Arkansas Ties

A Few Founders and First Families of Little Rock

by Mrs. Frederick Hanger

It is a long look backward, down the century to the year 1819. In order to get a good running start, in this rambling sketch, we shall look still further back and review the story of Little Rock’s birthstone and name rock.  The first rocky formation which breaks the banks of the Arkansas river, that is seen by travelers coming upstream, is the point of  rocks from which Little Rock derived its name, and for which it was christened.  This point of rocks had poked its nose into the waters of the Arkansas for eons and eons; it had patiently waited for the coming of the white man; it had pointed out, like an index finger, a good spot hard by on which to found a town; it had figured prominently in the topography of the region  round about; it had been the starting point of the Quapaw lines in these parts and it had entered persistently into Indian lore, lines and outlines.

In 1797 the Quapaw Indians made a gift of land to Francis, the son of Baptiste Imbeau, for services rendered them in their warfare against the Osages.  This land was to serve also as a tribal present to the sister of their chief Heckaton, who had married Imbeau.  The deed of conveyance and compliment was by word of mouth, which was afterward confirmed in a wordly document that contained  the following description: “Commencing at the place called, and from time immemorial known by the name of the Little Rock, on the south side of the river, Arkansas, near the western boundary and near the north and south lines of the Quapaw tract.”  The French designated this particular spot “Petite Roche” that it might not be mistaken for the larger formation farther upstream.  It was called by early trappers and travelers “The Point of Rocks,” “The Rock,”"The Little Rock Bluffs,” and some parties, seeing double, dubbed it “Little Rocks.”

In 1821 the powers  that were waxed ambitious and metropolitan and tried to call the townsite “Arkopolis,:  but it would not answer – the name refused to stick.  The embryo town’s name, after rocking one way and another, finally settled to a bedrock name which was, and is, and ever shall be “Little Rock.”

Right here is a fitting place, and right now is a fitting time to make the point that the “Point of Rocks,” or the “Little Rock,” had not been treated with the consideration and veneration that its godfatherly and godmotherly (double sponsorship since women vote) offices demand and deserve.  It should have been protected from depredation and kept in its entirety, it should have, long since, been marked in some way so that he who runs (or swims) might read and learn the story of the part it played in the early stages and early staging of Little Rock.  ”It is never to late to mend,” and the city fathers or the city mothers (or both) ought to get busy before anything else happens to the poor little old Point of Rocks, whose nose was long ago  tweaked and its bridge broken to make a resting place for the pier of a railroad bridge.  The “Little Rock” is our “Plymoth Rock” and our “Rock of Ages” (in profane history); it is  something to cling to and to care for.

To go back.  William Lewis in the summer of 1812 came down the Arkansas river, from unknown quarters, and landed on the south side about 100 yards from the present site of the old statehouse.  He put up a clapboard camp 10 feet square and made a play at homesteading by planting a few squash and pumpkin seeds.  He did not wait for frost to put the finishing touches to his pumpkin crop, but went back up the river the first of October.  In 1814 Lewis obtained at the United States land office in Nashville, Tenn., a certificate for a pre-emption claim on account of “inhabitation and cultivation” to land that afterward embraced a part of the townsite of Little Rock.  This certificate was peddled and sold at pretty prices and at various dates by the following: Lewis to White, White to Daniels, Daniels to Blount, Blount to Murphy.  In whole or in parts, as small a sum as $10 closed some of the bargains.  Finally in 1820 William Russell of St. Louis for the sum of $40 purchased this certificate which had been issued at a time when the land in question belonged to the Quapaw Indians.  Russell took the title at his own risk, and published in the Arkansas Gazette of March 19, 1820, warning to “Stephen Austin, William O’Hara, Amos Wheeler, Austin Elliott, and Chester Ashley,” to keep off of his preserves as his “title would take precedence of any other to the land at or near a place called Little Rocks.”

Among other claimants about this time to the same land were Andrew Scott, Robert Crittenden, Henry Conway, Robert Oden, Matthew Cunningham.  Claims were based on “New Madrid claims,” “Cherokee Floats,” and homestead pre-emptions.  Here was a pretty kettle of fish!  Land, land everywhere, nothing but land, and everybody in this neck of the woods claiming and clamoring for the same small spot.  These early comers and would be town-makers must have had “vision” and must have known a good thing when they saw it.  Some of them were from Missouri and had been cited.

There were plans, plots and counterplots, but by purchase, division and diplomacy and to make sure of a town to catch the territorial capital, which was threatened to take flight from the Arkansas Post,  the different conflicting claims were brought to a satisfactory status with the question of a title apparently settled.

On November 20, 1821, William Russell, Henry Conway, Robert Crittenden, William Trimble, Robert Oden, Thomas Eskridge and Joseph Harden, proprietors, published a bill of assurance and laid off a townsite.  Shortly afterward Chester Ashley acquired a half interest in the proprietorship.

The United States land office at Batesville was the mecca to which many claimants traveled on account of the many contests for titles that followed in the wake of the preliminary projects and plans for the making of a town.  The long drawn out case of “Cunningham vs. Ashley and Beebe” was not ended until 1853, when the United States Supreme Court’s decision gave the plaintiff the right to the title in 80 acres, over which a considerable part of the town had spread.  The Philbrook claim, which had grown out of a part of the Murphy transaction, was raised and quieted until finally silenced and ended in 1888.  The heirs of Nathan Cloyes set up a claim to 33 acres east of the Quapaw line which made scroes of citizens defendants, as their handsome homes were built on the land.  It took a quarter of a century, a cloud of witnesses and almost the entire bar of Little Rock to settle the suit in favor of the defendants.

An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States once upon a time told Judge Henry Clay Caldwell of the U.S. Circuit Court that in his opinion the long and hard-fought lawsuits on account of the land  titles in Arkansas had been an influence for the enactment of better general laws in regard to land entries and titles.

Little Rock’s First House.

There is a deplorable lack of data concerning the civil and domestic affairs of the early settlers in Little Rock. The blanket statement that “pioneering is no picnic” probably covers the situation.

In a deposition Dr. Cunningham described Moses Austin’s cabin as the only so-called house in this vicinity in February, 1820, except a sort of a shanty that stood down at the Point of Rocks that was occupied by a few bachelors.  Moses Austin set out for Texas in the spring of that year.  He died in 1821 at Mine au Breton, Missouri, but his cabin has lived on in Little Rock history as its first house.

The appointment, in March, 1820, of Amos Wheeler to fill the not very pressing position of postmaster was a premonitory sign of a promissory town.  Daniel Witter in his reminiscences listed the whole population of the future town, in May, 1820, as follows:  Amos Wheeler, Chester Ashley, Dr. Matthew Cunningham, Stephen Austin, James Bryan, Austin Elliot, Charles Pelham, Henry Sandford, Daniel Witter and three or four laborers.

The first sermon in the place was preached by the Rev. Cephas Washburn, who was en route to a mission.  It was July the fourth, and there were no stay-at-homes.  The fourteen citizens congregated in Moses Austin’s cabin, where they piously and patriotically worshiped and sweltered.  It was a safe Fourth of July.  It would have been a sane Fourth, too, if someone had have been wise and worldly enough to have selected an amen corner in the pine grove for this unusual men’s meeting.

Stephen Austin, who was the son of Moses Austin, was an unsuccessful candidate for delegate to Congress in 1819.  He was appointed judge of the circuit court of the first district in July, 1820.  Arkansas soon lost Stephen Austin; he moved on and became the “Father of Texas.”  The state capital was named for him, and a marble statue of him was placed in the capital at Washington, D.C., by the State of  Texas.

Family life began in Little Rock in September, 1820, when Dr. Cummingham, who had come to Arkansas Post in 1819 and to Little Rock in February 1820, established his family in the infant village the following fall.  Dates and documents place beyond question the fact that Mrs. Cunningham was Little Rock’s first lady resident.  Our epigrammatic friend Pope wrote: “Be not the first by which the new is tried, nor yet the last to lay the old aside.”  The word “tried” suggests that “the first” may be a trial; it must have been in this instance, as the “old was laid aside” was a home in John street, New York City, which was left in the hopes of better health in the southern climate.

The First Lady Resident

A brief biography of the first lady resident may not be without interest at this time.  Eliza Wilson was born in Scotland and reared in New York City.  Her first husband was Pierre Bertrand,a younger brother of Count Henri Bertrand, Napoleon’s faithful  general who followed him into exile.  Pierre Bertrand made occasional trips from his home in New York to the West Indies, where he had property.  He was killed in an insurrection in San Domingo in 1809.  The children of Mr. and Mrs. Bertrand was Arabella, Jane and Charles P.  After several years of widowhood Mrs. Bertrand married Dr. Matthew cunningham.

By the priority of her position in Little Rock, Mrs. Cunningham naturally took a keen interest in the growth of the town.  The records show that she bought and sold property and had rather advanced ideas as to woman’s position in affairs.  Her portrait, although painted in her declining years pictures her as a handsome woman whose face bespeaks strength of character and refinement.  She died in 1856 and is buried in Mt. Holly.  Her will, in which she bequeathed a goodly real and personal property, indicates that she had decided notions and whims, as she gave the portraits of herself and her husband to her daughter Matilda, the wife of Peter Hanger, with the proviso that they were always to hand in the same room in which was placed her mahogany furniture, which she left to the same beneficiary.  No descendant has had the temerity or the desire to break the will of “Ole Misstiss.”

Dr. Matthew Cunningham was born in Philadelphia in 1784 and was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Hospital.  His diplomas, which are in the possession of his descendants, bear the date of February 25, 1808, and the notable signatures of Dr. Benjamin rush and Dr. Casper Wistar.  Dr. Cunningham visited the hospitals of Europe and was a surgeon in the War of 1812.

As soon as possible after settling in Little Rock the Cunningham home was located on the southwest corner of Main and Third streets, on the present site of the England National Bank.  The entire block was used as a yard and garden.  The property holdings extended in a southeasterly direction.  The homes of descendants, the families of the late Frederick Hanger and of the late Mrs. W.C. (Margaret Matilda Hanger) Ratcliffe on Scott between Tenth and Eleventh streets are on a part of the original tract entered nearly a century ago.

Dr. Cunningham, like most physicians, gave little concern to business or politics, but was interested in the civic conditions of the community.  He was Little Rock’s first mayor, elected January 2, 1832.  A bill to incorporate the town was passed by the legislature November 21, 1831.  Dr. Cunningham died in 1854.  The children of Dr. and Mrs. Cunningham were: Robert, whose descendants live in Yell county; Henrietta, who married Seaborn Hill and after his death Dr. George Savage; Sarah, who married Major James Duff; Chester, who was the first child born to a resident of Little Rock, and Matilda, the first wife of Peter Hanger.

The Second Home Established.

The second home established in Little Rock of which there is definate record was that of Major and Mrs. Isaac Watkins, who set out from Shelbyville, Ky., the last day of the year 1820, and arrived at Little Rock March 11, 1821, bringing with them their six year old son George and other relatives.  Mrs. Watkins; diary states that there were but two houses anda few cabins in the town at the date of her arrival.

Major Watkins was a Virginian descended from a long line of Claibornes, Andersons, Waltons and Watkins.  He was an officer in the War of 1812.  Mrs. Watkins was of Huguenot ancestry.  Her maiden name was Maria Toncray, originally spelled Toncre.  The children of Major and Mrs. Watkins who grew to maturity were George and Mary Eliza, who was born in Little Rock in 1825.  She was the wife of Judge John Joseph Clendenin, who came from Pennsyvlania, the mother of Mrs. W.A. (Josie Clendenin) Royston, and the grandmother of Mrs. Frederick (Georgia Royston) Heiskell.

Major and Mrs. Watkins shown an intelligent activity in all movements for the upbuilding of the struggling village.  They were the leading spirits in organizing the first church in 1825.  It was of the Baptist demonination.  Major Watkins was popular and progressive.  He was unconscious of having an enemy, but he was shot to death in 1827 by an assassin who fled the country and could never be found to be brought to justice.  A quaint stone marks the grave in Mt. Holly of one of Little Rock’s early citizens with these words, “Major Isaac Watkins Gent.”

Mrs. Watkins, with courage and determination developed by the necessity of the times, made the trying trip to the land office at Batesville to perfect the title to her property.  The Watkins home stood near the corner of East Capitol Avenue and Cumberland street surrounded by ample grounds.  The homes of the late Dr. Claiborne Watkins and of Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Royston are on a part of the Watkins property.  Several years after the death of her husband Mrs. Watkins became the wife of the Rev. W.W. Stevenson.  Their son Robert has a number of descendants in the state.  Mrs. Watkins-Stevenson outlived the friends of her early years and died in 1874 at the home of her son-in-law, Judge Clendenin.

The Ashley Family.

The  two households that figure in the foregoing paragraphs did not have long to wait until some of the bachelors, who had been among the founders, returned to their former homes to marry the girls they had left behind them, and bring them to Arkansas.  Chester Ashley led off in these trips that led to the altar.  Some biographers give the date of July 4, 1821 and others July 4, 1822; for the marriage of Chester Ashley and Mary Watkins Worthington Eliot, which  took place at the home of the bride’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Eliot, in St. Genevieve, Mo.

As a founder and one of the proprietors of the townsite – and having acquired other landed interests, Chester Ashley took much pride in building a home befitting his means.  It stood on Markham between Scott and Cumberland streets.  It has very recently had to give way to the march of progress.  Even in its decadence it bore testimony to what it must have been in the olden days, when surrounded by well-kept lawns and flower gardens.  In 1833 when a site was being chosen for the prospective statehouse, Chester Ashley offered to sell, or exchange for government lands, his residence and its adjacent grounds.  Robert Crittenden made a similar proffer of his home.  The offers were not accepted.  These two residences were considered the best and most imposing in the territory at that time.

Chester Ashley was a native of Massachusetts, and was graduated from Williams College in 1813.  He came west, living a short time in Illinois before going to St. Genevieve, Mo., and later to Arkansas.  He was a brilliant member of the Little Rock bar.  He held many positions from that of aide-de-camp to Governor Izard in his younger days to that of United States senator in his maturer years.  He died in Washington, D.C., in 1847.  His son William married Francis Grafton and they were the parents of Mrs. B.S. (Frances Ashley) Johnson.  A son, Henry, married Kate Carroll.   Their son, William Ashley, is a resident of Morrilton.  Frances, the only daughter of Chester and Mary W.W. Ashley, became the wife of  Rev. Andrew Freeman, a son of Bishop George W. Freeman.  Their daughter is Mrs. Sterling (Mary Freeman) Cockrill, the widow of Chief Justice Cockrill.  The widow of Chester Ashley resided in the Ashley home until her death in the late sixties.

Robert Crittenden

Another bachelor among the founders who returned to his old home to wed was Robert Crittenden, a brother of John J. Crittenden of Woodford county, Ky.  His marriage to Ann Innes Morris took place October 1, 1822, with all the old-time hymeneal festivities at the home of the bride’s father, John Morris, near Frankfort, Ky.  The house that Robert Crittenden began to build for his bride was not finished until 1827.  It has been said that a part of the material was brought from Kentucky.  The walk that led to the front door, with its quaint fan-shaped transom, was bordered with cedar trees.  Ann Morris Crittenden had the same number of trees set aside out as shaded the walk at her old Kentucky home.

Roert Crittenden served as secretary and often as activing governor of the Arkansas Territory from 1819 – 1820.  His commission signed by President Monroe and John Quincy Adams is one of the highly prized loans in the rooms of the Arkansas History Commission.  Robert Crittenden was a cultured, well educated man, with an attractive personality.  He held exalted positions when little more than a youth.  He was an ardent Whig, a fierce follower of Henry Claay and the leader of a minority party in Arkansas.  The deplorable duel between him and Henry Conway grew out of bitterness of a congressional campaign, with Robert Oden as the Whig candidate.

A touching story of romance has drifted down the decades – which is, that the attachment between Henry Conway and the beautiful Ann McHenry, daughter of Archibald McHenry, was of such a sincere Nature that on the eve of his departure to meet Crittenden on the then-called “field of honor,” he gave to her certain papers and mementoes to keep for him – lest he never return.  The duel was fatal to Conway.  On the return journey Crittenden stopped early one morning, fagged and haunted, to rest at the McHenry home, ten miles from Little Rock.  What must have been the feelings of Ann McHenry.

Robert Crittenden died in Vicksburg in 1834 while attending court there.  His wife and children went back to Kentucky.  Mrs. Crittenden survived her husband for nearly sixty years. Late in life she married the Rev. John Edgar of Nashville, Tennessee.  She was a sister of Mrs. Charles P. Bertrand, an aunt of Mrs. Chester (Sallie Houston) Cunningham, an aunt of Mrs. John R. (Lizzie Reynolds) Fellows, and a grandaunt of Mrs. Mary Cunningham Deuell and of Mrs. Mary Parker Reid.

The Original Patentee

William Russell, who has been called the “original patentee,” whose name figures so prominently and frequently in the records of Arkansas’ early land dealings, was never a resident of Arkansas.  He made tours and trips through this section looking after his large landed interests.  Many musty papers yellow with age are extant, that beart the quaint precise long “s” signature of this absent Founder.  He appeared before the Legislature in the early thirties, on account of differences that had arisen between him and Chester Ashley in regard to their individual rights in many joint holdings.  The philippes which were printed at that time were peppery and sweeping.

The only heir of William Russell was a daughter, who married Thomas H. Allen of St. Louis.  It was the great Russell estate that backed Allen in his St. Louis and Iron Mountain railroad interests, and in other big affairs.  Among the descendants of William Russell, who figured in recent years in St. Louis, were Mrs. Louis (Annie Allen) Cheuvenet and Russell Allen.

William E. Woodruff is so finely and fully biographied on other pages in this edition that only a few facts will be given here.  The press generally follows the pioneer, but in order to make the issue sure, William E. Woodruff brought the press with him when he poled into port at the Arkansas Post in 1819.  He and his “outfit” followed the capital to Little Rock and joined the Founders.  Being a Founder was nothing new to him, as he had already founded and fathered the “Arkansas Gazette,” which sturdy infant prodigy (or printigy) had weathered its second summer, and even then gave promise of being on hand at its centennial celebration.

William E. Woodruff, bachelor, joined the band of benedicts when he married Jane Eliza Mills, November 14, 1827.  The ceremony took place at the home of Mrs. Isaac Watkins, an aunt of the bride.

The first home of the Woodruffs was on the north side of Markham, between Scott and Cumberland streets.  A later home, which is a large, and well preserved mansion of ante bellum architecture, was built on Ninth, between Byrd and College streets.

The family of William and Jane Woodruff was as follows: Alden, William, Chester, Harriett, who married John N. Jabine, Mary who became the wife of Col. Bell, Frances who is the widow of Joseph Martin, Eveline the wife of Craddock Vaughan, and Miss Jane Georgine. The three last mentioned daughters and many grandchildren and great grandchildren, of the Founder are appreciating and enjoying the “Big Birthday Party,” and  the honors that are being paid to the memory of their forebear.

Andrew Scott was appointed on of three judges to form a Superior Court in the Arkansas Territory in 1819.  The court followed the captial to Little Rock.  Judge Scott removed to “Scotia,” his palce on the Arkansas river, in 1829.

Andrew Scott was the son of Andrew and Elizabeth Ferguson Scott of Virginia, who with their family settled in St. Genevieve, Missouri, early in the nineteenth century.  Judge Andrew Scott married a daughter of Judge John Rice Jones of Missouri.  He was one of the original promoters of plans to put forth a Little Rock town site, and Scott street was named in honor of him.  Judge Scott’s descendants in Little Rock are the members of the family of the late Dr. Andrew H. Scott.

General James Miller, a hero of the War of 1812, was appointed governor of the Arkansas  Territory when it was one day old (March 3, 1819).  He took his honors calmly and arrived at Arkansas Post the following December.  He and the capital moved to Little Rock in July, 1821.  He had invested in lands around Crystal Hill, and he made strenuous efforts to push and pull the capital up stream, but his famous Lundy Lane saying of “I’ll try, sir,” did not make for success in this project.  He spent considerable time away from the territory and left the governing to the secretary, Robert Crittenden.  General Miller returned to his native New England in 1824.  For years he held the position of collector of customs at the port of Salem, Massachusetts. He is  buried in Temple, New Hampshire.  A few years ago the United Daughters of 1812, of the state of New York, erected a monument over his grave.  Arkansas’ first governor is not without memorials in Little Rock.  There is a portrait of him in the Captial, and a granite boulder, appropriately inscribed, in the old state house grounds which was placed there by the Little Rock Society of the Daughters of 1812

The Johnsons and Johnson Place.

Benjamin Johnson of Kentucky was appointed a judge of the Superior Court of the Arkansas Territory in 1820.  He held his first court in Little Rock in 1821.  His family lived on a plantation until he purchased the home of Robert Crittenden in 1833, which is situated on Seventh between Scott and Cumberland streets.  Judge Johnson added the widespread wings that flank the original structure, which for nearly ninety years has been called the “Johnson *Place.”  It has been the scene of many happy and distinguished gatherings, notable among which was the entertaining done when Judge Johnson’s brother, Richard M. JOhnson, vice-president of the United States, was the family guest.  So many members of the Johnson “kin and connection” held high official positions, that the family was sometimes referred to as “the Johnson Dynasty.”

Judge Johnson married Matilda Williams of Kentucky in 1811.  The membrs of their family were: Robert Ward, who was United States senator, Richard M., James, Juliet and Irene. Judge JOhnson died in 1849, having been on the bench of different Arkansas courts since his first appointment.  His widow survived him many years.  Among their descendants are: John, Robert and James V., Mrs. J.C. (Sallie Johnson) Breckinridge, Mrs. M.M.(Juliet Churchill) Hankins, Mrs. Celsus (Alice Johnson) Perrie and Mrs. L.P. (Mary Jordan) Gibson, whose home is situated on a part of the Johnson lawn.  The Johnson Place became the property of Mrs. Mary Cunningham Deuell in the late eighties, who sold it to Governor James P. Eagle.  Other transfers have followed.

Ambrose Hundley Sevier came to Little Rock in 1821.  His ancestors were the Seviers and Conways who emigrted from Virginia to Tennessee soon after the Revolutionary War. Students of Arkansas history and affairs agree that services rendered to Arkansas, by Sevier have never been surpassed by any man in public life, especially at the time of the entrance of the territory into statehood.  Among the many positions of importance held by Ambrose Sevier are member of congress, United State senator and minister to Mexico.  He died in 1848.  The children of Ambrose and Juliet Johnson Sevier were: Ambrose Hundley, who married Imogene Wright, a granddaughter of Governor Fulton; Annie, who became the wife of General T.J. Churchill, and Matilda, who married Shelby Williams.  A number of descendants reside in this and in other states.

Some of the Youngsters.

Among the youths who were “the first white boys in Little Rock” and who suddenly “grew up,” was Charles P. Bertrand, who became a citizen when he arrived at his thirteenth year with his stepfather and his mother, Dr. and Mrs. Cunningham.  He received his education in the village school under the masterly head and hand of Jesse Brown.  He read law in the office of Robert Crittenden.  HIs tincture of French blood and his natty appearance won for him the nickname of “Beau Charlie.”  In 1830 Crittenden and Bertrand became the founders and editors of “The Advocate,” which was the second newspaper printed in the Arkansas Territory.  Bertrand was public printer for several years.  In 1833 Albert Pike was teaching school at the mouth of the Little Piney and made the acquaintance of Robert Crittenden, who, as Pike wrote, “thought well enough of me to have Bertrand offer me the editorship of he Advocate, which position I accepted.”

Charles Bertrand was secretary of the first Constitutional Convention and held positions of trust and honor through a long and successful life.  He married Mary Morris, a daughter of John Morris, at the old Morris home near Frankfort, Kentucky.  The Bertrand home, minus its long “L,” stands on the southeast corner of Markham and Sherman streets.  Charles Bertrand died in 1866 leaving a large estate.  His wife and son, Robert Crittenden, survived him many years.  His grandchildren are: Tucker, Morris Charles and Roberta, who reside in different parts of the state.

If one can judge from old letters and other indications, one of the belles of the first decade in Little Rock’s social life was Charles Bertrand’s sister, Arabella Jane.  She married Col. Lorenzo Clarke of Baltimore, who had settled in western Arkansas.  After his death she became the wife of John Strong.  Being widowed a second time she married Col. Joseph Newton, a brother of Thomas W. Newton.  her town was on the present site of the Y.M.C.A. building.  She left a deed of trust which provided for dividing her large estate after her death equally between her husband, her full brother and her five half brothers and sisters.

George Claiborne Watkins came to Little Rock with his parents, Major and Mrs. Isaac Watkins in 1821.  He was a little chap when the trip was made from Kentucky, and he added excitement, anxiety and adventure to the river leg of the journey by falling overboard.  His early education in Little Rock was supplemented by schooling at Litchfield, Conn.  In the practice of law he wa associated with James Curran, and was elected to the position of chief justice of Arkansas.  His first wife was Mary Crease, a daughter of John and Jane Crease.  Their children were: Claiborne, Anderson, Walton, Louise, who is the widow of Fulton Wright, and Mary, who died unmarried.  After his first wife’s death Judge Watkins married Mrs. Sophie Fulton Curran.  The children of this marriage are Mrs. Maria Watkins Turner, Mrs. Pope (Georgia Watkins) Yeatman and Mrs. J.C.M. (Ida Watkins) Skirk.  Dr. Anderson Watkins is the only descendant who bears the family name.  ”Curran Hall” on East Capitol avenue was the family home.

A young Virginian from Alexandria, who came to Arkansas in 1818 to cast his fortunes in the new country, was Thomas Willoughby Newton, who joined the Little Rock colony in 1822.  He must have been a good fellow and a good mixer for he wa slated for a toast at the Fourth of July celebration directly on the heels of his arrival.  He studied law in the office of Robert Crittenden while holding the position of clerk of the court of Pulaski county.  Later he was postmaster, secretary of the legislature and United States marshal.  After 1829 he spent several years in Shelbyville, Kentucky.  He married Mary Allen, a daughter of Captain John Allen of that place.  The Allens were related to the Houstons, the Morrises and other “Blue Grass” branches. Returning to Little Rock in the middle thirties, Thomas Newton entered into affairs with his former interest.  Later he was elected to represent Arkansas in Congress.  He has the distinction of being the only Arkansas Whig that ever captured the vote for that position.  He died in 1853. His sones were Robert Crittenden and Thomas Willoughby, who married Cassandra and Amanda Reider, the beautiful daughter of Jacob and Ann McHenry Reider.  His daughter, Anna, became the wife of Richard M. Johnson.  Among the Newton descendants are: Robert Crittenden Newton of Chicago, Thomas Willoughby Newton, John Johnson, Mrs. Frank (Mary Newton) Gibb, Mrs. C.T. (Cassie Newton) Coleman, and Mrs. Edward (Mary Newton) Campbell.

In 1824 William Cummins left the old Cummins farm near Louisville, Kentucky (which now is the property of William Cummins Ratcliffe), and came to Little Rock.  He was one of several men who added brilliancy and force to the Arkansas bar.  He married Francine Notrebe, a daughter of Col. Frederick Notrebe, a daughter of Col. Frederick Notrebe of the Arkansas Post, who had been an officer in Napoleon’s army.  The only child of William and Francine Cummins was Mary, who married Captain Edward Morton.  (Their home was the present residence of John M. Gracie.) William Cummins was joined in Little Rock by his sisters, Elvira and Mary.  The former married Dr. William W. Adams and the latter married the Rev. William P. Ratcliffe.  William Cummins died in 1843 and is buried in Mt. Holly.  His descendants are the J.B.C. Lucas branch of the Lucas Family in St. Louis.

The Aristocratic Izard.

Arkansas’ second governor was General George Izard, appointed by President John Quincy Adams.  He arrived promptly in March, 1825.  Probably no citizen of Arkansas, even up to date, has seen more official life and society in high places than General Izard had seen in his day.  He was an aristocrat of the artistocrats.  His father was  Ralph Izard, whose old colonial home was situated on Goose creek, South Carolina.  His mother was the beautiful Alice De Lancy of New York.  Copley’s  group picture of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Izard hangs in the Boston Museum.

George Izard was born in England while his parents were abroad during the period of his father’s diplomatic service.  His education was all that the best European colleges and military institutions could give.  He served as secretary and military attache for the United States in different foreign capitals, and attained the rank of major general in the United States army.  It was a far cry from the old life to the new in Arkansas in 1825.  (And people have been heard to say, “Izard street; what a funny, common name!”)

The gubernatorial home was a small brick house that afterward formed the rear of the old Tucker home, opposite the county court house on the southwest corner of Second and Spring streets.  The much-traveled and man-of-the-world governor came forth from this littole unpretentious domicile as carefully garmented and groomed as though he was still in the center of ceremonies and in the whirl and thrill of diplomatic affairs.  Governor Izard took his position with painstaking care and organized many systems for the benefit of the territory.  We have evidence that he was the forerunner of simplified spelling, as in all official and private papers he cut off the final useless silent “s” from the word Arkansas.

Governor Izard’s family did not come to Little Rock. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Carter, was a native of Richmond, Virginia.  She died in Philadelphia in 1826.  It is supposed that Governor Izard was with her at the time of her death as he was “in the North” at that date.  Of Mrs. Izard it was written, “She possessed an attractive personality, and her wit was like the playful lightning of a summer’s evening.”

Governor Izard died in 1828.  His grave is in Mt. Holly.  He was highly esteemed and deeply mourned by the people of Arkansas.  A few of his personal belongings are carefully cherished by the descendants of the friends to whom they passed.  A large silver soup ladle bearing the initials “G.I.” and the Izard crest is a valuable relic in the rooms of the Arkansas History Commission, loaned by Miss Janie Woodruff, a granddaughter of William E. Woodruff.

In the summer of 1825 Nicholas Peay of Shelbyville, Kentucky, transferred his family, household goods and other movable property to Louisville.  He and his family took passage on two keelboats on which were also placed the effects he wished to transport.  The “fleet” set out down the Ohio  river with Little Rock as the destination.  The trip was made overland from the Mississippi river to Little Rock.  The arrival occurred in September and a rousing welcome was given the newcomers by the one hundred and fifty residents – mostly Kentuckians.

Nicholas Peay was a native of North Carolina.  His wife was Juliet Neill of Kentucky.  Their children were: Gordon Neill, who married Sue Crease; John C., whose first wife was Bettie Faulkner (a daughter of Sandford Faulkner, “the Arkansaw Traveler”); his second wife, who is his widow, is Margaret Reyburn Peay; William Nicholas, who married Nannie Nantiz; Sophronia, who married Dr. Golder, and Juliet, who married Dr. Hammond.

Nicholas Peay and his family were popular and progressive citizens.  Among the Peay descendants are: Nicholas, Gordon Neill, Mrs. Jennie Peay Morrison, Mrs. W.B. (Mollie Peay) Worthen, Mrs. Antoine (Bessie Peay) Bohlinger, Ashley,  Reyburn and John Peay, Mrs. Fannie Hammond Blocher and Miss Alice Hammond.

The Last Territorial Governor.

William Savin Fulton, Arkansas’ last territorial governor and first United States Senator, was born on the “Eastern Shore” of Maryland (a chosen spot that is always referred to with pride by a native).  He was graduated from the Baltimore College in 1813.  He acquired his legal education in the offices of William Pinkney of Baltimore and Felix Grundy of Nashville.  While living in Tennessee he became a friend and protege of Andrew Jackson.  he removed to Florence, Alabama, and was married in that town in 1823 to Matilda Noland.  They removed to Little Rock in 1829, when William Savin Fulton was appointed territorial secretary by President Jackson.  He held this position until his appointment as governor in 1835.  He was elected to represent the new-born state in the United States Senate in 1836, re-elected in 1840, and died in 1844.

The home of the Fultons was “Rosewood,” situated on what is now Eighteenth and Springs streets, in a large tract of land.  The family consisted of three daughters: Elizabeth, who married Moorhead Wright; Sophie, whose first husband was James Curran, and who, when widowed, became the second wife of George C. Watkins; and Ida, who married William Hunter.  Among the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of William Savin and Matilda Noland Fulton are: The late Fulton Wright, the late William S. Curran, Mrs. Putnam (Lillie Wright) Dickinson, Mrs. Hunley (Imogene Wright) Sevier, the late Mrs. Francis (May Curran) Johnson, Mrs. F.E. (Alice Curran) Conway, Mrs. Maria Watkins Turner, Mrs. Pope Yeatman, Mrs. J.C.M. Shirk, Mrs. Celsus Perrie, Mrs. J.F. Loughborough, Mrs. French Hoge and Moorehead Wright.

The province of this sketch is limited, therefore only a few families of the first decade in Little Rock’s story have been touched upon and talked about, principally those whose descendants are figuring in Little Rock’s tenth decade.  Only the names can be mentioned of some who came in the early thirties, and gave of their energy and intelligence for the upbuilding of the growing town and state.  Among these were: Elias Conway, son of Thomas and Ann  Rector Conway of Tennessee; Samuel H. Hempstead, son of Joseph and Selinda Hempstead of Connecticut, who had resided in St. Louis; Albert Pike of Newburyport, Massachusetts; William Field of Tennessee; William B. Wait of Connecticut; Peter Hanger, son of Frederick and Margaret Mathews Hanger, of Virginia; Sterling Hartwell Tucker, a native of North Carolina; John Joseph Clendenin of Pennsylvania; John Crease of Virginia; Samuel Weaver and James Lawson of Dublin county, North Carolina, who was the son and the grandson of James Lawson.

The foregoing data concerning Little Rock’s early citizens shows that they were of the best in the older communities from which they had come.  The country they found was new and raw and rough, and it took industry, intelligence and grit to make a town after was started.  From old records, letters and lists we find “who was who,” but the story of their daily lives is an untold  tale.  At times it seemed an easy matter to scare up a lawsuit, or scrape up a duel, or stir up a political pow-wow.

The occasional presence of United States army officers, who stopped on their way to the cantonment in the upper river country, and the fortnightly arrival of the mail, brought excitement and news from the outside world.

Church going (limited) began in 1825, but high water put off a camp meeting.  There were debating societies and spelling matches, both open to the gentler sex.  Undoubtedly village visiting was a pastime and pleasure among the mothers and daughters of old.  That was a soberer substitute for present day festivities.

Political and patriotic dinners and banquets were the have excuses for stag parties in the early days; we say “days” advisedly as they were high noon affairs.  The prandial personages and the most pranidal performers showed the stuff they were made of, according to the following account of a banquet: “There were forty citizens in attendance, fifty-eight toats were given by appointed and volunteer speakers, and nothing occurred to mar the festivity of the occasion.”

The love of speculation and chance was catered to by a “Temple of Fortune.”  The managers styled themselves “Agents in Terra Firma.”  The lottery  tickets that were bought and sold entitled the holder to draw for certain described lands.

The labor problem began in Little Rock every early, judging from the number of advertisements for runaway slaves.  And there were thieves like there were in sure-enough cities.  One of them, without respect or fear, made of with Governor Miller’s great big silver watch.

The scramble to get things going, to get along and to get ahead, was the time-killer that helped to salve the situation and to cure the longing of  the first comers in Little Rock for the old homes they had left.  It also helped the days to pass and to pile up into more pleasant and prosperous years.  Then life in Little Rock took on comfortable and even luxurious phases, and business, domestic and social affairs compared favorably with the best in the older communities.  This is proven by old ledgers, records and accounts, and by heirlooms in furniture, ornaments, books, silver, china, glass and jewelry that have been cherished through many years of the century.  But by far the most prized inheritances from the Founders and First Families are their portraits – said to be “speaking likenesses.”  They certainly speak to the present generation of by gone  times and keep green the memory of the forefathers and foremothers who were the early markers of Little Rock.