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Information from the Ouachita Historical Society - Col. John T.
Chidester was born in New York City in 1817, but as a young man he
moved south, where he married Miss Leah Minerva Crocker, of
Aberdeen, Miss., and engaged in operating stage lines carrying mail
and passengers through Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.
In 1857, Col. Chidester extended his territory to the southwest, and
he and his young wife moved to Camden. They purchased the home
built by Peter McCollum, which has since been known as the McCollum
- Chidester House. In 1878, Col. Chidester and his
associates, the Arkansas, Texas, and Pacific Mail Company, were
awarded a mail contract covering 1560 miles. The operation
required the service of 300 men, 2000 horses, 60 Concord coaches,
and a detachment of the regular army.
The McCollum - Chidester House was used as a
headquarters at various times by Confederate General Sterling Price
and Union General Frederick Steele during the Battle of Poison
Springs in April of 1864. Bullet holes were left in the
upstairs walls of the house. |
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Leake - Ingram Building Information from the
Ouachita Historical Society - Erected in 1850 and completely
restored in 1976. Originally located in the business district
of Camden, it was used as a law office before the Civil War and
during Reconstruction days as a Freemen's Bureau. Later it
became Camden's first community library. It now houses books
and other memorabilia of the old South, as well as both pleasant and
bitter memories of older residents of Camden. The building was
placed on the Historic Register in June 1975. |
