A few days before the Confederate Cemetery was dedicated, Judge David Walker requested a list of women who were members of the Southern Memorial Association. Its secretary, Miss Sallie Davidson, compiled a list of 46 women who were members on June 8, 1873.
JULIA HELLER BAUM (1851 – Jan 1923):
Julia Heller of St. Louis married in 1869 Moses Baum and by 1870, Moses Baum, at the age of 24, was listed as one of the wealthiest property owners in Fayetteville. The couple went on to raise eight children in Fayetteville, a city that never saw the same numbers of Jewish merchants as the areas of Eastern Arkansas closer to the Mississippi River. The earliest recorded Jewish settlers in the area were the three Baum brothers, Joseph L., Leopold E. “Lee” and Moses. They had immigrated to St. Louis from Prussia near the close of the Civil War but while peddling along the military road to Fort Smith they passed through Fayetteville and found it an ideal location to settle and establish their business. In 1865, they had opened a clothing and general merchandise shop in the town square that had been destroyed during the Civil War and saw rapid success as the town quickly rebuilt. Within three years they had upgraded to a larger building. Their store, Baum & Brothers, grew even larger with time and remained a fixture in Fayetteville for decades despite a series of devastating natural disasters. In 1880, a tornado tore through the town and destroyed the Baum’s large two-story building. They quickly rebuilt, only to face a freakish hailstorm the following year when “hailstones as big as cannon balls bombarded the city.” Undaunted, the Baums restored and remodeled the building which prospered until an 1894 fire gutted the property. Only a voluntary bucket brigade was on hand to douse the flames, and the tragic blaze inspired local citizens to establish Fayetteville’s first waterworks. The Baums rebuilt once more, erecting an even larger building and this time added the slogan, “Time Tried, Storm Proven, Fire Tested.” In their early years, Moses and Julia educated their children at home in Jewish values and traditions and the Baum store closed every year for the High Holy Days. As Jewish enrollment at the university began to rise, the Baums embraced the students and in the 1920s, the Baums began holding services in their home with the assistance of Samuel Teitelbaum, rabbi of the neighboring congregation in Fort Smith. Moses Baum was a charter member of the local Masonic Lodge, and both he and his wife contributed significantly to the first local hospital. Julia was one of the founding ladies of the Fayetteville Order of the Eastern Star Chapter 313 and a very dedicated and respected member. In 1928 Moses Baum was Fayetteville’s oldest living merchant and conducted his business for over 50 years.
Obituary for Julia Heller:
BAUM, Julia HELLER – Mrs. M. Baum Dies After Operation For Appendicitis – Mrs. M. Baum of this place died at 12:30 o’clock today. One of the oldest and best-known residents of Fayetteville, the news of her passing came as a shock to the whole community, few knowing of her illness, dated only from yesterday morning when she was suddenly stricken with appendicitis. An operation was performed in hopes of saving her life, but the appendix had bursted and the poison soon spread, causing her death.
Her husband and five children, Mrs. J. Block of St. Louis, Mrs. Max Mayer of Chicago, Mrs. Sol Mayer of St. Louis, Harry Baum of Terrall, Texas and Mrs. Gert Laurich of this place, were with the deceased when she passed away, the out of town children having been sent for as soon as she was taken ill. Two other children, Mrs. Carl Christopher of Montana and a son, Ely Baum of Sellars, Louisiana are expected to join the family in St. Louis where the body will be taken tomorrow night,
Mrs. Baum was a native of Vienna, Austria and was born October 14, 1850. She had had remarkable health and was perfectly well until yesterday. She and Mr. Baum were married in St. Louis 53 years ago and had spent their entire married life here where for many years, Mr. Baum was in the Mercantile business. She was prominent in club and social circles and a worker in many ****istic movements. Since the erection of City Hospital she has been a tireless worker in its behalf and at the time of her death was planning the completion of a $5,000 fund for the purchase of hospital equipment including an x-Ray machine. She was the daughter of Moses and Lena Heller of Vienna, Austria who emigrated to this country during her childhood. [Fayetteville Daily Democrat 12/6/1922]
To Bury Mrs. Baum In St. Louis Monday – Funeral services for the late Mrs. M. Baum, who died here Thursday, will be held in St. Louis Monday. The body left here last evening, accompanied by Mr. Baum, three daughters and a son and the funeral party will be joined in St. Louis by another son and another daughter, Ely Baum of Louisiana and Mrs. Carl Christopher of Montana. Funeral services were delayed until next week awaiting the arrival of Mrs. Christopher. Mr. Baum will go from St. Louis to Kansas where he will spend some time with a sister] before returning to his home here. [Fayetteville Daily Democrat 12/8/1922] ENDJulia was buried next to her husband, Moses, in the New Mount Sinai Cemetery & Mausoleum in the Baum family plot at Affton, St. Louis County, Missouri. [Find-A Grave Memorial #36563940]Julia was the wife of Moses Baum and was a member of the Southern Memorial Association of Fayetteville. Her daughter-in-law, Flora B. BAERWALD Baum, wife of Harry E. Baum, was a member of the Fayetteville Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, joining as her father had served in the Mississippi Cavalry. Both Harry & Flora are buried in the Beth Israel Cemetery at Houston, Harris County, Texas.
CLEMENTINE WATSON BOLES (18 Jun 1839 – 15 Oct 1921):
Clementine Watson married Thomas D. Boles on 18 June 1877 in Washington County, Arkansas. They are both buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Thomas Boles was born 14 Jun 1825 in Kentucky and died 11 June 1883. Children from their union include two sons, Turner Davis Boles and Charles William Boles, both who died very young. From the Fayetteville Daily Democrat of 14 October 1921: Mrs. Clementine Boles, aged 82, died this morning, October 15, 1921, shortly after 1 o’clock, following a stroke of apoplexy, Wednesday afternoon. Funeral services will be held Sunday afternoon at 2 o’clock from St. Paul’s Church, Rev. C. P. Parker officiating. Pallbearers will be: Charles Dean, J. H. McElroy, J. P. Bower, Dr. J. A. Elliott, Major K. M. Halpine and Alpha Goss; Honorary, C. W. Walker, A. B. Lewis, P. F. Davidson, R. F. Bell, R. J. Wilson and Hugh A. Dinsmore. Mrs. Boles was born June 18, 1839 at Buchanan, Botetourt County, Virginia, but had lived her in Arkansas before the Civil War. She is survived by a brother, Col. E. P. Watson of Bentonville, by seven nieces, eight nephews and a step-daughter, Mrs. W. M. Weaver of California. Relatives residing here are Ed Watson, a nephew; Mrs. Fannie Wooddy, a niece, Mrs. Oscar Von der Luft of Dover, New Jersey and Mrs. Leland Bryan, great-nieces. Out-of-town relatives either here or coming for the funeral are Col. and Mrs. E. P. Watson of Bentonville, Arkansas; L. S. Watson of Mena, Arkansas; F. W. Watson of Okmulgee, Oklahoma and W. A. Watson of Monett, nephews; Mrs. Frank(Nellie) Sittel of McAlester, Oklahoma, a niece; Mrs. Ernest DeShong of Bentonville, a niece and Dale Woody of Tulsa, a great-nephew. A memoriam from the Fayetteville Democrat of 1 February 1922: Too often we wait until noble lives are ended until those we love and wish to honor cannot know how much they are appreciated, how well they have lived. Of such lives is Mrs. Clementine (Watson) Boles, who was born June 18, 1939 in Buchanan, Botetourt County, Virginia, the daughter of W. A. Watson, and Christina Long (Crews) Watson. Her father with his family moved from Virginia to Arkansas in 1847. Settling first in Van Buren, Arkansas, afterwards moving to Fayetteville, where the roseate days of childhood and womanhood of Mrs. Boles were spent. Mrs. Boles comes from a line of patriots and soldiers. She was a representative of the women of the South in culture, spirit and charm. It is by no means a surprise that Mrs. Boles, back of who extends an ancestral history so patriotic, should take a lively interest in patriotic work. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, tracing her ancestry on her mother’s side to the Penn’s of Virginia; she was also one of the first in her town to become a member of the Southern Memorial Association and to gather the scattered Southern dead, place them in a beautiful cemetery, where a monument stands as a tribute to their memory. She was a charter member of Mildred Lee Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, organized in 1897 at Fayetteville, Arkansas. She was director of “Jefferson Davis Monument Association” of Arkansas and also state director of the “Arlington Memorial Association.” For a number of years, she held the state office of Registrar and served as chapter corresponding secretary. She delighted for years in attending the State and General Conventions and has many friends scattered over our Southland. On October 15, 1921, Mildred Lee Chapter lost in Mrs. Boles’ death, one of the oldest and most valued members. She was a woman whose life and work were conspicuous in the formative day of this organization and her death means to us all, a very personal grief. She is survived by only one brother, Edmund Penn Watson of Bentonville, Arkansas. She had three brothers in the Confederate army; one gave his life to the cause of the confederacy. Nieces and nephews are left to mourn her loss.
MARY J. WHITLOW BRADEN (1842 – ): Mary “Mollie” J. Whitlow was born in Hickory County, Missouri, daughter of Henry and Ella Culbertson Whitlow. Mollie’s brother W. H. Whitlow was a Fayetteville druggist and began his career as a clerk with the business of P.M. Cox. Sallie married Robert F. Braden, who was born on 18 January 1816 in North Carolina. He lived several years in McMinn County, Tennessee where from 1851 to 1854 he was sheriff. The couple is listed on the 1880 Arkansas Census living in Washington County and Robert’s occupation was recorded as “farmer.” Robert died on 28 February 1887 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas. According to other founding ladies her knew Mollie, they described her as having “black hair and blue eyes.”
RACHEL F. BIRD BRIDGEFORD (8 Aug 1825 – 15 April 1885): Rachel F. Bird married Richard Bridgeford in Hannibal, Missouri on 17 May 1846. Both Rachel and Richard were born in Kentucky. She died in Chicago, Illinois.
VITELLA JACKSON CROSE (died in 1912): Vitella Jackson married Isaac Crose in 1877. She died in Denver, Colorado in 1912. Vitella became widely known from her work as a landscape painter in oil, receiving orders for her work from New York to California. She was the daughter of Cortes Jackson, brother of Columbus Jackson, who married another founding member of the Southern Memorial Association, Virginia Jackson. Both Cortes and his brother Columbus were engaged in the mercantile business in Fayetteville.
SALLIE COX: Mrs. Sallie Cox, wife of Dr. P.M. “Tip” Cox, came to Fayetteville from Osceola, Missouri soon after the War Between the States ended. Sallie’s husband operated a drug store in Fayetteville. Mrs. Cox, having heard of a memorial association just started in Missouri, shared her desire with her friend, Mrs. J. L. Cravens, and immediately steps were taken to organize the Southern Memorial Association of Washington County. Writing in the Fayetteville Daily Democrat of 11 June 1932, Miss Sue Walker made the statement that, “our organization here in Fayetteville was inspired by Mrs. Sallie Cox.”
CAROLINE CRAVENS (1831 – 18 Sept 1923):
Mrs. Caroline Cravens held positions of President as well as Recording Secretary during the early years of the Southern Memorial Association. Her husband, Col. Jesse L. Cravens (1831 – 16 January 1908), who served with the 62nd Arkansas Militia and 5th Missouri Cavalry during the War Between the States. Jesse was a graduate of West Point. He opened an insurance office in Fayetteville in 1888. He also served a period of time as secretary on the board of trustees for the Arkansas State University in Fayetteville. Regarding Jesse L. Cravens, the Springdale News of 24 January 1908 stated: He was one of our foremost fellow citizens and was held in the highest esteem by the entire community. In the Fayetteville Daily Democrat of 18 September 1923 was the following notice: Mrs. J.L. Cravens, age 92, passed away peacefully at her home on College Avenue here this afternoon at three o’clock. She has been critically ill since Saturday. Both Caroline and her husband are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
MALVINA J. SYMS DAVENPORT (1829- ): Malvina J. Syms was born in Tennessee in 1829. Her parents were both born in Kentucky. Malvina married Charles Davenport in Washington County on 29 April 1850. She and her husband Charles M. Davenport are listed on the Washington County 1850 census. His occupation was that of clerk and he was born in Pennsylvania on 14 July 1820. Charles served with rank of Private with the 3rd Arkansas Infantry, CSA. On the 1880 Arkansas Census, Washington County, Malvina is listed as a widow with the following children Dewitt C. age 25 and Josephine age 20. Charles M. Davenport died 25 September 1869 and is buried in Stearns Cemetery in Johnson, Arkansas.
SARAH REBECCA STIRMAN TROTT DAVIDSON (1843-1912): Rebecca Stirman was a lifetime resident of Fayetteville, Arkansas. She was the youngest of the A.A. Stirman children. She and her brothers William and Erasmus (Ras) were orphaned at young ages and raised by their aunt, Mary Stirman Pollard. Rebecca attended Sophia Sawyer’s school in the decade preceding the Civil War. Her older brother Erasmus attended Arkansas College and worked as a clerk in a dry goods store. In 1861, he enlisted as a private in the Pike Guards, a local CSA militia unit, and marched North with other Southern troops to engage in the Wilson’s Creek campaign of Southwest Missouri. Rebecca remained in Fayetteville for most of the war years, leaving once in early 1862 after the town was burned by Confederate forces. She was banished from Fayetteville in 1864 by the Union occupation forces for aiding the enemy. Her brother Erasmus stayed with the army until 1865, eventually becoming captain of Company E, 1st Battalion Arkansas Cavalry and colonel of his own regiment of sharpshooters. Following the war, Rebecca and Ras returned to Fayetteville. Rebecca married on 17 September 1867 in Washington County, James E. Trott (1833 – ) a local merchant who was born in 1833 in Massachusetts. The couple had one daughter, Roberta, before Trott’s death sometime around 1870. Her husband James had served with the 34th Arkansas Infantry, CSA, during the war and held the rank of Major. After his death, Rebecca married Major Benjamin R. Davidson (1847-1938), a prominent local attorney in Washington County on 17 June 1876. Her brother Ras became an attorney and was elected mayor of Fayetteville in 1868. He married Mirium Gist of New Castle, Kentucky, in 1870 and in 1879 the couple moved to Denver, Colorado, where Ras died in 1914. Both Rebecca and Benjamin are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Rebecca’s first husband James E. Trott is also buried in the same cemetery. The University of Arkansas Special Collections Library has preserved many family letters and information on the above-mentioned families.
NANNIE EVELYN TUTTLE FERGUSON (21 March 1847 – 16 January 1926): Nannie Evelyn Tuttle was born in Arkansas, daughter of J. M. and Evaline Smith Tuttle. She married James Andrew Ferguson (28 January 1840 – June 25 1918) in Washington County on 1 November 1868. Her husband was also born in Arkansas and was a merchant, banker and dealer in real estate, the son of John C. and Elizabeth English Ferguson. During the War Between the States, James enlisted with Carroll’s Regiment and held the rank of First Lieutenant with honor until 1863 when he suffered a broken leg from a fall off his horse. He then resigned and went out to California for a year. He returned to Fayetteville where he took an active interest in the Washington County Bank. He and his wife Nannie were the parents of James, Arthur, Augusta, Harry and John. James was a member of the Masonic fraternity and he and Nannie worshiped at the Episcopal Church. Both she and her husband are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
JANE CATHERINE BRAGG GUNTER (23 Nov 1833 – 11 Nov 1901):
Jane Catherine Bragg Gunter was a sister of Sallie Bragg North, also a founding member of the Southern Memorial Association. Their father was Charles G. Bragg of Virginia and he was a second cousin to General Braxton Bragg, CSA. Jane became the second wife of Thomas M. Gunter in 1860. His first wife, Marcella Jackson, had died in 1859. From the Fayetteville Daily: Mrs. Jennie Gunter, wife of Col. Thomas M. Gunter, passed peacefully away at 8:45 p.m. Monday at their home in this city. Mrs. Gunter had been an invalid for several years and during the past year has been confined to her bed. Although she has known for many months that she was suffering with an incurable malady, she retained her wonted cheerfulness until she was oblivious to the things of earth. Her beautiful Christian character which adorned all her life never shown so brightly as in her final illness. Her present discomfort seemed to be forgotten in the thought of the happiness that awaited her beyond. She spoke joyously of the approaching end and looked forward with brightest anticipation to the day of her emancipation. She was at peace with her God and at peace with all the world. Her good works will never be known, for she was as reticent about her charities as she was untiring in her labors of love. Her ministrations to the sick or needy were not restricted by race or station. She would watch through the long hours of the night by the bedside of a sick negro as willingly as she would attend her dearest friend. She was zealous to her religious duties and a faithful and earnest worker in the church. But notwithstanding her manifold charities, her own house was a model of order, comfort and cheer. A more devoted wife and mother never blessed a household. It is no marvel that she should have gone forth joyously to her reward. Mrs. Gunter, who was Miss Jane Catherine Bragg, was born Nov. 23, 1832, in Charleston, Jefferson County, Virginia, and came to Arkansas when she was eleven years old to live with her sister, Mrs. S.V. North, of this city. She was married June 8, 1860, to Col. Thomas M. Gunter. Four children blessed this union. Jennie and Cora, who have gone before, and W.G. Gunter, of Salt Lake City, Mrs. M.R. Forbes of Evanston, Illinois, Judge Julius Gunter,of Denver, Colorado, as beloved as her own son, was the child of a former marriage. Her devoted husband and bereaved children have the profound sympathy of many friends, who will weep with them over the bier of one of the best women whose life has blessed this or any community. Both Jennie and her husband, Thomas Montague Gunter, are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Thomas Montague Gunter (1824-1904) served as a United States Congressman. He graduated from Irving College in 1850 and became an attorney in Fayetteville in 1853. In 1856 he married Marcella Jackson (born 1831 and died 1859), the fourth child of Julius C. Jackson, who was a second cousin to Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson. In 1861, Thomas M. Gunter became a delegate to the Arkansas convention that voted to secede from the Union. During the Civil War he joined the Confederate Army with rank of Colonel, serving with the 13th Arkansas Regiment until the end of the war. After the Civil War he filled the position of Prosecuting Attorney for the 4th Judicial District of Arkansas, serving a term from 1866 to 1868. In 1872, he appeared to be an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the United States House of Representatives, but he did successfully contest the election of William Wilshire and took his seat in Congress. Gunter was reelected four times and served terms from June 1874 to March 1883. He did not run for reelection in 1882 and returned to practicing law in Fayetteville.
MARGARET ANN COX HARRIS (1833 – )
Margaret Ann Cox born 9 October 1833 in Missouri and married Edwin Eugene Harris in 1853. Three daughters were born to them: Betty Virginia, Sarah Eugenia Harris, and Agnes M. Harris. Margaret’s husband was born about 1828 in Virginia and died 10 September 1864. He is buried in Princeton, Dallas County, Arkansas. He was a physician and studied at the University of Louisville. During the War Between the States he served as a surgeon with Musser’s Battalion of Missouri Infantry, C.S.A., and Chief Surgeon of Clark’s Brigade, C.S.A. He died in service.
SARAH J. HARRISON (1845 – ): Sarah “Sallie” Harrison was born in Missouri. She married Elizur Butler Harrison (born 1840 in Michigan). He served with the 1st Arkansas Cavalry, Union, during the War Between the States, with rank of Captain. He was a federal officer under General Herron during the War Between the States. In 1880 he and his wife were living in Fayetteville. The 1880 Washington County Census shows him and his wife with children Joe C. and Lida J. The same census lists Elizur Harrison as a United States Commissioner. Sallie’s husband was appointed postmaster of Fayetteville in 1884 and in 1886 the Fayetteville Building and Loan was organized and he became its first president.
ABAGAIL HAUPTMAN (4 Mar 1828 – 16 May 1898): Abbie Hauptman became the wife of Charles S. Hauptman. Both he and Abbie were born in New York State and both are buried in Evergeen Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Charles was born 2 February 1822 and died 18 November 1897. He served as a Justice of the Peace in Washington County for the 1864-1868 term and also 1880-1882.
LAVANTIA C. BLACK HICKMAN (1850 – ): Lavantia C. Black married Lewis Hickman in Washington County on 17 October 1873. In 1880, they were living in Fayetteville and he was a druggist by profession. He was born in 1839 in Indiana and Lavantia was born 1850 in Georgia. Known children of this union are Gussie, Homer and Clifton.
VIRGINIA ANN APPLEBERRY JACKSON (1824 – 1913): Virginia Ann Appleberry was born in 1824 in Virginia. She married Columbus Jackson in Prairieville, Missouri in 1848. Her husband, Columbus, spent most of his life in Fayetteville, Arkansas, engaged in the mercantile business. During the War Between the States, many widows and orphans came to him not only for advice but for assistance. While serving in the Confederate Army his health suffered and he never enjoyed good health after the war. He and Virginia bought and improved a farm about 1.5 miles from the old Post Office and built a 2-story brick home there. Virginia lived to be almost 89 years old and Columbus died in 1879. Virginia’s husband, Columbus Jackson, was born 20 January 1825 in Kentucky and died 25 September 1879. He was the second son of Julius C. Jackson, who was a second cousin to Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson. Columbus Jackson was noted for his good business qualities and his unvarying cheerfulness. He and his family helped largely to make Fayetteville one of the best in the state. His mother returning from a visit to Fayetteville, once commented that, “everyone seemed to know and respect Columbus. He seemed to have the confidence and love of all classes, especially of those who needed the counsel of an honest, wise man.” Columbus and his wife Virginia produced nine children: William Julius, born and died in 1849; Lyses born in 1850, died in 1853; Everett A. born in 1852, Wayman Crow born in 1855, Ulysses L. born in 1858, Mary Frances, born in 1862, died in 1863; Lynn, born in 1862 died in 1863; Virginia Alice, born in 1867, Henry Rush, born in 1869.
LOUISA EMMA BLACK JENNINGS (1834 – ): Louisa Emma Black was born in North Carolina, the daughter of Cyrus and Elizabeth Harkey Black. She married Thomas Jennings about 1857 in Fayette, Georgia. Thomas was born 4 April 1830 in Fayette, Georgia, the son of Allen and Cynthia Varner Jennings. In 1859, Louisa and Thomas moved to Texas where during the War Between the States he served with the Texas Militia and then joined the regular Confederate Army under General MacGruder, D. S. Terry’s regiment, cavalry corps. In 1866, the family moved up to Fayetteville where Thomas was engaged in the livery and hotel business and eventually was the proprietor of Bed Spring Manufacturing, an active business in Fayetteville during the late 1800’s. He also at one time was the proprietor of the Mountain House in Fayetteville. Louisa and Thomas were the parents of Edgar, Fannie, Thomas, Lillie, Willie, and Lizzie.
ANNIE SARAH DUKE LOTSPEICH (February 1849 – 31 July 1931): Annie Sarah Duke married Dr. Rhoten Fleming Lotspeich in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 1869. Her husband was born in Tennessee on 7 March 1831. He was the son of James Axley and Malinda Farnsworth Lotspeich. The couple later moved out to California. Annie died on 31 July 1931 and her husband on 4 August 1906. Both died in Los Angeles, California.
MARY CAROLINE MASSIE O’BRIAN (1854 – ): Mary “Mollie” Massie was born in Savannah, Missouri, on 7 July 1854. She was the daughter of John Colin and Tabitha Purnell Gresham. Both parents were born in Kentucky. She married John S. O’Brian on 4 January 1882 in Washington County. Mollie’s father was a merchant in Fayetteville from 1860-1870, died in 1891, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Fayetteville. Mollie had two brothers who were physicians; Fredrick O. Massey was a medical doctor and practiced in Huntsville, Madison County, Arkansas, 1880-1900, and her brother James B. Massie practiced in Harris County, Texas. Her brother John Jr. was an undertaker in Fayetteville.
SARAH MCCLELLAN: (20 Apr 1823 – 28 Dec 1905):
Mrs. Sarah McClellan was married to Evan W. McClellan. Both she and her husband are buried in the McClellan Cemetery near Cane Hill in Washington County, Arkansas. Her husband Evan White McClellan was born in Tennessee on 21 Aug 1811 and died 11 Feb 1882. Sarah was born in Indiana.
LETITIA MCKISSICK (1824 – 5 February 1876): Letitia Morton McKissick was the daughter of Colonel James McKissick and Mary “Polly” Vance Greer McKissick. She was born in Tennessee in 1824. Letitia’s father, Colonel James McKissick first saw northwest Arkansas as he passed through on a trip to Indian Territory in the early 1830s. He was so impressed with the beautiful land and plentiful springs that upon his return to Bedford County, Tennessee, he began making plans to move to Arkansas. The McKissick family traveled to Arkansas in 1835 with a large group of influential family and friends including the Dickson family, who left their historical mark in both Benton and Washington counties. Letitia’s parents, Colonel James and Mary “Polly” McKissick, owned plantation farm land on the Illinois River near the mouth of the Osage in Washington County, but their home was located at McKissick Springs, which today is known as the town of Centerton in Benton County. Letitia’s brother, Alexander Hamilton McKissick, served as a Benton County surveyor. With their Dickson cousins this family played important roles in the early development of Benton County. Letitia’s sister, Sarah, was the wife of Joseph Lawrence Dickson who was an influential merchant in downtown Fayetteville. Joseph kept a diary which mentioned his sister-in-law, Letitia, and other family members who embarked on a trip to Nashville, Tennessee in 1854. Joseph endearingly referred to Letitia, who never married, by such nicknames as “Letsy” and “Tish”. Letitia and her sister Sarah conducted a private school at the Dickson home. “Miss Tish” as Letitia was also called, also taught at the Cumberland Presbyterian Church on Block Street. On April 12, 1861, Letitia’s sister, Sarah McKissick Dickson delivered a speech and presented a Confederate flag to her brother-in-law, Dr. Charles W. Deane, at a town ceremony in Fayetteville. The Arkansasian newspaper reported that a brass band played “Dixieland” followed by three cheers for Jeff Davis and the Confederacy. Letitia and her family suffered great heartache and turmoil during the War Between the States. Her nephew, James McKissick, was killed at the battle of Elkhorn and her 75 year old Uncle David McKissick was shot and killed by Yankees in the doorway of his Benton County home. Her cousin Daniel McKissick raised one of the earliest cavalry units for the Confederacy in Northwest Arkansas. Letitia’s brother-in-law, Dr. Samuel Bell, was killed at the battle of Oak Hills in Missouri. In the days leading up to the battle of Elkhorn at Pea Ridge, Letitia’s family home property at McKissick Springs was the campsite of hundreds of Union soldiers under the leadership of General Franz Sigel and General Alexander Asboth. According to McKissick family history, Union soldiers camped in the McKissick family cemetery where Letitia’s relatives were buried. While cooking breakfast, the soldiers built a fire on the five-foot long slab of limestone which was Grandmother Jane McKissick’s grave marker at McKissick Springs. In his diary, Joseph Lawrence Dickson notes the death of Letitia Morton McKissick on February 5, 1876 at 8 o’clock p.m. in Fayetteville, Arkansas. However, he does not mention where she was buried. (Our appreciation and thanks to Monte Harris of the Rogers Historical Museum, Rogers, Arkansas for this submission).
EMMA J. NORTH MOORE: Emma J. North and Elias B. Moore were married in Washington County on 27 January 1870. Elias B. Moore was a son of the founder of the Fayetteville Democrat. He and his brother W. B. Moore re-established their father’s newspaper business in 1868 after it had been destroyed during the War Between the States. Elias served as a Colonel with Pikes Guard CSA, Company C, under the command of Samuel R. Bell during the War.
SALLIE V. BRAGG NORTH (1815 – 1890): Sallie North came from Virginia and was related to General Braxton Bragg. Her sister, also a founding member of the Southern Memorial Association, was Jane Bragg Gunter, wife of Col. T.M. Gunter. Sallie was married to Capt. G.W. North. From the Fayetteville Democrat of 22 August 1890:
“After a protracted illness of many months, Mrs. Sallie V. North passed to the great beyond at 3 o’clock on Wednesday, the 20th inst. For almost a half century she has lived among the people of Fayetteville and they will with one voice say to know her was to love her. She was always kind and always jovial but an irreverent word never fell from her lips. Those afflicted and in distress and the poor and needy never appealed to this noble woman in vain. To do good and to be good was her mission in the world and she so impressed this fact on all whom she came in contact that she was universally regarded as one of the best ladies in the land and she goes down to her grave mourned by all this community. Mrs. North was 75 years of age and her lamp of life gradually went out. She had long been a member of the Episcopal Church and died in the triumphant faith of the Christian religion. The funeral services took place from St. Paul’s Church at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Rev, J.J. Vaulx officiating after which all that was mortal of Mrs. North was laid to rest in Evergreen Cemetery.”
MARY E. PEACOCK (21 July 1842 – 19 September 1910): Mary and her husband John O. Peacock (3 June 1841 – 8 May 1883) were both born in Missouri. The 1880 Census of Johnson County, Arkansas shows the couple to be living in Spadra, Arkansas. John’s occupation was that of druggist. They both are buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Independence, Missouri.
LAURA PENDLETON: It is only known that Laura was the wife of J.C. Pendleton. There is no census record for Washington County with a J.C. Pendleton or Laura Pendleton recorded. There is a couple buried in Mt. Washington Cemetery in Independence, Missouri which contains gravestones of J. Crow Pendleton 1845-1913 and Laura Pendleton 1848-1908, which might be the Laura Pendleton mentioned on the list of founding ladies, but this is not proven. If this is our Laura Pendleton, she was Laura Henley who married on 22 May 1867 in Jackson County, Missouri. Her husband James Crow Pendleton was a druggist by profession.
ELIZABETH POLLARD (14 April 1836 – 1922):
Elizabeth, “Lizzie,” Pollard was born in Tennessee and was the daughter of Jonathan Cooper (1809-1863) and Mary Ann Wilson Young (1811-1895). Lizzie attended the first organizational meeting of the Southern Memorial Association and from that day forward was always an active member serving in the office of President several times as well as corresponding secretary. She was the second President of the SMA, the first president being her mother-in-law, Mary Willis Pollard. She was recalled to the office of President from time to time and served in this office longer than any other member besides Miss Sue Walker. According to descriptions of women who knew Lizzie, she was described as having “good height and impressive looking.” Both she and her husband are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Fayetteville. Lizzie’s husband was a son of Dr. Thomas and Mary Willis Pollard. He was born in 1833 and died in 1899. Lizzie’s mother is buried near the Wilson and Walker Cemeteries with a gravestone. One of Lizzie’s brothers, James Washington Cooper, was an architect. He taught school several years after the War Between the States. He was a member of the “Howards” in 1878, an organization formed to fight the yellow fever. Sam Cooper, one of the Confederate generals was a cousin. James W. Cooper served in what eventually became the 15th Northwest Arkansas Infantry. It was organized as the 3rd (McRae’s) Battalion Arkansas Infantry, increased to a regiment and designated as the 21st Arkansas Infantry, and later redesignated as the 15th Northwest Arkansas Infantry. James enlisted in Company G of this organization at Bentonville, Arkansas, on October 31, 1861; was elected third lieutenant on the same date and was promoted to second lieutenant. In 1904 Mrs. Pollard wrote these words regarding the Confederate Cemetery:
These monuments we build will speak their message to generations. These voiceless marbles in their majesty will stand as vindicators of the Confederate soldier. They will lift from these brave men the opprobrium of rebel and stand them in line of patriots. This is not alone a labor of love; it is a work of duty as well. We are correcting history.
MARY WILLIS STIRMAN POLLARD (17 Sep 1810 – 25 Nov 1886):
Mary Willis Stirman was born in Mercer County, Kentucky, the daughter of Rev. William Stirman, a prominent minister of the Christian Church. She married Dr. Thomas J. Pollard in Nicholasville, Kentucky, on April 14, 1830. The young couple at once took up residence in Versailles, Kentucky, where her husband was engaged in the practice of medicine. After a residence of one year in Versailles, the couple moved to Palmyra, Missouri, where they remained seven years. In 1839 the Pollards moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas where they lived the remainder of their lives and were honored and respected by all who knew them. During the War Between the States, the Pollards remained in Fayetteville and loyal to the Southland. In 1879 they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary and Dr. Pollard received a solid gold watch from friends and Mary’s children also gave her one. Dr. Thomas J. Pollard was a resident of Fayetteville for 50 years and one of the oldest pioneers of Northwest Arkansas. He died Monday December 23 at the age of 84 years. He was born in Kentucky and graduated from Transylvania University with the degree of M.D., the very same university from which also the first and only President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis, obtained his education. Upon the death of Dr. Pollard, the Fayetteville Democrat recorded these words: “No event has brought more universal sorrow to the citizens of Fayetteville than the death of the venerable Dr. Pollard which occurred at 4 p.m. Monday last. Business was entirely suspended on the day of the funeral and people turned out en masse to pay their respects to their departed friend and benefactor and hear the beautiful tribute to his worth and memory by Rev. Dr. Ragland. He was buried in Evergreen Cemetery with Masonic honors amid the tears of a grief-stricken crowd.
Mrs. Mary Pollard was the first President of the Southern Memorial Association. Her loyalty to the cause of the Confederacy well-fitted her for the position of first President of the Southern Memorial Association. The original Southern Memorial Association Constitution of 1872 provided for the election of officers every three months, so it is not known how many terms Mary served, but we do know from SMA records that Elizabeth Pollard, Mary’s daughter-in-law, succeeded her as President. Miss Sue Walker described Mary Pollard as a lady of “calm dignity and poise.” In the 1900’s Miss Sue Walker, in regard to Mrs. Mary Pollard, wrote: “Doubtless many tributes to her worth and Christian virtues were published at the time of her death, which occurred many years ago; these would be most interesting to her successors in the work, but unfortunately are not available.” Mary Pollard has also been described by acquaintances as an “honored gentlewoman, charitable to the poor and needy.” The Encyclopedia of the New West has the following in reference to this noble lady, “Mrs. Pollard is a good scholar, a woman of decision, never forms opinions without evidence and when her opinions are formed she is not given to change; has good conversational powers, attachments, energy of character, is charitable to the poor; always open to the needy, notably so during the war.”
The Southern Memorial Association is grateful to the First Christian Church of Fayetteville, for allowing us to share this rare old picture of Mary Pollard. The original picture hangs today in the First Christian Church and in italics is what was written on the back of the picture:
Mrs. Mary Willis Pollard, a Christian member of the First Christian Church in Fayetteville, Arkansas, was born at Nicholasville, Kentucky, Sept. 17, 1810. She was a daughter of Rev. and Mrs. William Stirman. Her father was a well known minister of the gospel among the Disciples of Christ. She was married to Dr. Thomas J. Pollard April 14, 1830. Later this young couple moved to Palmyra, Missouri, where they resided till June, 1839 when they located at Fayetteville, Arkansas, which was their home for 50 years. They celebrated their golden wedding in 1880. Six years later she passed peacefully into the saints’ everlasting rest. Her husband followed her to a better land during the holidays of 1889, the burial taking place on Christmas Day.
FANNIE POLLARD QUARLES POLSON (1831 – ): Mrs. Fannie Quarles was the wife of a pioneer merchant, William F. Quarles. She was the daughter of Dr. Thomas J. Pollard and his wife Mary Willis Pollard. She was “socially prominent and a woman of resource” according to an article written about her by Sue H. Walker which appeared in the Arkansas Gazette Magazine in April of 1935. Upon the death of her husband, she opened her home to boarders and made a good living for herself and her children. Many years later she married Dr. Polson of Prairie Grove, Arkansas. A good and dear friend of hers, J.H. VanHoose, submitted a tribute about her life to The Sentinel of 14 March 1889: Editors Sentinel: You have already announced in your columns the death of Mrs. S. F. Polson which occurred at her home on the 9th instant. I had been personally acquainted with her for nearly forty years and had better opportunities to learn her true character than anyone else of her many friends in Fayetteville who survive her. In 1849, just 40 years ago, she was the belle of the little village of Fayetteville, having just returned from a female seminary in Kentucky where she graduated with high honors and her many accomplishments and personal charms soon won for her the admiration of everyone who came within the circle of society in which she moved. In 1850 when it was announced that William R. Quarles, a young gentleman from Tennessee, was soon to be married to the beautiful and accomplished Miss Fannie Pollard, he was congratulated by his friends on having won such a prize. Mr. Quarles was then the junior partner in the large dry goods firm of James Sutton & Company which at that time had a larger retail trade than any house in the state outside of Little Rock. On the 8th day of March 1852, I commenced clerking for this firm and was taken by Mr. Quarles to his wife to board and on that day received my first introduction to his young and accomplished wife whose first child, Emma, was a babe of 10 months old. I was received into her pleasant home where I remained for nearly four years a regular boarder and no sister could be more kind or thoughtful of a brother than was that good woman to me and the other young men who were also boarding at her home. There were four other young men boarding there during the summer and fall of 1852, viz: A. J. McIlroy who was clerking for James Sutton and three students of Arkansas College–James Johnson and Buck Rogers, now of Ft. Smith and W. D. Polson whose wife she became 35 years later, and whose home and heart are now so desolate and sad by reason of her death. Jack McIlroy died in the Confederate Army in Little Rock in 1863. Capt. Jim Johnson, Buck Rogers and Dr. Polson and myself are all that are left of that once happy group that daily surrounded her table, feasting upon the choice viands with which it was always laden, and presided over by her with so much dignity and womanly modesty together with such thoughtful care and pleasant speech as to make all happy and contented and feel that it indeed was home. Her husband she adored and his and her children’s happiness and pleasure were her chief delight. Her devotion to her husband and long, patient and tender care of him during his protracted illness which resulted in his death in 1860 were subjects of remark by everyone who came about her home. Left a widow with four small children to provide and care for she went to work in earnest to do her whole duty and right well did she perform the task. The war came on soon after her husband’s death and thus was quickly swept away all the property that she and her husband had accumulated during the ten years of their prosperous and happy married life and she was compelled to work hard and undergo many privations and hardships during the four years of the war in order to feed and clothe her children and others dependent upon her for sustenance. It is often remarked that “those were days to try men’s souls” and the saying is true; but the ladies of the South had souls to be tried too and they were tried. And the noble soul of this good woman was tried and triumphed over all obstacles and came out like gold. All the male relatives and friends whom she had any claim for protection and support had to leave Fayetteville and she was left to take care of her home and her helpless children. She opened a boarding house and did her own work, cooking and waiting upon her boarders, some of whom were Federal officers whom she regarded as enemies of the land and people she loved most dearly, yet she treated all with uniform kindness and courtesy. And notwithstanding the fact that she was known to be a Southern woman in full sympathy with those who were battling for Southern rights, those Federal officers were kind and obliging to her, treating her with utmost respect and civility. They knew her to be a true lady and respected her as such. She never failed to befriend her Southern friends when the opportunity offered and yet she was respected by the Union officers who appreciated her as a true and noble woman. When the war was ended and her friends returned from the South, destitute and homeless, she did all that a brave, noble woman could do to assist them. I speak from personal knowledge of her hard struggle during the war to support her own family and others less able to work and I know of my own personal knowledge of her devotion to duty and to her Southern friends during those terrible days that not only tried men’s but also women’s souls. No children ever had a more loving, self-sacrificing mother than the children of Mrs. Quarles. And a truer friend, braver or purer woman than she is seldom found in any land. As to her Christian virtues, her devotion to her church and Sabbath school, others have already written who are more familiar with her Christian life, all of which I endorse most fully; in fact, too much praise cannot be given to her, whose life has been spent in Fayetteville and whose death is a great loss to our entire community. In the discharge of her duties as daughter, sister, wife and mother, friend, neighbor and Christian, she has left a noble example to the young ladies of Fayetteville, well worthy the imitation of the purest and best of wives, mothers, and sisters of any land. Her friend of thirty-seven years, J.H.V.H. Fayetteville, March 14, 1889.
EMMA V. QUARLES (16 Apr 1852 – 4 Nov 1932): Emma V. Quarles was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas on April 16, 1852. She is listed as a student at the Fayetteville Female Seminary for the year 1859-1860 school year. She married Richard Marr Darnall in Washington County, Arkansas, on May 21, 1873. He was born August 2, 1849 in Tennessee and died March 27, 1901. From Lake County, History of Tennessee 1887: Richard M. Darnall, the third son of Henry M. Darnall, is, now a leading lawyer of Lake County; was born August 2, 1849. At sixteen he entered Beech Grove College, and remained two years. At the age of eighteen years old a difficulty occurred between his father’s family and two young men, Robert L. and Clinton G. Lane. One of them was a graduate of Yale College and went to Lake County in the capacity of a teacher. He met and married a niece of Mr. Darnall’s, and the latter generously gave them a nice home, besides lending them several thousand dollars. In spite of this kindness they forged the will of Mr. Darnall, so that she might, at his death, receive $20,000; but as Mr. Darnall was a very robust man, they decided to kill him, selecting Cullen C. Edwards as an accomplice, all three of them being leading Kuklux. One night the youngest Lane went to Mr. Darnall’s house and endeavored to insult him; when Mr. Darnall turned to enter the house Lane drew a navy pistol from the born of his saddle and attempted to shoot him, but before he could fire, Richard Darnall reached him and prevented the shot; he then attempted to shoot him, but the latter, seeing that it was kill or be killed, drew a pistol from his pocket and shot Lane, inflicting a wound from which he came near dying. After this the two Lanes and Edwards swore vengeance against the Darnalls, and meeting Richard and his oldest brother coming from the steamer Belle of Memphis, they commenced firing upon them; but the Darnall boys succeeded in killing all three of them without receiving any wounds. To escape the Kuklux, Richard went to northern Texas, and soon after entered the University of Mississippi, at Oxford, and entered under the name of Mathew Darnall. He wanted but a few lessons of graduating when the detectives found he was there and started to arrest him; but receiving information of this he left Oxford and went into Memphis, passing the train going out with the officers. A telegram was sent to Memphis stating he was on the train and officers were there to arrest him; but when nearing the city he rang the bell to stop the train, and jumping from the cars, went around the city, crossed the river and made his escape. Soon after this Mr. Darnall commenced reading law under J. D. Reagan, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, and while there, in 1873, he married Emma V. Quarles, born April 16, 1852, in Fayetteville. They have four sons and one daughter. In politics he is a Democrat. In the Forty-third General Assembly he represented the floating vote of Lake, Dyer and Obion Counties, and was an able legislator. In 1873 he moved back to Madrid Bend, where he has given his time to his profession. He owns 400 acres of land, renting it all out except fifteen acres, which he reserves for experimental horticulture. Emma is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Fort Worth, Texas.
SARAH O. WILSON RIEFF (July 1835 – ): Sallie Wilson was the daughter of Washington Lafayette Wilson. She was born in Indiana in 1835 and married Henry Rieff, a well known Fayetteville merchant in July of 1855 in Washington County. Henry was born 23 October 1823 in Tennessee and died 29 August 1874. He was appointed Colonel of the 20th Regiment of the Arkansas Militia, CSA, and raised a militia company in Fayetteville called the Washington Rifle Guards. According to the Nashville Christian Advocate of 1874-1876, “He kept up family worship to the day of his death.” Interment with Masonic honors was at Rieff’s Chapel Cemetery. On the 1860 Arkansas Census, the couple is shown living in Washington County with children Henry 4 and Kate 2. On the 1870 Census the couple still lives in Washington County and with the following children: H. M. Rieff 13, J. W. Rieff 10, L. H. Rieff 8, and C. M. Rieff 2. Sallie’s father, Washington Lafayette Wilson and his wife Catherine were blessed with 7 children. He was born in Verona, New York on May 8, 1810. He married Catherine Drysdale and moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas in the early 1830’s with his first land purchase recorded on June 27, 1839. Wilson L. was one of Fayetteville’s earliest merchants, operating a dry good store on the north side of the Fayetteville square and in 1838 he was a representative of Washington County to the General Assembly of Arkansas. He also served in the Mexican War and helped organize the Masonic Lodge in 1835. He was also for a time connected to the Branch Bank of the State of Arkansas at Fayetteville and by 1861 he apparently owned the Bank of Dixie which may have actually been in operation from his store on the Fayetteville Square. He died in Fayetteville in 1864, his wife having already passed away. They are both buried in the Wilson plot just across from the entrance to the Confederate Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
MARY J. RIVERCOMB (1839 – 1922): Both Mary J. Rivercomb and her husband George Rivercomb are buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Fayetteville Democrat of 20 December 1879 contains this information about Mary’s husband, George: It is with sorrow that we announce the death of Mr. George Rivercomb. Monday of last week the deceased was on our streets in his usual health; that night he was taken with a severe chill which immediately followed with congestion of the lungs and he breathed his last the Saturday morning following at 1 o’clock. So brief was his sickness and so sudden his death that our community was shocked at the announcement of his demise and there was deep felt sorrow in every household. The deceased was a native of Virginia but at an early age went to California where he made his home until about 10 years since when he came to this place. At the time of his death he was a deputy under Sheriff Pettigrew and also a member of the city council. He was a good citizen, an honest man, and an efficient and faithful officer and the number of people that followed his remains to their last resting place in Evergreen Cemetery evidenced the high esteem in which he was held by his fellow citizens. The funeral services took place Sunday evening at the Episcopal Church, Rev. J. J. Vaux officiating after which the body was taken in charge and buried by the Odd Fellows of this city, of which order the deceased was a member. Mr. Rivercomb was childless but he leaves a wife to mourn his death. Mrs. Rivercomb’s relatives all live in Virginia but she is among friends.
HELEN C. SEVERS ROBB (23 September 1844 – 10 October 1918): Helen Severs was the daughter of Charles Jackson Severs (1811-1888) and his wife Bessima Ballard (1811-1881) of Cincinnati, Arkansas. She is on the roster of students attending the Fayetteville Female Seminary in 1869. She later taught English at the Fayetteville High School. Helen also served as a recording secretary for the Southern Memorial Association. She eventually married Andrew W. Robb, whose first wife, Martha Requa Robb, passed away in 1898. Andrew Robb served with Union forces during the War Between the States with rank of First Lieutenant with Company F, Third Indian Horse Guards and was mustered out in 1865. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1840 and died in 1909. He was a charter member of the Presbyterian Church in Muskogee and also a charter member of the Masonic Lodge of Muskogee. Both Andrew and Helen are buried in Greenhill Cemetery in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Andrew’s first wife, Martha, is buried in Butler, Missouri. Helen’s parents were early settlers in Washington County, Arkansas, where they established their home on a plantation near the line of the Cherokee Nation. Her father was born in Tennessee and his wife in South Carolina, and they were both members of well known Southern families. He was a kind and generous father and gave to his children excellent educational advantages, and his home before the war was famous as a place for good living and hospitality. Helen’s brother, Frederick Ballard Severs, (1835 – 1912) lived in Muskogee, Oklahoma, having become wealthy from business dealings with the Creek Indians. He was made an honorary Creek Indian, being the only white man in an all-Creek Indian Brigade for the Confederacy. After the War Between the States, he returned to the Creek Nation in 1868 and established a store three miles west of Okmulgee. Soon afterward he moved the business into the town and was one of the first to erect a building there. Okmulgee has since honored Captain Severs as foremost among its founders, and he has frequently been called the “father of the city.” Helen’s parents are both buried in the Old Union Cemetery in Cincinnati, Arkansas.
EMMA MOORE ROLL (1849 –): According to the Southern Memorial Association’s history booklet compiled by Rowena Gallaway in 1956, Emma Moore was a girl spy for the Confederates and later married Matt S. Roll in Washington County in July of 1876. Emma had a sister name Eppie who, after she married a Mr. Jackson, moved out West and became rather famous as an artist. On June 14, 1922, Emma passed away at the home of her niece, Mrs. Bert Fleming, in the city of San Francisco. Emma was the daughter of W.W. Moore who founded the Fayetteville Daily Democrat in 1868.
SARAH E. CROCKETT SELLARS (1824 – ): Sarah (Sallie)E. Crockett was born in 1824 in Tennessee and married a gentleman with the last name of Sellars sometime after 1850. She was living with her mother Esther, sister Isabella and brother James in the city of Fayetteville according to the 1850 Arkansas Census of Washington County. In June of 1867, Esther Crockett and Sallie Sellars were listed as founding members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville. On the 1870 Census Sallie Sellars is living in Fayetteville with her mother Esther, her now married sister Isabella Rieff with her two children George Rieff and Ema Rieff. In June of 1873 when the original list of founding women was compiled by the Southern Memorial Association, Sallie was listed as Mrs. Sallie Sellars, widow. On the 1880 Arkansas Census, Sallie is living with her 75-year-old mother, Esther, in the city of Fayetteville.
MARY WILSON WOODRUFF SMITH (26 January 1810 – ): Mary Wilson Woodruff was the daughter of William Rivers Woodruff and Matilda Ferguson. She married Presley R. Smith (1811 – ) in Lincoln County, Tennessee. After moving to Arkansas, Presley served as Sheriff in Washington County during the years 1840-1844. On the 1850 Arkansas Census, Washington County, the couple is shown with children Mary 15, Catherine 11, Lafayette 9, Eliza 3 and infant 6 months. Both Mary and Presley were born in Tennessee. During the War Between the States, Mary’s husband Presley held the position of Washington County Clerk and hid the county records in a dry case in the mountains south of Fayetteville to prevent their falling into the hands of Federal soldiers. He held the position of County Clerk from 1846-1862 and again from 1866-1868. Presley R. Smith was also a close friend of Sophia Sawyer, who opened an Indian School in Fayetteville. Presley was the executor of her will.
MARY C. STEVENSON: Mary’s husband, Dr. James Stevenson, came to Fayetteville from Kentucky in 1854 as a young pioneer medical doctor. He opened Fayetteville’s first drug store. She was a widow by 1873.
DELLA ALICE JERNIGAN STIRMAN (1852 – 1900): Della and her husband William Fry Stirman (1841 -1924) lived in Fayetteville in a Victorian style home that occupied the one-time site of the Northwest Arkansas Times building. Both Della and her husband are buried in Evergreen Cemetery. They had no children. According to the Springdale News of 19 January 1900: “Mrs. Della Alice Stirman, wife of W.F. Stirman of this city, died at her home on East Street at 5 o’clock Sunday morning. Mrs. Stirman, whose maiden name was Jernigan, was born in Robinson County, Tennessee in 1852 and was reared in Springfield, Missouri. She went to school several years in this city, making her home with her brother, Captain L.D. Jernigan. Her education was completed in Christian College, Missouri. In 1883 she was married to W.F. Stirman and has since resided in this city. She was a devoted member of the Methodist Church and through her long and painful illness continually expressed her faith in God and her hope of a better resurrection. The funeral services were conducted by Reverend Hainesworth and held at the Methodist Church at 2 o’clock this afternoon and the interment took place in Evergreen Cemetery.”
MARIUM GIST STIRMAN (June 1848 – ): Marium Gist was born in June of 1848 in Kentucky. In 1870, she married Erasmus I. Stirman (16 April 1840-4 Jan 1914). He attended Arkansas College and clerked in a dry goods store. In 1861, “Ras” Stirman enlisted as a private in the Pike Guards, a local militia unit and marched north with other southern troops to engage in the Wilson’s Creek campaign of southwest Missouri. Ras stayed with the army until 1865, eventually becoming captain of Company E, First Battalion of Arkansas Cavalry and colonel of his own regiment of sharpshooters. Following the war, Ras and his sister Rebecca (also a founding lady of the Southern Memorial Association) returned to Fayetteville. Ras became an attorney and was elected mayor of Fayetteville on 24 August 1870. In 1879 the couple moved to Denver, Colorado, where Ras died in 1914. The 1880 Colorado Census shows the couple living in Denver with the following children: Mary P., Gertrude, Nellie R. and William J.G. Erasmus Stirman served as a Colorado State Representative from Lake City 1885-1886.
AMANDA MALVINA BRODIE STONE (1825-1912): Amanda Malvina Brodie was a daughter of Lodowick Brodie, who established his home near Fayetteville in 1835. Her father who was born at Oxford, North Carolina, September 22, 1800, was a son of Dr. John Brodie, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, who graduated from the University of Edinburgh and in young manhood came to the United States. He wedded Mary Taylor, a cousin of Zachary Taylor, who later became president of the United States. Malvina’s father left Clarksville, Tennessee, with his family and traveled by wagon to Arkansas in 1834, spending one year in Benton county. He afterward engaged in general merchandising at Fayetteville from 1840 until 1842 and then took up the occupation of farming. Following the discovery of gold in California, he made his way to that state and spent two years on the Pacific Coast, making the return trip by way of the Isthmus of Panama. While en route, however, he became ill and died, being buried at sea. Daughter Malvina was but twelve years of age when she on horseback accompanied her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. James Brodie, to Hopkinsville, Kentucky where she attended school, returning to Fayetteville in the same manner in 1840. Stephen K. Stone (1819-1909) was a farm-bred boy and his education was obtained in the military school at Bingham, North Carolina. When fifteen years of age he left home and started out to provide for his own support by clerking in a store at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Subsequently he became bookkeeper in an auction store in New Orleans, Louisiana. He then proceeded north by way of the Mississippi as far as Vicksburg and there he again was employed as a salesman and bookkeeper. On 11 June 1840, he arrival in Fayetteville, Arkansas, at which time his cash capital consisted of but $450.00. On 22 September 1842, Amanda Malvina Brodie married Stephen K. Stone and in 1850 her husband established a family grocery store, to which he constantly added other lines of goods until he was engaged in the sale not only of groceries, but of dry goods, hardware and implements, his original establishment having thus been converted into a small department store. At one time he retired from active business but later joined a son in another venture, becoming a partner of the firm of B. H. Stone & Company. He possessed marked ability as a financier and displayed sound judgment in everything that he undertook. In order to meet the demands of a constantly expanding business he erected buildings and he also improved vacant property around the Fayetteville Square as an investment, realizing the growing importance of the county seat. From time to fine he made purchases of property which constantly increased in value as the district became more thickly settled. “He was a systematic and methodical businessman and gave strict attention to every detail of his business,” the Arkansas Sentinel wrote in Stone’s obituary. The home in which the Stone family lived during the Civil War, still stands at 207 Center Street in Fayetteville. It was built in 1847 by Judge David Walker and sold to Stephen K. Stone in 1840. Struck during the Civil War while the Stone family was there, the property was then bought by Edward K. Stone, a grandson of Stephen Stone and being an architect, he began the structure’s restoration process in the 1970’s. Mr. and Mrs. Stephen K. Stone, had a family of seven children: Mary, who became the wife of George S. Albright of Fayetteville; Stephen R. a merchant of Olathe, Kansas; Benjamin H. of Fayetteville; William C. of Altus, Oklahoma; Lodowick Brodie of Fayetteville; Amanda M. and Albert Brodie who was engaged in the practice of law. Mrs. Stone gave the block of ground where the City Hospital of Fayetteville now stands. Then, it contained only a small brick building and it was her wish and will that this ground be used for the sake of humanity. On the board of trustees she appointed one member from every denomination represented in Fayetteville. Her husband, Stephen, was not a party to any of the events of the Civil War but was in sympathy with the Southern cause and gave it his moral support. He was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church and fraternally he was affiliated with the Blue Lodge of Masons. Malvina and Stephen are both buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
MARY EUGENIA ARRINGTON STRICKLAND TURRENTINE (1834 – 26 March 1888): Mary Eugenia Arrington was born in Arkansas in 1834. She was the daughter of Alfred Arrington and Sarah Conner Arrington who were married in Washington County, Arkansas, in 1834. Mary Eugenia married first A. J. Strickland 4 September 1859. Her second marriage was to Wilson Ellis Turrentine on 17 February 1861 in Sevier County, Arkansas. He was born in Tennessee in 1824 and was the son of Archelaus Turrentine and Margaret Smith Turrentine. Wilson served with the 34th Arkansas Infantry, Company A, during the War Between the States with rank of Private. Mary Turrentine achieved a local reputation as a writer and poet. By 1880 the couple was living in Saba, Texas with daughter, Flora.
MARTHA WALLACE SKELTON VANHOOSE (14 Jul 1836 – 21 Mar 1933): Martha Wallace Skelton was the daughter of William Skelton and Mary Elizabeth Gordon. William Skelton was a planter prince who came to Washington County in 1828. He was the first sheriff of the county and planted the first commercial apple orchard as well as being a hatter of great repute. In 1869, Martha married James Hayden VanHoose, a prominent Fayetteville merchant, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and was the second wife of James VanHoose (8 Jan 1830 Kentucky – 1900). James VanHoose several several terms of mayor of Fayetteville. He was a member of McIlroy-VanHoose and a leading Mason. He was killed in a hunting accident. Both Martha and James are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Fayetteville. Recorded on the 1880 Washington County Census shows Martha at age 34 living with husband, orphaned child, several students and 2 teachers from Arkansas Industrial College. On the 1910 census she is listed at age 63, widowed and living with a 32-year-old niece and husband on 124 Hill Street in Fayetteville. In 1920 the Oklahoma Census records her as age 73, widowed and living in Claremore with a 30-year-old niece and her family. Martha died in Washington County at nearly 97 years of age. In 1928 the Fayetteville Democrat published a claim by Mrs. VanHoose to be the oldest living native-born resident of Fayetteville. She was 82 at the time. In the same article it mentions her adventure during the War Between the States when she boldly smuggled a Confederate officers’ boots under her hoops from the business section of Fayetteville when it was under Union control.
MARY WALKER (December 21, 1847 – March 31, 1910):
Mary Walker was born in Kentucky and was the daughter of David Walker (1806-1879), lawyer, jurist and early settler of Fayetteville. In 1857 she married James David Walker (born December 13, 1830, near Russellville, Kentucky, the fifth and youngest child of James Volney Walker and Susan Howard McLean Walker). James David Walker served as a U.S. Senator from Arkansas from 1879 to 1885. He served in the Confederate States Army with rank of colonel. A local historian, William Campbell, later described him as “a man of strong convictions, sturdy honesty, high principles, and the recognized leader of the bar.”
SERENA JERNIGAN WALKER (12 Aug 1843 – 19 Jan 1932): Serena Jernigan married Charles Whiting Walker on 12 August 1843. On 11 April 1873, the ladies of the Southern Memorial Association purchased “three acres more or less” from Serena and Charles Walker for a cemetery site in which to bury the Confederate dead. Charles Whiting Walker served in Company A, 34th Arkansas Infantry during the War Between the States. He was born 24 Dec 1834 and died 7 Jan 1924. Charles and Serena are both buried in the Walker Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Walker Cemetery is located just across the road from the Confederate Cemetery.
SARAH FRANCES NEWSOME DECHERD WHALEY (1841-1909): Fannie Newsome Decherd, born 1841 in Georgia, married Major John Calvin Whaley (16 Dec 1838 – 3 Feb 1903) in September of 1867. Frances was the widow of B. Deckerd, killed during a battle in the Red River expedition, Civil War. Fannie had three children by her first marriage: Hugh, Ben and Bettie. Frances and her husband, Dr. John Calvin Whaley, are buried in Osceola, Missouri. From the Missouri History Encyclopedia, 1901: John Calvin Whaley, physician and legislator, of St. Clair County, Missouri, was born December 16, 1838, near Palmyra, Missouri. His parents were Albert and Mary Foreman (Bird) Whaley, both natives of Kentucky – the father was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky and the mother in Harrison County of that State. Albert Whaley came to Missouri in 1821, and his wife’s family a year or two later. The ancestry of the Whaley family is highly honorable and peculiarly interesting. James Whaley, a Virginian, descended from an English family which immigrated to America about 1660, was a soldier in the Virginia line of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and was present at the surrender of Yorktown. His son, Edward, was named for Sir Edward Whaley, a not remote ancestor. Edward was a soldier in the war with Great Britain in 1812. He was also a Captain of Kentucky Riflemen during the Indian Wars and was promoted to Major. He was the father of Albert Whaley, whose son was John Calvin Whaley. The last named acquired the rudiments of an education in the common schools of Palmyra, following this with academic studies in the Baptist Seminary of that city and collegiate courses at St. Paul’s College and McKee College. He then took up the study of medicine, meanwhile teaching school in order to defray his expenses. He afterward entered the Louisville (Kentucky) Medical College, where he attended lectures. He first entered upon practice in Texas, removing to Fayetteville, Arkansas in 1869, and in 1875 to Osceola, Missouri, where he has been professionally engaged ever since. The Civil War interrupted the medical career he had determined upon. When hostilities began in 1861 he enlisted as a private soldier in Colonel Porter’s Missouri Regiment. He then assisted in recruiting for General M.E. Green’s Regiment of Missouri State Guards, in which command he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. In the desperate and bloody battle of Lexington, resulting in the surrender of the Federal Colonel Mulligan and his command, Lieutenant Whaley so distinguished himself in action that he was promoted to the rank of Captain. He was subsequently severely wounded in the ankle. In 1864 he was further promoted to the rank of Major in the Confederate States Army, but his wound incapacitated him for active field service, and he was practically retired. In 1896 Dr. Whaley was elected to the State Senate by the largest democrative majority ever cast in the Sixteenth Senatorial District. His service in that body was conspicuous, and at every stage and in every emergency was in the interests of the people. He was active in his advocacy of the famous Anti-Trust Law, which he introduced, and which is known as “the Whaley Anti-Trust Law” and the purpose of which is to restrain the operations of largely capitalized corporations in their encroachments upon the ordinary business of citizens of the State, dealing in such lines and after such methods as may be carried on by individuals. He had the satisfaction of seeing this salutary measure pass both houses, receive the approval of the Governor and take its place in the Statutes of Missouri. Dr. Whaley had in charge one bill upon the success of which his heart was set, his naturally humane disposition and his professional knowledge of the urgent necessity therefore, moving him to his most strenuous effort. It was the bill providing for the proper care of epileptics and the feeble-minded. Largely through his efforts the measure was passed in the Senate and House, and the institution for which it provided is now one of the fixed humanitarian institutions of the State. Dr. Whaley is an uncompromising, old-time Democrat, firm and steadfast in his support of the principles of the party, and stopping at no personal sacrifice to advance its interests. He is an honored member of the Masonic fraternity. Dr. Whaley was married to Mrs. Fannie Decherd, in September 1867. They have buried one child and have one living. Three other children remain to them from Mrs. Whaley’s former marriage. Dr. Whaley continues the practice of his profession and makes opportunity, as well, to assist in furthering all worthy movements and purposes, whether public or private in their nature, and in all this praiseworthy endeavor he has the cordial and earnest approval of the estimable woman who presides over his home.
MARGARET E. RHOADES WILSON: Margaret E. Rhoades married Alfred McElroy Wilson on February 13, 1870. Alfred McElroy Wilson was the youngest child of James and Margaret McElroy Wilson. Alfred is a descendant of James Wilson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. His legal career began in 1839 and covered almost seventy years. During the War Between the States he heartily espoused the cause of the South and took part in the strife as commander of a local military organization and took part in a number of serious battles. At one point his fine home was torched and he and his family ended up without any shelter and penniless. He and his family moved into an old deserted shanty and he worked diligently to rebuild his home and future. He served as U. S. District Attorney, Mayor of Fayetteville (1866-1867), County Clerk of Carroll County, State Senator, Circuit Court Judge, and was the only Commissioner to serve the entire four years on the Cherokee Commission (1889-1893). He was the first federal prosecutor for the Western District of Arkansas. He was instrumental in establishing the University of Arkansas as well as bringing the first railroad to Arkansas. He was candidate for Governor in 1880. The story of his accomplishments alone would fill a large volume. He was twice married; he had four sons by his first wife, Isabelle Dickson, who died when her fourth son was three months old in the year 1857. He lived alone thirteen years, then remarried, Margaret Rhoades and had three more children, Belle, Neil and Hugh. Alfred’s oldest son, Robert James Wilson, inherited his father’s industry, talents, and longevity. He was Northwest Arkansas’ foremost lawyer for many years, and served as a State Senator for forty years. He lived to be ninety-four years old. His son, Allen, was likewise an able lawyer, and like his father and grandfather before him, served as Mayor of Fayetteville.
Southern Memorial Association 