?) drive the male that pulled the street car

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or help put on the brake which required turning a crank. The fare on the street car was a nickel but many forgot to pay. The street car would stop anywhere to let passengers on or off. At the end of the line the mule was unhitched and led to the other end of the car to make the return trip. One of the regular passengers in the morning was Helena's nighttime policeman, a most interesting colored man who always gave the street car driver a cigar or some cheroots before he got off at the end of the line.

When this street car line was abandoned the mules went farming and the street cars became doll houses.

The school house was the only building in the area between McDonough and Walker Streets and between Columbia and the drainage ditch which was located where Beech Street would have been had it extended from McDonough to Walker. Much of this area was hilly and afforded chances to dig caves. The southwestern half of the school lot was level and wonderful for baseball and other sports.

At this time most southerners thought of the University of Virginia as The University, so a graduate of the University of Virginia was sought and a Mr. Childs (despite many attempts the writer has been unable to learn his first name or anything about him before or after he was in Helena) was obtained to open The Hillside School in September, 1890.

This was a one-room frame building the front of which was level with the hill and the rear twenty or twenty-five feet from ground level, reached by two long flights of stairs, - one for boys and one for girls. At the head of the two stairways was a porch about four feet wide. From this two doors, the easterly one for the girls and the westerly for the boys, opened into the back of the

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schoolroom. Inside the schoolroom between these two doors was a platform about six inches high on which stood the teacher's desk. Behind the desk was his chair, and from this he faced the pupils except when looking at the blackboard on the wall between the two back doors.

The pupils sat at double desks facing the teacher. The desks were in two rows of about ten or twelve, - thus the capacity of the schoolroom was between forty and fifty.

Near the front of the schoolroom midway between the rows of desks was a potbellied stove that burned coal. The schoolroom was always warm enough for comfort. Two different boys were assigned each week to get to school early and build the fire in the stove so that the schoolroom would be comfortable at 9:00 A. M. when school started. Often they had the stove red-hot and on one occasion they melted some Limburger cheese on the outside of the stove. Result, - when school opened the odor was so disagreeable that neither teacher nor pupils could stand it and school was dismissed for the day. The culprits could not be found.

Among the pupils the first year of The Hillside School were Lawson Moore, Jr., James Pillow, Joseph Mosby Hornor, Josephine Moore, Joseph A. Hornor, Harriet Hornor (later Mrs. James D. Mays), Mary Hornor (later Mrs. C. L. Moore, Jr.), Oscar Thweatt, Joseph Barlow, Robin Polk, William F. Moore, Elisabeth Hornor, Daniel Linthicum and Walter Coolidge.

Some of the readers may know of other pupils who attended the first Hillside School. I hope their names will be submitted to the Phillips County Historical Quarterly. The grandchildren or great grandchildren of that class should get together.

Some of the boys were interested in teaching

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Mr. Childs the facts of life in Helena, Arkansas, an "isolated wild" community across the Mississippi. Mr. Childs was taught a lot, - among other things, that a map lying flat against the wall behind his desk might while he was pointing to it suddenly start rolling up and would quickly get near the ceiling. He also learned that if he put his hand into one of the drawers of his desk and felt something cold it might be a snake, as it often was.

As it happened every second or third winter there was a severe cold spell, freezing shallow ponds, - one of which was in North Helena above Walker Levee. All the boys wanted to spend the day skating and decided to tell the youngest pupil, a girl, to borrow the teacher's bell at Little Recess to play with. Then they invited the little girl to go skating with them. Of course she was flattered and enjoyed their attention till time to go home for noon dinner when she returned the bell on her way home. Meantime Mr. Childs had had no bell to ring for end of recess and no one could hear him call a half mile away.

Between the stove and the entrance door there were two cloakrooms, one for boys and one for girls, where during school hours while Mr. Childs was trying to teach, a few of the boys or girls spent much time away from study, planning and performing shows such as Toby's Circus.

The boys and girls had separate playgrounds. One day when the girls were jumping rope, Josephine Moore fell and became unconscious. The cries of the girls attracted the attention of her brother Lawson who came, probably over the fence, and told everyone to be relaxed, - he would go and get his cart. This he did, walking 6 1/2 blocks home to get his pony cart, returned to school and took his sister home for an immediate recovery.

From this fragmentary story one can easily see why Mr. Childs learned a great deal but did not

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teach the boys and girls what their parents wanted them to learn, and so he left at the end of the school year and the school was closed. Some of the older boys and girls left Helena for further schooling, the younger went back to Miss Wendland's School, a few to "The Convent" - Sacred Heart Academy, and others to The Jefferson School.

Miss Wendland and her sister did a wonderful job. However, they did not want to continue their school after 1893 and it was decided that a two-room Hillside School would be the best answer so a room was added to the north for primary pupils (Grades I, II, and III).

An experienced teacher, Miss Annie Boggs, was obtained for this room and Mr. Henry H. Harper came from the University of Mississippi to head the school and teach the upper grades. This proved so successful that during the summer of 1894 another room of equal size was added to the south of the original school and Miss Hattie White came from St. Mary's (Episcopal) School in Memphis. These three teachers were excellent and the school was well attended by approximately one hundred pupils. Unfortunately for Helena Miss Hattie White was recalled in 1897 to St. Mary's School of which she was later headmistress.

During February, 1897 or 1898 there was an unusual flight of robins (probably several thousands) to North Helena. Many of the teenage boys were attracted, played hooky, and shot a few hundred. They were greatly surprised to be hauled into police court the next day for having illegally shot songbirds. None of them had ever heard a robin sing.

To succeed the beloved Miss White, a Mr. Wisner was obtained. He was well educated and a good teacher but not as well liked as had been Miss White. He stayed only one year.

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The Jefferson School by 1898 had become more attractive and fewer parents wanted to pay for a private school education with the result that only one room at Hillside School was operated 1898-1899 for older boys and girls by Mr. Harper, -- there were probably about twenty pupils. There were even fewer pupils from 1899 to 1900 but Mr. Harper taught the boys and girls well.

There were only a few parents in Helena in 1900 who wanted to send their children to a local private school, so that John J. and Sidney H. Hornor decided that instead of operating a school they would employ a tutor for their teenage sons and nephews, plus Robey Harrington an intimate friend and the same age as their sons.

Mr. Clarence Weems, a 1900 graduate of the University of Arkansas, came and did a beautiful job. After one year he left to get married. The two oldest boys there 1900-1901 went to college (Purdue), so three younger Hornors joined the group and were taught 1901-1906 by James F. Epes. He must have been a good teacher for the boys that went away to school and college in 1902 had no difficulties.

After Mr. James F. Epes married (Kate Wooten) his brother, Louis S. Epes, taught and in 1906 was followed by a Mr. Hobson. By the year 1908-1909 most of the boys previously taught there had gone away to school or college and that was the end of The Hillside School.

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(There is a picture in the Phillips County Library of a class of Miss Annie Wendland's School, date uncertain, but, unfortunately, it is in too poor a condition to be reproduced in the Quarterly. The students' names are listed on the back of the picture, and they include those people in the first listing on P. 7, plus Carrie Clark & Oscar Thweatt.)

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DR. H. M. THOMPSON

by

Carolyn R. Cunningham

Dr. Herbert Milton Thompson was born June 11, 1856. In 1883, he moved to Marvell from Monroe, Louisiana. He married Miss Eva Carlock of Marvell.

He was a graduate of the Louisville Medical College and had been practicing medicine for two years before he moved to Phillips County. He was a member of the Christian Church in Marvell, as well as a longtime member of the Phillips County Medical Society.

Dr. Thompson delivered the two oldest of Mrs. Sam Weisberger's sons, Weimar, born in 1901, and Leo, born in 1903. Mrs. Weisberger was married at that time to Dr. T. L. Turner of Marvell. As is the custom, Dr. Thompson would not charge a colleague, but after Dr. Turner's death and following her marriage to Mr. Weisberger, he came to deliver another baby for her and he said, "Kate, I guess I'll have to charge you for this one!"

Dr. and Mrs. Thompson had no children. He passed away suddenly while sitting in the swing at his home, on June 2, 1931. He and Mrs. Thompson are buried in the Marvell Cemetery. Dr. Russwurm, subject of an earlier sketch in this series, was a pallbearer.

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DR. G. E. PENN

Dr. George E. Penn was born in Missouri, probably near Vigus, on July 21, 1864. He died May 31, 1934. When Dr. Penn first came to Arkansas from Missouri, he settled near Indian Bay. He

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was a nephew of Dr. Hall of Turner, who was instrumental in Dr. Penn's decision to come here.

Dr. Penn married Miss Della Dawson of Indian Bay. She was related to several families in that area, among them the Robinsons. Dr. and Mrs. Penn were the parents of three children, one dying when only a few months old, another little boy who died of diphtheria, and a son, Moss, who was born in Marvell in 1890, the family having moved by then from Indian Bay to Marvell. Their white frame house was located at the present site of the Ike Van Meter home.

Moss Penn was head of the advertising department of the Commercial Appeal before his death in 1933, only a few months preceeding Dr. Penn's death. He married Ida Mynders of Memphis, daughter of a former president of present Memphis State University. They had no children.

The Penn home was a two story house with gingerbread trim. It was torn down and moved to a point three miles south of Marvell on the Cypert road and rebuilt. It is still standing and is the home of the home of Mrs. William Griffin, mother of Mrs. Ernest Shields of West Helena.

Dr. Penn had a small drug store where the Bank of Marvell is now located. Mrs. Sam Weisberger recalls that Dr. Penn was always vitally interested in the citizens of his community, doing helpful and thoughtful things for them. Once he received the works of James Fenimore Cooper in pamphlet form and he brought them to Mrs. Weisberger as he was passing. He often came by and took her oldest son, Leo Turner, with him in the buggy on calls to the country.

At the time of his death, Dr. Penn was a well known Phillips County citizen as well as a prominent physician. He died in the Veterans Hospital in Memphis following major surgery. He had been

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moved from his home in Marvell to the Memphis hospital in the hopes of saving his life. His body was sent to Lexa by train and taken direct to Marvell. The funeral was held under the auspices of the Robert F. Darr Post, American Legion, at Marvell, of which the physician was an active member. He had served in World War I as a lieutenant in the 88th Division from Missouri. He was a long time member of the Phillips County Medical Society.

Mrs. Penn died March 6, 1947, and they are both buried in the Marvell Cemetery.

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This is the last in a series of biographical sketches of the thirteen doctors who were members of the Phillips County Medical Society in 1898. It began with a sketch of Dr. Vineyard in the September, 1968, issue of the Quarterly. Many people have been helpful, both in writing the articles and in supplying information, and this has been greatly appreciated. Of some, an abundance of information could be found, and of others, who left no descendants, information was harder to find. It has been a gratifying undertaking.

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HUIE CEMETERY

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INDIAN BAY

by

Watt McKinney

Indian Bay is the beautiful name of a superbly beautiful stream, a tributary of the White River, in the southern part of Monroe County. The two very words, composing its name, are suggestive of beauty, of romance, of tranquility and of a home of an ancient race.

Indian Bay was so called by the early settlers of that area no doubt on account of the two large Indian mounds located there, one of which is unusually high and stands directly on the edge of the bay. From time to time over the past fifty years, due to the action of a swift current in periods of high water, portions of this mound have caved away and fallen into the stream, revealing it as having been used in centuries past as a burying place for the dead, perhaps of those who built it. The other of the two mounds, located several hundred yards inland, is now the neglected and abandoned site of a burial ground used by many of the early settlers of this community.

Adjacent to the shores of this beautiful stream lies the site of the original town of Indian Bay, once a thriving and prosperous village, peopled by many wealthy, cultured and aristocratic families prominent in the affairs of the county and state. Extending northward and eastward for many miles lay broad, alluvial plantations on which were produced each year many thousands of bales of long staple cotton that contributed largely to the prosperity of the town and surrounding country.

According to records filed in the recorder's office at Clarendon, the county seat of Monroe

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County, what was known as the Town of Indian Bay was incorporated and platted under the name of Warsaw, though it was never known by this name. It is situated in a Private Survey, No. 2345, usually referred to as a Spanish Grant and located in the southeast corner of Township Three South, Range One West. This survey comprised an area of two hundred and twenty-four acres and John Diana was its original owner as shown by existing records.

The first survey and map of the township in which Indian Bay is included was made by Deputy Surveyor N. Rightor in the year 1825. With reference to this survey, it is interesting to mention that among a large collection of relics owned by one of the citizens of St. Charles, a village on the White River only a few miles distant, there is a slab of wood that was cut only a few years ago from the body of a huge cypress tree and on which appear the inscriptions made by this surveying party more than one hundred years ago.

This tree and its inscriptions, standing near a point cornered by four sections of heavily timbered forest land not far from Indian Bay, was located purely by chance. A surveyor in the employ of a large timber concern was engaged in determining the boundaries of certain sections and was using the field notes prepared by Rightor as his guide in this work. Through his calculations, the surveyor was positive that he had arrived near the location on which stood the tree mentioned in the notes. There were many giant cypress trees standing about him, any one of which might have been the one he sought and that bore the markings of a hundred years past. He had little hopes of locating the tree, when an axeman swung his sharp blade and with the first stroke, a large slab fell from the side of one of these age old trees, revealing the inscription concealed through a century's growth.

The first settlers or pioneers who are

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definitely known to have located in this part of Arkansas and Monroe County are Mose Price, Jno. Diana, Joseph Mitchell, A. Berdu and Major Duke, all of whom received liberal grants of land and established homes for themselves on or near the stream of Indian Bay.

The Town of Indian Bay and that part of Monroe County known as the Indian Bay Community were favored with an era of wonderful prosperity and growth dating from the period marking the close of the Civil War up until 1890. Many large and substantial mercantile establishments were located there to supply the needs of its large plantation area. The most prominent of these merchants were M. D. Martin and Samuel L. Black who conducted a partnership business known as Martin and Black. In addition to their mercantile establishment, Martin and Black also owned and operated a cotton gin and sawmill. Among the other prominent business concerns at Indian Bay were: Burge and Robinson, Silverman Brothers, Blaine and Hargis, B. F. and G. F. Johnson. Dr. Shipman was the leading physician and Clem Clark was the proprietor of The Rainbow Saloon.

Major Samuel L. Black, father of the late John S. Black of Holly Grove several times Sheriff, County Judge and Treasurer of Monroe County, was one of Indian Bay's and the county's first citizens, a successful merchant, owner of extensive and valuable plantation properties and long prominent in the social, religious and business life of Eastern Arkansas. He was born in Fayette County, Tennessee on March 22, 1842, coming to Arkansas when he was sixteen years of age.

At the beginning of hostilities occasioned by the war between the North and South, Samuel L. Black enlisted in a company organized at Clarendon by Captain Jas. T. Harris for service in the cause of the Southern Confederacy. This, the first company organized in Monroe County, became a part of

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the First Arkansas Regiment, commanded by Patrick R. Cleburne of Helena, and Black was subsequently commissioned a Junior Lieutenant. He was promoted to the rank of Captain at Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The first major battle in which Samuel L. Black was engaged was that of the famous battle of Shiloh, where in recognition of his exceptional bravey and leadership he was advanced to Hardee's staff. He participated in Bragg's invasion of Kentucky and was at the surrender of the Federal forces at Munfordsville and engaged in the battles of Perryville and Murfreesboro. He was in the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, fought with the Army of Tennessee from Dalton to Atlanta, was in front of Sherman in his march from Savannah through the Carolinas and was captured by a squad of Sherman's cavalry, but after being held a few hours escaped by a bold ride. He surrendered with the Confederate forces at Greensboro, North Carolina.

Among the prominent planters of the Indian Bay Community in that period marking the crest of its growth and development were Captain William M. Mayo, Sam R. Pointer, W. D. Burge, F. J. Robinson, Lawrence Mayo, M. D. Martin, B. P. Jackson and William H. Boyce.

Captain William M. Mayo, the owner of the most extensive plantation properties in southern Monroe County, moved there in the year of 1853 from Martin County, North Carolina, bringing with him a large number of slaves. Several thousand acres of undeveloped land were acquired by Captain Mayo, a large portion of which was soon placed in a state of cultivation. This estate, still the property of the Mayo family now owned by the grandchildren of its founder, is considered one of the most valuable and productive properties in this section of Arkansas. Of the lands originally acquired by Captain William M. Mayo and still a part of the estate, there are

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several hundred acres of virgin forest, said to be the only remaining large and heavily timbered tract of land in this state.

Indian Bay was a regular port of call for those steamboats operating out of Memphis and engaged in the White River trade. All merchandise shipments into this territory were by boat and the same transportation was provided for the shipments to the Memphis market of the vast numbers of bales of cotton and sacks of seed produced in the community.

Among the boats that visited Indian Bay each week, it is recalled that the most noted of these were the Hard Cash, Chickasaw, and Josie Harry. Captain E. G. Postal was owner and master of the Chickasaw and Green Snow was one of the pilots. At the foremost part of the bow of the Chickasaw there stood a life-size figure of an Indian, a token to that race for whom the boat was named.

Captain Milt Harry was owner and master of the Josie Harry that was named for his wife. Both the Josie Harry and the Chickasaw carried excellent appointments for the comfort and convenience of passengers. The Chickasaw sank with a heavy cargo one night as the boat was in the White River only a short distance above its junction with the Mississippi. The Josie Harry burned to the water's edge when in sight of the landing at Memphis, resulting in the entire loss of her cargo containing 1600 bales of cotton and more than 5000 sacks of seed consigned by Indian Bay planters to Memphis merchants.

Extending from the shores of Indian Bay and its bayou tributaries there were in years long past, broad acres of forest, heavy with the growth of giant cypress trees. These lands were the property of the Federal Government; however it is said that many millions of feet of excellent logs were

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Illegally taken each year and that many men were engaged entirely in this business. The procedure followed by those in this unlawful practice was this: During the usual spring rise of these streams, and the consequent overflow of their banks, these great forest lands were covered with water to a depth of several feet. It was during these periods that the trees were cut, sawed into logs and floated out into the open water where the logs were tied together, forming a huge raft that was floated with the current down the river and sold to some large sawmill at Greenville or Vicksburg. It is said that often several thousand dollars would be obtained for a single large raft of cypress logs. Usually a cypress log will float, yet many of them will not, consequently many thousands of logs became detached from these rafts and sank. It is said that Indian Bay contains many millions of feet of these sunken logs that are yet in a perfect state of preservation.

The stream of Indian Bay is formed by the confluence of several large bayous and its length from source to its junction with the White River is perhaps ten miles. Stately cypresses line its banks and here and there along its course beautiful bars of white sand extend out towards the stream.

The site of the former village of Indian Bay is situated about midway between the stream's point of origin and its mouth. The decline of the Town of Indian Bay occurred sometime prior to the year 1890, after which this declension was more rapid and continued until the place was practically abandoned. The decline of this once prosperous and growing community was caused by a number of successive floods of long duration and increasing destruction. Prior to the year 1882 the community had never been seriously affected by flood waters, but after that time, beginning with the completion of a levee along the east side of the Mississippi

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River, these disastrous and unfortunate occurrences visited the territory with increasing frequency, finally leading to its inevitable financial ruin. Indian Bay, with its broad, deep bayous and wide expanse of forest adjoining its shores and embracing many quiet beautiful lakes, has long been a favorite retreat of the sportsman. The waters abound in many varieties of fish in both the game and commercial species. The dense forests afford a place of sanctuary for vast numbers of wild creatures. Huge flights of waterfowl annually visit this region and visitors each year in increasing numbers are finding enchantment in its wild beauty and enjoyment in the recreational facilities afforded.

Indian Bay may be reached at any season of the year over State Highway No. 17.

***

This article was written by the late Watt McKinney of Marvell in the 1930s. Sportsmen of Phillips County have long enjoyed Indian Bay, and the latter was in Phillips County in the very early days, 1820-1829, when it was included in the newly formed Monroe County.

*

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STEAMBOATS AND HELENA: PART III

by

T. E. Tappan, Jr.

1874

Captain Tippitt lists 71 boats lost and 10 condemned in 1874; 48 built during year with 160 enrolled at St. Louis.

"CRESCENT CITY: Tuesday morning about 9 A. M., the Crescent City towing five barges exploded her boilers about eight miles below Helena, Ark., en route from New Orleans to St. Louis. Fire destroyed the steamboat and the five barges in tow with their contents of some 1300 tons of freight.

"Right in crew were killed: Captain James Dawson; pilot James Ostrander and his wife killed; George Van Houghton, pilot, and Pat Bacon, second engineer, were injured. The Phil Allin coming up river arrived on scene soon after the explosion and rescued the survivors. Captain Dawson, her master, started as deckhand eight years ago and worked his way up. Captain Ostrander was a noted St. Louis and New Orleans pilot.

The loss will amount to over $30,000. The boat was running up the Arkansas shore near Delta (location the same today as then) when the explosion shattered the steamboat. The wreck settled on Montezuma Bar and later came dry at low water and engines were recovered. Part of the wreckage drifted down to Babb's Landing the next bar below Montezuma.

"Crescent City was built in 1871 at a cost of $70,000. All six boilers exploded, her engines, 26 inches diameter, cylinders with an 8 feet stroke, were not damaged.

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MEMPHIS DAILY AVALANCHE, April 2, 1874. "CUT-OFF.

The neck of land down at Commerce Bend 45 miles below here, is still 100 yards wide. The river is visible on either side through the timber. This bend is 15 or 16 miles around.

"On Sunday May 10th, the threatened cut-off at Commerce Bend 40 miles below the City occurred; the river tore its way through the narrow strip of land. The Thompson Dean passed there Sunday afternoon and reported clumps of trees floating down the river for many miles below the cut-off. The St. Francis on Monday morning passed there and the channel was 600 yards wide and current greatly diminished, though the bank on both sides was still caving. This cut makes a lake of what was heretofore known as Council Bend; the head is just below Commerce on the Mississippi side and foot on same side directly opposite Dr. Peters' place. The current as expected did not strike over at Dr. Peters', but instead is rapidly eating away Clark's towhead directly opposite the Baldwin place directly below. Council Bend is expected to fill and be unusable to navigation. Now that Council Bend has been turned into a lake, the distance to Helena has been shortened 15 miles, thus being only 75 miles from Memphis.

MEMPHIS DAILY AVALANCHE, May 22, 1874. "On the morning of the 10th instant, the cut-off was made at Council Bend. The river to Helena has been shortened to 78 miles; the distance around the bend was 15 miles. By May 12th, steamers were using the cut-off.

“AUGUSTA: A sidewheel ferry boat built at Clinton, Iowa. Length 100 feet, beam 29 feet, hold 5 feet, owned by Lamb & Co. First ran between Clinton and Garden Plain, then Rock Island and Davenport. In 1905, was rebuilt into and named Rock Island and sold in 1918 to Captain Nettie Johnson of Helena, Ark. Ran between Helena and Trotters. Crossed out in 1922 and beached at Trotters where she rotted down.

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"ST, FRANCIS BELLE: Hull built at Catlettsburg. Length 133 feet, beam 26 feet, hold 4 feet. Taken to Cincinnati for cabin and machinery; received 2 boilers and engines 12% inches diameter, cylinders with 4 feet stroke. Ran on St. Francis River."

1875

In 1875 Captain Tippitt lists 82 boats lost or dismantled and 97 built, including the Helena. "ST. FRANCIS: The little St. Francis river packet sank above Madison in February. The Eckert, unable to raise her, removed her machinery for new boat."

1876

"CITY OF QUINCY: En route from New Orleans to St. Louis, it sank on Sunday night, February 13th, at Hardin's Point a few miles above Helena, during a severe storm. She was coming upstream when the storm struck her, turning her out into the stream. The pilot was unable to direct her course. As she floated downstream, with the pilot heading her into the wind, she struck a log about midships on the larboard side and sank in four minutes, the water coming a few feet above her main deck. Captain Burks blew a distress signal, flashed lights in an effort to attract the attention of the Idlewild which had been blown ashore one and a half miles above her. Captain Stack Lee of the Idlewild had her yawl lowered and manned, but owing to the fury of the storm, the dark night and stormy current, the rescue was abandoned.

"The Idlewild had broken her starboard shaft and crossbeam on 11th near Chicot City and was coming up on one wheel. She had passed the Quincy at Helena and was ahead of her. When the storm struck she was blown into the timber and pinned to the bank by storm. She went to City of Quincy as soon as possible. Owing to the swift current she had to drop her anchor and 'slack' down on hawsers to

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Quincy. She took off the passengers and 100 sacks of coffee.

"City of Quincy was built at Madison in 1870 being in length 275 feet, beam 47 feet, hold 7 feet, carried 1200 tons. She had 450 tons cargo on board, mostly sugar and molasses, valued at $50,000 and insured for $25,000, owned by Davidson Line of St. Louis. She settled on log heap, broke in two and was torn to pieces by fast rising river. Total loss.

"RHODA: Helena and St. Francis River packet, on February 1st struck a snag and sank a few miles above Helena, total loss, of little value.

"ST. FRANCIS BELLE: Memphis, February 24th. She "eloped" from Memphis leaving $2,000 in debts for creditors to mourn over. The sheriff at Cairo had orders to "snatch" her, and Belle is still coming up the river. Ran out of Louisville up Kentucky River in March; there pasture was not "green" and she returned to Vicksburg. On her way from White River to Memphis grounded at foot of Island 65, river fell out from under her and she broke in two.

"GRAND TOWER: Memphis, May 2nd. The Grand Tower, Captain George Lennox, takes the horns as the fastest packet between here and Helena. She left Helena at 6:31 o'clock yesterday morning and arrived at Memphis at 1:12 P. M.

"RUSS PORTER: Built at Helena by Captain Russ Porter for St. Francis River, length 110 feet, beam 28 feet, hold 43 feet, machinery out of Red Rover."

TAU

This list is of some of the steamboats named for Helena.

HELENA, a sidewheeler, valuation $12,000, ran from St. Louis to Rocky Mountains on the Missouri River. Sank October 31, 1868, near Sioux City, Iowa.

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At the Vicksburg River Museum on the Steamer Sprague we found the following pictures of River Boats named Helena.

CITY OF HELENA, 1871. Built by Howard's of Jeffersonville for Memphis and St. Louis Packet Co. Length 270 feet, 42 feet beam, 8 feet hold in clear, 26 inch cylinders with 84 feet stroke. She is built on style of the Grand Tower and City of Vicksburg; when completed she is expected to surpass them in point of speed and elegance. She will be the "Brag-Pat" of the line.

"She was completed on October 3rd, made her trial trip on October 10th, was then laid up on account of low water, there being insufficient water in Ohio River for her to come out on.

"Captain John P. Keiser and chief engineer William Roe went to Louisville on November 21st, departed there with Helena on November 25th, passed Cairo November 29th, and arrived in St. Louis on December 1st. She there received her outfit; due to ice and low water the Company would not risk sending her out.

"On January 2, 1872, she left St. Louis on her maiden trip to Helena, Ark., arrived at Memphis on January 8th and went to Helena on the 9th. Captain Isaac H. McKee was given command of the steamer. It was a long remembered holiday for everyone as all wanted to view the city's namesake, and as the boat brought the first locomotive for the Arkansas Central Railroad to arrive in Helena, it was in truth a notable occasion. The boat kept open house all day with a big banquet and dance at night and while it was going on the city presented the boat with a new piano and a full set of new flags. That night the boat returned to St. Louis and entered her regular trade between St. Louis and Vicksburg.

"In 1875 she was equipped with "the Pauley" condensors which reduced her considerable

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consumption of fuel and increased her speed; she was one of the first packet boats to be equipped with a condensor.

"February 18, 1885, the St. Ida Darrugh landed at Anchor Line wharfboat in Memphis at foot of Union Street at 3 P. M. She was heavily loaded with cotton. Fire was discovered in cotton on her outer guard which immediately communicated itself to wharfboat and to the City of Helena which was tied up at wharfboat. City of Helena was on her way to New Orleans, having laid over in Memphis for several days on account of heavy ice running in the river. All three were consumed in fifteen minutes.

"J. B. M. KEBLOR, 1878. Built at Pittsburg by Captain Kountz at cost of $60,000; length 265 feet, beam 50 feet, hold 8 feet, 4 boilers 38 inches diameter, with 24 feet length, cylinders 22 inches diameter with 8 feet stroke, wheel 20 feet diameter, with buckets 28 feet long. Captain Dan Brady came out as master. Freight boat. She was rebuilt into-

"HELENA. Built at St. Louis for Captain John Crane on same hull as above but as sidewheel boat at cost of $60,000, registered tonnage 1102 and carried 2000 tons, wheels 314 feet diameter, with 12 feet bucket, cotton guards. Memphis and New Orleans trade in cotton season and St. Louis in summer in excursion trade. This was in 1882 and in 1886 she was rebuilt into-

"GRAND REPUBLIC, 2nd. Captain W. H. Thorwagon rebuilt the Helena in 1886 into Grand Republic, 2nd, at St. Louis Marine Railway as an excursion boat for St. Louis and ran her in New Orleans trade in winter as a freight boat. While being made ready for excursion season at St. Louis in March, 1898, on 13th she took fire and burned to water's edge at mouth of River Des Peres in South St. Louis.

"HELENA--1878. Hull built at California, Pennsylvania, completed at Pittsburg, work supervised by

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Captain James McGarry, cost $25,000, tonnage 352, carried 450, owned by Block P. Line of Missouri River. Length 194 feet, beam 33 feet, hold 4 1/2 feet, 2 boilers 42 inches diameter, by 24 feet, cylinders 13 1/2 feet diameter by 5 feet stroke.

"Made five trips yearly for ten years in Fort Benton trade. Sold to Captain Isaac P. Baker and taken to Lower Missouri River; sold by him in 1885 to Captain A. S. Bryan. Hit snag and sank in 1887 at lower Bonhomme Island, raised; on October 23, 1891, at same island and almost same location hit snag and sank, proved a total loss."

CITY OF HELENA, 1930. Was built in Helena by C. M. Johnston & Sons, a sternwheeler towboat, coal fired 600 HP steam engine built in Paducah, Kentucky, by Shelton Brothers. Two high pressure steam engines 14 inches by 6 feet stroke. Burned in Cairo, Illinois, 1937. (Courtesy Warren Johnston).

CITY OF HELENA. Built in Memphis by Lewis Supply Co., 1958. Steel hull ferry, diesel motors. Now named The Good Ship Lolly Pop at Huntsville, Ala.

OMEGA

Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of the steam era 1811 to 1970. One hundred and fifty-nine years. Beta, Omega Alpha Tau Sigma, put them all together spells BOATS. The end of the steamboat era, but not the end of boating and traffic on the river that adds much to the economy of Helena. The Diesels have taken over. They are noisier but more efficient, take much less manpower to operate, but the glamor and the romance went out with the Kate Adams, the last steam sidewheeler and the Delta Queen, the last steam sternwheeler passenger carrying excursion steamers.

***

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NOTES

A gift was made to the Phillips County Historical Society in memory of Mrs. Lelia Hornor Jennings whose death occurred in February. She was a strong booster of the Historical Society, and most helpful in seeking out material to be used in the Quarterly.

***

By error, the name of William Berry O'Shields was omitted from the article on Page 18 of the last Quarterly. He was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac O'Shields, and father of Mrs. Kate 0. Tarkington, Mrs. Ethel 0. Scofield, and the late Mrs. Lottie 0. Noble of Los Angeles, California.

***

Two post offices of Phillips County that should have been included in the post office listing in the last issue of the Quarterly, were and are: St. Francis, William Strong appointed Postmaster in 1826 (now in St. Francis County); Crumrod, present Postmaster, Mrs. Doris A. Funk.

***

A business meeting of the Historical Society was held at the Museum in January. At a meeting held in March, Thomas E. Tappan, Jr. presented a program featuring early Arkansas maps. Over two dozen maps were on display, loaned by Carroll Cannon of Forrest City and Dale Kirkman.

***

The Phillips County History course held at the Community College this semester has been successful and enjoyable. Talks, sketches, and a showing of historical memorabilia reflecting a variety of interests, have been presented to and by the class.

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Items given or loaned to the Museum during the past few months include a letter written in 1813 by: William Clark, Governor of Missouri Territory (embodying present day Arkansas) and a leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition; a bell cast in 1836 and mounted for presentation to the Museum; a collection of medicine bottles from early Helena drugstores; a few pieces of U. S. fractional currency; a Bible of the Davis Thompson family; a scrapbook of the mid 1800s; a gate latch manufactured at Helin 1899; the original map of New Helena of 1836; a bedspread made before the Civil War; a copy of the Catholic baptismal record of General Arch S. Dobbins, made from Brazilian records of the brief time that he spent there after the Civil War; copies of the population schedules of Phillips County taken from the Federal Censuses of 1830 and 1860; a Japanese carbine and automatic pistol; a piece of Cappa del Monte china.

***

A copy of a diary written about the same time as the Sue Cook Diary (December, 1965--March, 1968, issues of the Quarterly, inclusive) by a person living in the same neighborhood as Sue Cook, and--believe this--mentioned in Sue's diary, has been promised to the Historical Society for publication in the Quarterly in the next few months. Contents unknown.

***

Dues for the year 1971-1972 are payable May 1st.

***

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