TOP LEFT: James O. and Mary Snelson Nicholson, early pioneers

Transcription

TOP LEFT: James O. and Mary Snelson Nicholson, early
pioneers, about 1900.
J.W. Nicholson/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-38-7)
TOP RIGHT: Senator James Townsend “Town” Hopper, sponsor
of legislation to create Boone County, early 1900s.
Jessalee Nash/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-127-69)
BOTTOM: Ed Pendley house under construction, near Hill Top,
1913.
Steve Erwin Collection (S-97-144-50)
In the 1830s and 1840s, homesteaders looking for free land
came by river and military road to the area then known as Carroll
County. They built log cabins, hunted and farmed, established post
offices, and started businesses such as general stores and a beargrease rendering plant (for lamp oil).
After the strife of the Civil War, Union and Confederate forces
fought once again, but this time for positions of leadership. James
Townsend Hopper, a former Union soldier, was elected to the state
Senate. There he sponsored legislation to create a new county,
since local government was controlled by ex-Confederates. In
April 1869, with the help of a Republican legislature, land from
the east side of Carroll County was taken and Boone County was
born.
Scenes of Boone County
Shiloh Museum of Ozark History
TOP: Milum Spring, south of Harrison, early 1900s.
Roger V. Logan Jr./Boone County Library Collection (S-87-129-59)
BOTTOM: James D. Dunlap home, about 1900. Some
survivors of the Mountain Meadows massacre were raised in
this home, built about 1854.
Roger V. Logan Jr./Boone County Library Collection (S-87-60-8)
In April 1857, under the leadership of Captain Alexander Fancher,
a large company of Boone County residents and others formed
a caravan at Milum Spring and headed for new opportunities in
California.
In September they stopped at Mountain Meadows, a valley in the
Utah Territory. There they were attacked by Mormons and Native
Americans. They battled several days, after which the survivors
where allowed to leave, only to be brutally attacked one more
time. Seventeen children deemed too young to tell the tale were
allowed to live.
The reasons for this terrible massacre and the actions taken by the
various parties is still hotly debated by historians, descendents, and
church leaders. After many years of denial, a small monument to
the victims now stands in the valley.
TOP: Richard R. and Nancy A. Hopper Capps, near Hopewell,
early 1900s. Capps first served in Co. H, 2nd Regiment
Missouri Light Artillery (a Union force).
Roger V. Logan, Jr./Boone County Library Collection (S-87-129-44)
BOTTOM: Colonel Eli Dodson, early 1900s. He served in
the 14th Arkansas Confederate Infantry (organized in Boone
County) and later as county judge.
Martha Sisco/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-129-57)
In the hills of Northern Arkansas, where slavery wasn’t as common
as it was in the Delta, most folks weren’t interested in leaving
the Union. After much legislative debate and voting, Arkansas
seceded in May 1861. County residents were forced to choose
sides—Union or Confederate.
Most of the county’s men formed companies and went off to
fight. Some saw action at the Battles of Pea Ridge and Prairie
Grove. Those left behind faced hardships, too. Armies destroyed
a gunpowder mill on Crooked Creek and a niter works (explosives)
at Dubuque and they took livestock, food, and grain. Violent
bushwhackers took what was left and often burned homes when
they weren’t satisfied.
Independence Day celebration, Hill Top, 1910s. The women
may be students of the Hill Top Mission School.
St. Louis and North Arkansas Railroad train on Long Creek
trestle, Alpena, April 15, 1901.
Carroll County Heritage Center Collection (S-84-211-94)
For many decades Independence Day was a time for communities
to come together and have a good time.
The town of Harrison was incorporated in March 1876. In
celebration, city fathers planned a grand event for Independence
Day which, that year, fell on the Centennial of the nation’s
founding. Over 3,000 folks listened to bands, picnicked, heard a
reading of the Declaration of Independence and other patriotic
speeches, and watched fireworks.
A joust was held at the race track. Men riding horses and holding
pointed sticks raced towards posts that held rings suspended by
wire. The winner was the first to spear the ring with his stick. First
prize was $20.
In 1883 a railway line was built into Carroll County, spurring
economic growth and tourism. Boone County wanted an extension
of the line, but the expense and difficulty of building in the
mountains kept financial backers away.
For 20 years folks made do with a daily stagecoach run between
Eureka Springs and Harrison. Eventually backers were found and
residents gave land and cash to smooth the way. In March 1901
the St. Louis and North Arkansas Railroad steamed into Harrison
where it was greeted with band music and speeches. Later the
line pushed eastward into the county and became the Missouri and
North Arkansas Railroad.
The railroad brought goods and people into the county and sent
produce, livestock, and natural resources like timber and mineral
ores all over the nation.
TOP: Courthouse construction crew, Harrison, about 1907. The
previous courthouse burned down in 1906.
Robert Flippo/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-50)
BOTTOM: Looking southwest at Harrison, with the courthouse
in the center, about 1910.
Mrs. F.L. Coffman/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-23)
When Boone County was created in 1869, Harrison became the
county seat. Originally called Crooked Creek, the name was
changed when Captain Henry W. Fick asked civil engineer M.
LaRue Harrison, both former Union soldiers, to survey the town.
Fick was Harrison’s postmaster and developed many business
interests in the pro-Union, pro-Republican town.
A few years later folks petitioned to move the county seat to
Bellefonte, a long-established community that had supported the
Confederacy. Worried about losing business in Harrison, Fick
found like-minded former Confederates to help him campaign. It
was a close vote, but the seat stayed in Harrison. Residents’ fears
of violence from the losing side came to nothing.
TOP: Bellefonte Spring, about 1912. Bellefonte (“beautiful
fountain”) was one of many communities founded around a
spring.
Eula Albright/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-127-58)
BOTTOM: One of the Valley (or Double) Springs, about 1925.
Eula Albright/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-129-2)
Springs and creeks were important to settlers. Creeks provided
energy for grist mills and cotton gins. Springs offered medicinal
and business opportunities. In the 1880s Eureka Springs in nearby
Carroll County became a prosperous health resort as people
flocked to “take the waters” and cure their ailments.
Boone County had three resorts. The most popular was in the
town of Elixir Springs, where the spring’s water was said to cure
rheumatism and blood diseases. About 1,000 people lived and
worked in the town in the early 1880s. But the resort and the
town’s life were short lived. By 1892 it and another resort at Tom
Thumb Springs were long gone.
Gloria Mines, Zinc, about 1916.
Fay Hodge/Harrison Daily Times [published 11-14-1986] (S-88-36-3)
Town names such as Lead Hill and Zinc attest to the importance of
mining in Boone County. In the1850s small mines near Dubuque
and Lead Hill used crude smelters to extract lead from rock.
Mining began in earnest in the 1870s and it was hard work. Hand
tools were used to dig pits in the ground or shafts into the sides
of mountains. Tons of ore-bearing rock were processed on site or
sent to distant smelters. In 1886 33 wagon-loads of ore (34,320
pounds) were shipped from the Bonanza Mine near Lead Hill down
the White River to Batesville, and then on to St. Louis by rail.
A zinc “rush” began around 1899. Zinc was used as a pigment
in paints, for battery electrodes, and for galvanizing iron. During
World War I zinc prices soared, only to fall at war’s end. Many
mines were abandoned and towns shrunk or disappeared.
Cutting staves, Richland Creek, early 1900s.
Earl Henry/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-34)
Early settlers found large stands of oak, hickory, cedar, walnut,
cherry, and pine. Railroads headed for Northwest Arkansas in
the 1880s in part to take advantage of its vast timber reserves.
Logging became a major industry, creating jobs and boom towns
along the line.
Once saws and axes felled the giant trees, teams of mules hauled
the logs to sawmills and factories where the timber was turned into
barrel staves, railroad ties, lumber, fence posts, and tool handles.
When the trees were gone in one area, operations moved to the
next. New settlers farmed the cleared land.
A circa-1883 forestry report predicted a 300-year supply of
timber. By the 1920s the forests were largely gone. The timber
boom was over.
Riverside baptism at Omaha, 1909. Brother Voiles, minister.
Early settlers brought their religion with them, often worshipping in
their homes. One of the first churches was Crooked Creek Primitive
Baptist Church, founded in 1834. Churches formed and split
frequently as communities changed or members differed on church
teachings.
Traveling preachers and circuit riders (pastors on horseback who
visited the several churches in their care every few weeks) held
services where they could—in homes, fields, and even the county
courthouse. A revival meeting at Harrison led to several baptisms
and the 1890 formation of the First Baptist Church.
A mission school was founded in Hill Top. In Harrison the
Methodists built a college, only to have it burn down before school
started.
Threshing on the Vol Denton farm, Alpena, June 30, 1911. As
a stream-driven thresher moved its way through the fields,
the top rails of a split-rail fence were often fed as fuel into the
firebox; the rails were later replaced.
Boone County’s prairies and cleared lands offered farmers a
good place to plant crops and feed their livestock. An 1883
newspaper article declared that county soil was “well adapted
to the production of corn, wheat, cotton, tobacco, grass, sorghum,
oats, barley, etc., etc.”
Early settlers grew vegetables and grains to feed themselves. It
was only later that crops were grown for market. In 1905 the
Lead Hill area shipped out about 5,000 bales of cotton. In 1913
“Black Ben Davis” apples were shipped from the Hickory Grove
farm near Harrison.
Methodist Sunday School group enjoying a dinner on the
ground, Wilson Spring, early 1900s.
People came together in a variety of ways. Independence Daypicnics were common, as were “dinners on the ground,” organized
by churches. On Decoration Day families tidied up cemeteries and
placed flowers on graves. Log raisings to build barns and homes
were held when a new family moved into the neighborhood. The
Boone County fair started in 1887 and offered livestock contests,
mule racing, and arts and crafts exhibitions.
Traveling preachers held meetings and sometimes debated
one another. Fiddle music and dancing were popular but some
churches frowned on this pastime. “Play parties” were a way to
get around this. Rather than use instruments to make music, songs
were sung and participants did a type of square dance.
In all of these activities, folks had a chance to get together to
strengthen community and social bonds and meet eligible partners.
TOP: Reverend W.R. “Buck” Burnett family, Hill Top, 1908.
Burnett was a Freewill Baptist minister who preached without
pay. His daughter-in-law, who was ashamed of this house
with its pigs in the yard, hid this photo for many years.
BOTTOM: Charles W. Czech home, South Pine, Harrison. Czech
owned the Jersey Roller Mill which was known for its quality
flours and meals (coarse-ground grains).
Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-28)
The first settlers built hand-hewn log cabins and lived a simple,
hard life. As communities and towns grew, roads and a railroad
were built. New architectural styles and fancy construction
materials made their way into the county, allowing prosperous
businessmen to build large, showy homes.
By the early 1900s many in the African American community in
Harrison owned their own homes. They were often located in the
less desirable parts of the town, although a few families lived in
white neighborhoods.
TOP LEFT: Sam Paul’s blacksmith shop, Gaither, about 1902.
Dr. Troy Coffman/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-21)
TOP RIGHT: Cotton gin, Everton, about 1900.
Gladys McKay/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-127-55)
BOTTOM LEFT: E.G. Whitaker General Store, Alpena, about
1909.
Nancy Barron/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-44)
BOTTOM RIGHT: Bank of Harrison, Harrison, about 1895.
Garvin Fitton/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-127-37)
Soon after settlers first arrived in the county, businesses like
general stores began to spring up. By 1885 Harrison had a
number of stores that sold food, medicine, clothing, furniture,
saddles, and hardware. Specialized shops included a bakery,
ice cream and candy makers, and a man who made tinware.
Residents from neighboring communities flocked to town on
Saturdays to shop and socialize.
The coming of the railroad in 1901 meant that more goods were
brought into the county and farm products and natural resources
like lumber and ores were sent to market. In the 1910s fresh eggs
were shipped to Memphis in railroad cars cooled with ice.
TOP: William J. Meyers, early 1900s.
Robert Raley/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-38-1)
BOTTOM: Henry Starr, Harrison, February 1921.
Robert Raley/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-38-31)
In February 1921 notorious outlaw Henry Starr was one of several
men who tried to rob the Peoples National Bank on Harrison’s
square. Before the robbery they cut telephone lines and surveyed
the bank and square.
The bank’s former president, William J. Meyers, happened to be in
the bank that day. Once the cashier opened the safe the thieves
began grabbing money. A distraction caused by an uncooperative
patron turned their attention away from the safe, allowing Meyers
a chance to grab the .38 caliber Winchester rifle stored in the
vault. He shot and wounded Starr. Starr told his men to flee;
eventually they were caught and tried. Starr died a few days
after the robbery.
Vannie, a Harrison cook, about 1900.
Garvin Fitton/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-38-2)
In 1900 just over 100 African Americans lived in Harrison, which
had a total population of more than 1,500. Many had been in
the area for a long time and had established churches, businesses,
and a school. A division existed along race lines but, for the most
part, life was peaceful. Things changed as racial intolerance
spread across the country and “justice” increasingly meant the use
of violence.
Tensions increased in Harrison when a number of homeless,
unemployed African-American railroad laborers came to town.
In 1905 a black man was jailed for breaking into a home. Mob
violence erupted and blacks were beaten and their homes burned.
Many fled for their lives, never to return. Three years later a
youth was accused of robbery and rape. Once again the black
community feared mob violence and fled. By 1910 “Aunt Vine”
Smith was the only African American left in Harrison.
The 2000 census listed a few dozen African-Americans in Boone
County, home to the Arkansas faction of the Knights of the Ku Klux
Klan.
TOP: Alpena depot, 1902.
BOTTOM: Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad shops,
Harrison, about 1915.
Mrs. F.L. Coffman/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-129-47)
The Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad had a troubled
existence. By 1921 financial problems led to a major wage cut.
Union workers went on strike and the line closed down, causing
hardship for many families and businesses. Although a group of
investors bought the railroad and resumed operations, the workers
remained on strike.
Tensions increased in Harrison as strike-breakers crossed the picket
line and vandalism occurred. On January 14, 1923, hundreds of
armed men arrived by train and car. They searched homes for
union literature and firearms, threatened strikers, and burned the
Union Hall. The violence grew. Before it was over one man was
hanged from a railroad bridge. Fearing for their lives, strikers
and their families fled. The union was busted.
Digging for sewer mains, Harrison, October 1925.
W. Carl Smith, photographer. Ada Lee Shook Collection (S-98-85-1646)
For many years the county seat of Harrison looked like the Old
West with dirt streets, roaming livestock, and the dangerous “Dead
Man’s Corner,” scene of many a fight and shooting.
Harrison grew dramatically in population with the coming of the
railroad in 1901. More people meant more businesses, homes,
and infrastructure—things like sewers, roads, and utilities.
The town’s first street improvement district was created in 1924.
Streets in the business district were paved and a sewer system
was built. But by 1936 only 10 percent of the town’s streets were
surfaced. Believing Harrison couldn’t continue to grow without
improvement, downtown merchant Layton Coffman successfully led
a campaign to pave streets citywide.
Legal still #51, near Hurricane Cave, about 1900.
Red Coffman/Boone County Library Collection (S-87-128-86)
By 1847 four legal, tax-paying distilleries operated in Carroll
County. Many more illegal stills were likely hidden in the hills by
folks who refused to pay the alcohol tax. The manufacture of
moonshine grew in the 1890s when the government raised alcohol
taxes, and from 1915 to 1935 during Prohibition, when alcohol
was severely limited nationwide.
After World War II, returning veterans found their county overrun
with bootleggers. They re-sold alcohol illegally at a premium
to folks who lived in “dry” counties like Boone which didn’t allow
alcohol sales. Determined to put an end to the lawbreakers, one
group pushed for the legalization of alcohol sales while another
tried to rid local government of do-nothing officials.
In the end, it took a double murder on the Harrison square in 1946
before the town’s sheriff and city administration finally dealt with
the lawlessness.
Shady Grove School, October 10, 1913.
Early county schools were one-room buildings, with one teacher
for all grades. Rural students tended to complete fewer grades
and had shorter terms than students in town. This was due in part
to community funding problems and the students’ need to work at
home and on the farm.
In the 1870s academies were established in Bellefonte, Rally Hill,
and Valley Springs. The Harrison College and Normal Institute
(a training school for teachers) was later established for females.
These schools provided a comprehensive education for those who
could afford the fees. Big towns like Harrison built impressive
public schools.
During the 20th century consolidation reduced the number of
school districts from 99 to six. By 1935 every student had access
to a high school education.

TOP LEFT: James O. and Mary Snelson Nicholson, early pioneers

Transcription

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