Situated in the hills among the pines of Southwest
Arkansas is the ancient little city of Washington – so named in honor of
the father of our country and freedom. It is the oldest town in the
state; the first to be established after this portion of Missouri
Territory was ceded by that government as a separate government, and was
called Arkansas.
There were settlements, both in the Eastern and
Western portions of the Territory then under the government of Missouri,
and Arkansas Post (noted for its French and Spanish history since 1600)
being under the government of Missouri, was the scene of the first
legislative assembly, called by Congress to enact laws for the new
territory of Arkansas.
Among the first acts passed by the territorial
legislature, was the act to establish a town in Arkansas, and this town
was Washington. The site, then only a place for religious gatherings,
(known as “old Ebenezer camp ground”) was chosen and laid out for a town
by James Moss and Elijah Stuart. Meanwhile, court was held in the home
of Elijah Stuart.
The legislative assembly, meeting at Arkansas Post
(now become a town in Arkansas Territory) in 1824, passed an act,
authorizing James Moss, Elijah Stuart, and John Munn to lay off the
streets.
In 1825, James Moss, Elijah Stuart, Meredith
Edwards, Samuel B. Davis, and Hewitt Burt were appointed by the
territorial legislature to erect the courthouse. This imposing pioneer
structure of two stories was built by free labor, of pine timbers and
lumber, hewn by hand, and completed in 1828. James Moss was the first
man to occupy the bench as county judge.
Intellectual Center
A stream of settlers from the North, East, and
South, composed of the highest type of citizenry, poured into the
community, and in a short while, Washington became an intellectual
center.
Arkansas Jurisprudence, religion, Masonry, art and
literature were center there.
Albert Pike who roved the world through the fields
of ancient lore, art, Masonry, law, religion and philosophy in his
search for the “Absolute,” settled down in Washington to translate from
various languages, compile and write, for the Supreme Council of
Scottish Rite Masonry of America, Pike’s Legenda, or Morals and Dogma.
Washington was the center of military activities
during the first two wars in which she participated – the mobilization
place. It is a center for a wide field of activities for the Arkansas
D.A.R. because of the Revolutionary Soldiers who died there and
elsewhere in the state were buried on Arkansas soil. It is a center of
interest for the Arkansas U.D.C. because Augustus Garland, the man who
brought about secession and the valiant heroes who stood with him in
that crisis of the state’s history were citizens of Washington.
Washington gave to the state two of its most beloved governors and the
only man of the South to hold a cabinet position.
The ancient city furnishes material and incentive
for many societies in the state, among whose members are many
descendants of the first “Builders,” and “preservers from destruction”
through the Reconstruction period.
