Early History of Phillips County

The Land, the Legends and the Lore

by Patty Smith

Published 2020

McKeil, Burke, and Cail
Pioneers of the Land West of the Ridge

While the settlements of Utica, Sterling and Helena, east of Crowley’s Ridge, were bustling with activity, the land west of the ridge was opening up to newcomers. Among those who came to settle this available land were the families of Josiah McKiel, Elisha Burke and John Cail. All three hailed from Chowtan County, North Carolina, and John Cail was actually the father-in-law of Elisha Burke, with Cail’s daughter Eliza having married Burke. Elisha’s father had died when he was quite young, and Josiah McKiel had taken the lad under his wing, so all three families shared a deep and lasting connection. Early in 1836, they arrived, with plans perhaps already developed to form a somewhat self sustaining community.

Land deeds reveal that Josiah McKiel visited this area as early as 1832, purchased land near Phillips Bayou,, and returned to North Carolina to entice his friends to join him in Arkansas. Mckiel purchased more acreage after his arrival and this land was located on what we know as Lederman Farm and Lederman Hunting Club. By late 1836, “The Constitutional Journal” was advertising the mercantile store established by McKiel on his large plantation now known as Oak Grove. “Silks, prints, Calicos, etc., with hardware, queens ware, and goods of every type selected expressly to suit the trade of the county” were available. Goods could be purchased with cash or produce. Also on the McKiel plantation was a livery stable and blacksmith shop. Cornelia Burke Nichols, a descendant of Elisha Burke, in her extensive research files, states that Dr. J.M.D. Rodgers located his office at Judge Josiah McKiel’s, and offered his professional services to the town of Helena and vicinity. A little further east at Oak Grove, on the St. Francis River, was a cotton mill, owned by Josiah McKiel and called McKiel’s Mill. McKiel was not only a businessman, but also served as a Justice of the Peace and a judge, and also ranked as one of the top agriculturalist in Phillips County. The 1850 Cotton Producers of Phillips County list McKiel and Burke as among the top 15% of cotton producers.

Judge Josiah McKiel died at his home in 1870, and was buried at Oak Grove. Lydia Bond McKiel, wife of Josiah died circa 1840, and is buried next to her husband. In 1950, descendants found the cemetery on a hill, surrounded by a wrought iron fence, on Lederman property. Later searches failed to reveal the site of the graveyard. It has also been reported, that there are two other McKiel graves on the backside of Storm Creek Lake.

Elisha Burke had a land grant located directly south, and adjoining, that of Josiah McKiel. This properly included much of the Jake Lake Road area, and both Burke’s and McKiel’s land extended east to Crowley’s Ridge. Burke was not only a land owner and farmer, but played an important role in the civic affairs of Phillips County. Prior to moving to Arkansas, he was a Colonel in North Carolina Militia, sheriff, and member of the North Carolina Legislature. In Arkansas, Burke was a Justice of the Peace in 1837-38, a Chancery Court Judge in 1837-38, was a member of the General Assembly in 1842, and again from 1844 – 1849. In 1850-51, he served as a State Senator from Phillips County.

As McKiel was extending his business ventures, Burke was leading the educational endeavors of Richland Township. The newspaper of the day, “The Southern Shield”, in 1849 advertised the Male and Female High School, located we believe, on the northern section of the Burke Plantation (called Mount Pleasant). The tuition ranged from $12.00 - $16.00, or $30.00 for those wishing to board. Subjects such as Orthography, Reading, Penmanship, Mental and Written Arithmetic, Mental Algebra, English, History and Geography were taught under the direction of Mr. Orin Carpenter. Hand drawn floor plans of Burke’s home, Mount Pleasant, show an upstairs school room where presumably, the younger children of the families were taught, and included a bedroom for the tutor.

Only three of Elisha and Eliza Cail Burke’s eight children lived to carry on the family name. Three children died as infants, a son, Elisha, Jr. was killed in 1856 by gunshot in Helena at age fourteen. Another son, Richard C. died in 1870 while heading west leaving a wife and children behind. Daughter, Sallie Burke Neville, died at age 20. Son, Moses Burke remained in Richland Township, and daughter, Eliza married Dr. James H. Gibson and lived in LaGrange.

Today, 184 years after Elisha and Eliza Burke made their home at Mount Pleasant in Richland Township, known family members who remain in the area are Burke Smith and Cathy Privett. Burke Smith still resides on the very land, close to the original home. Mr. Smith continues to maintain the cemetery and remaining land of his forefathers.

John Cail, the third head of the party, who was approximately sixty-five years old at the time he came to Phillips County, died in 1840, only four years after arriving west of Crowley’s Ridge. Before his death, it was his son, Ameriah Cail, who was sent to purchase the land directly north, and adjoining the plantation of Joshiah McKiel, land we now know as La Grange, Arkansas, near Marianna, and at the time still a part of Phillips County. It was also Ameriah Cail who, in later years, built a school for the children of the vicinity. John Cail’s first wife died in 1823, prior to Cail’s move to Arkansas. His second wife, Parentha Sherry died in 1840 and is said to be buried with her husband at their homestead. Today, Lee County residents often refer to the Cail property as the Payne place, and make the drive to the crossroad in La Grange each Spring to view the multitude of daffodils that still bloom on the bluff.

It is interesting to note that Amariah Cail, son of John, moved to Jackson County, Texas, lost his wife, and sent his children, Martha and Obediah, back to Phillips County for his sister and her husband (Eliza Cail Burke and Elisha Burke) to raise.

Three families, all intertwined, came with others from North Carolina, cleared the immense and dense forests west of the ridge and built a community, a community that leaves little in the way of memories due to the ravages of war and time. But, a thriving community it was back in the 1840’s and 50’s and early 60’s.

All above information comes from the very extensive research of Cornelia Burke Nicholls, descendant of Elisha and Eliza Burke. For more information, contact Tri-County Genealogy at TCGS.genealogyvillage.com

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Primary sources for these articles include the Phillips County Historical Quarterlies, Shinn's Pioneers and Makers of Arkansas; Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Eastern Arkansas; Down the Great River by Glazier; Arkansas Historical Documents and Land Grants; The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture; Courts and Lawyers on the Arkansas Frontier; Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi; USGenWeb; Ancestry.com; FamilySearch.org; Phillips DNA Project.