Erasing Boundaries: Lawrence County at 200

Erasing Boundaries: Lawrence County at 200

December 4, 2014

Powhatan, Ark.  - The Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives (NEARA)  and the Arkansas History Commission will be hosting a symposium on Thursday, January 15^th from 10 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. at the Courthouse and at the Male and Female Academy on the grounds of the Powhatan Historic State Park in Powhatan.  

The event, which marks the 200^th birthday of Lawrence County, will feature a variety of speakers  presenting on a number of topics about Lawrence County’s early territorial days, including travel and settlements, foodways, archeological exploration of the area, religion and the lives of farmers, women and African Americans in Lawrence County.  There will also be a discussion about archival resources pertaining to Lawrence County and the annual NEARA research award.

Lawrence County’s history is significant.  Established on January 15, 1815, as part of Missouri Territory, Lawrence County is often referred to as the Mother of Counties because it once covered most of northern Arkansas and southern Missouri.

The symposium is free but registration is required. Check-in will begin at 9:15 a.m.  Lunch will be provided.  Teachers can earn up to 6 professional development hours through attendance.  Registration is limited and deadline for registration is January 12^th, so be sure to make reservations soon.

The Arkansas History Commission, located in Little Rock, is the official state archives of Arkansas and maintains the largest collection of historical materials on Arkansas in the world. The Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives is a branch of the Arkansas History Commission and is dedicated to collecting and preserving primary source materials that represent the unique history, culture and heritage of northeast Arkansas.  Located at 11 Seventh Street in Powhatan, NEARA has been open since 2011.  

For more information about the symposium or to register, please contact tatyana.oyinloye@arkansas.gov or call 501-682-6892.

This project is supported in part by a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

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November Acquisitions

A listing of our November acquisitions:

Books and Printed Ephemera

AHC

Some Moor-Moores, Vol. 2:   Mabelle’s Book

 SARA

Clark County Historical Journal, 2014, Clark County Historical Association, Arkadelphia, Arkansas

East Texas Historical Journal. Vol. 52, No. 2, Fall 2014

Field Notes:  Newsletter of the Arkansas Archeological Society. No. 381, November–December 2014

 

Accessions

 AHC

Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism:  Legacy Program, 2 cu. ft.

Dr. and Mrs. T.W. Hardison, 44 proofs and negatives

Arkansas Quiz Bowl Collection, 2014:  T-shirt and Notebook

New Galilee Landmark Missionary Baptist Church Records, 3 cu. ft.

Wednesday's Wonderful Collection - Clark-Hamilton Papers, MS.000581

Benjamin Franklin Clark was born in Enders, Arkansas, and taught school in Vilonia, Arkansas, prior to being drafted in 1918. His service during World War I included training at Camp Pike (Pulaski County, Arkansas) and Camp Taylor (Kentucky). Clark was honorably discharged November 28, 1918, and returned to teaching. During the war years, he corresponded regularly with Flora Hamilton of Enders. 

This collection contains 102 letters from Benjamin Franklin Clark to Flora Hamilton in the World War I era. The letters describe Clark's day-to-day activities, which included teaching school in Vilonia, attending classes at Arkansas State Normal School in Conway, and military training during World War I.

Finding aid:

Letters, Benjamin Franklin Clark to Flora Hamilton

1. 1913 January 13 (Box 1)

2. 1913 December 26

3. 1914 July 7

4. 1914 July 27

5. 1914 August 11

6. 1914 August 24

7. 1914 September 10

8. 1914 October 3

9. 1914 December 2

10. 1914 December 21

11. 1914 December 25

12. 1914 December 31

13. 1915 January 11

14. 1915 January 25

15. 1915 March 6

16. 1915 April 12

17. 1915 April 14

18. 1915 April 20

19. 1915 June 29

20. 1915 July 26

21. 1915 August 5

22. 1915 August 11

23. 1915 September 1

24. 1915 December 1

25. 1915 December 16

26. 1916 January 3

27. 1916 January 15

28. 1916 January 25

29. 1916 February 15

30. 1916 May 22

31. 1916 May 29

32. 1916 July 8

33. 1916 October 1

34. 1916 October 15

35. 1916 October 29

36. 1916 November 12

37. 1916 December 6

38. 1916 December 20

39. 1916 December 26

40. 1916 December 27

41. 1917 February 18

42. 1917 March 11

43. 1917 April 15

44. 1917 April 26

45. 1917 May 9

46. 1917 May 26

47. 1917 October 14

48. 1917 October 19

49. 1917 October 28

50. 1917 November 13

51. 1917 November 24

52. 1917 December 7

53. 1917 December 17

54. 1918 January 5

55. 1918 January 18

56. 1918 January 21

57. 1918 January 24

58. 1918 February 2

59. 1918 February 14

60. 1918 February 23

61. 1918 February 27

62. 1918 March 1

63. 1918 March 12

64. 1918 March 20

65. 1918 March 27

66. 1918 April 1

67. 1918 April 13

68. 1918 April 25

69. 1918 April 28

70. 1918 May 6

71. 1918 May 12

72. 1918 May 20

73. 1918 June 4

74. 1918 June 16

75. 1918 June 27

76. 1918 July 3 (Box 2)

77. 1918 July 11

78. 1918 July 26

79. 1918 August 1

80. 1918 August 12

81. 1918 August 21

82. 1918 September 1

83. 1918 September 14

84. 1918 September 25

85. 1918 October 5

86. 1918 October 13

87. 1918 October 26

88. 1918 November 3

89. 1918 November 10

90. 1918 November 20

91. 1918 December 6

92. 1918 December 13

93. 1918 December 19

94. 1918 December 22

95. 1918 December 30

96. 1919 February 5

97. 1919 March 16

98. 1919 April 8

99. 1919 April 29

100. 1919 May 14

101. 1919 August 20

102. 1942 January 13

103. Notes, Flora Hamilton to Benjamin Franklin Clark

104. Miscellaneous

Curtis Sykes Memorial Grant workshops

If you or your organization are planning to apply for the Curtis Sykes Memorial Grant sponsored by the Black History Commission of Arkansas, you are invited to attend one of its quarterly workshops.  The workshops are designed to assist grant writers in crafting their proposals to the specifications of the grant and to assist in answering questions about writing the proposals.

The first quarterly workshop of 2015 will be held January 10.  Deadline for registering for this first quarterly workshop is January 5.

All workshops are held at the Arkansas History Commission, One Capitol Mall, Little Rock, and registration is required in advance.  To register for an upcoming workshop, please contact Tatyana Oyinloye, African American History Program Coordinator at 501-682-6892 or email tatyana.oyinloye@arkansas.gov.

Jeff's Corner

 

Patsy Montana:  “I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart.”

Born, October 30,1908, Jessieville, Arkansas

Died, May 3, 1996, California.

“I Wanna Be A Cowboy’s Sweetheart,” released in 1935.
The Patsy Montana Tribute Concert took place in 1986 at the auditorium of the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas. The Folk Center often dedicated whole programs and performances to Western folk music, gathering cowboy and cowgirl singers from around the nation to celebrate this unique music form. The audio recording of the concert and question and answer period with Bill McNeil are available at the Arkansas History Commission. We also have recorded versions of the 1935 original “I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart,” in our audio collections.

Western or Cowboy music is a form of folk music that is often not the first thing that comes to mind with most people. The image of singing cowboys on the old movie serials or cowboy movies makes it seem like this form of music was all show business and Hollywood fluff. In reality, the western cowboy songs track back in history as far back as the original cattle ranchers and cattle drives. Cowboys literally got lonely out there on the plain, and simple work songs and ballads played on simple guitars and harmonicas made the time pass a little easier. Along with vivid storytelling of the cowboy life, yodeling played a major role in their songs. Glenn Ohrlin, of Mountain View,  is one of the best examples left of this tradition on the male side. On the female side, one of the first recorded artists in the “cowgirl” tradition was a native of Arkansas named Patsy Montana.

Born Ruby Blevins of Jessieville, Arkansas, she changed her name to Patsy Montana after she moved to California to record in the 1930s. Unlike many singers of her time, Patsy wrote many of her own songs. It is estimated that she wrote around 200 original songs, and as can be seen when you view her songbook featured in the photo of this article, most of the sheet music has her name as the sole author or co-writer of most of the songs.

“Most of my growing up years were spent in Hope, Arkansas,” Patsy told the audience after her 1986 performance at the Folk Center. She related how she learned how to yodel from listening to Jimmie Rodgers records on the Victrola. Patsy remembered her mother calling yodeling “hollerin’” even as her daughter actually became quite good at it. Out of high school and “wanting to set the world on fire,” Patsy moved west with one of her ten brothers to try her hand at music. Originally Patsy played the violin, but recalled that one of her brothers “brought in a guitar and I got me a little instruction book and won a talent contest in a local theater.” One of the local radio stations encouraged her to join with two other girls to work with a famous trick rope specialist known as Monte Montana.  Thereafter, Ruby Blevins became Patsy Montana. Her next move was to Chicago where she performed with the Prairie Ramblers for 15 years at WLS radio. Patsy became known for her yodeling.  Reflecting on this trademark years later she quipped, “I suppose if I had done ‘Nearer My God to Thee,’ I would have had to yodel on it.”

Patsy’s first recordings were in New York for RCA Victor where she sang and played violin with   Jimmie Davis, who would later write and record, “You Are My Sunshine.” The first tracks featuring her lead voice were “Don’t you love your Daddy, Too,” and “When the Flowers of Montana are Blooming.” But it was in 1935 that she wrote and recorded her most famous and successful song, “I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart.” It went on to be the first female song to sell a million copies for country music, and is now considered a country classic.  At her 1986 performance, Patsy remained as vibrant and musical as she had been in her younger days. “You know, youth is such a wonderful thing. When you got it, you don’t know what to do with it, and when you learn what to do with it you ain’t got it no more.”

She introduced “Cowboy’s Sweetheart” with her typical humor: “I been singing everybody else’s hits up to now. I’d like to sing a medley of my hits. It won’t take about a minute and a half. This song’s been very good to me. It helped me pay the bills, too.”

Ruby Blevins (Patsy Montana) passed away on May 3, 1996, in San Jacinto, California.

Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday

The Arkansas History Commission will be closed Thursday, November 27 - Saturday, November 29 for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Wednesday's Wonderful Collection - Cunningham Family Papers, MS.000394

David Cunningham was born in 1808 in Virginia. By 1836 he had moved with his wife and three children to Tennessee, where his youngest son Philip was born. Phillip Bible Cunningham, born November 1836, was a veteran of the Civil War, serving in the 32nd Arkansas Infantry. Phillip settled in Clay Township in White County, Arkansas. He married Frances Ella Caldwell in March 1872, and they had four children: William Edward, Althea Evelyn, Frances Ella, and Martha Louisa. Phillip B. Cunningham died in 1901.

Finding aid:

• Correspondence
  
  • 1997 May 1: Glen Majors, Searcy, Arkansas, to Kim Ferguson, Jacksonville, North Carolina
  • 1999 August 16: Glen Majors, Searcy, Arkansas, to Dr. John L. Ferguson, Little Rock, Arkansas
• Cemetery records
  
  • 1981: Cemeteries in Cleburne County, Arkansas
  • Undated: Cemetery in Walnut Grove, Newport, Jackson County, Arkansas, where James I. Cunningham (1881-1916) is buried
  • 1997: Howell Cemetery, Clay, White County, Arkansas
  • undated: Monroe County, Tennessee, "Tombstone Inscriptions," WPA Records (2 copies)
• Census records
  
  • 1820-1880: Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee
• County and land records
  
  • 1832-1842: Monroe County [Tennessee] Chancery Court minute books
  • 1808-1841: Land grants, Tennessee
  • 1779-1861: Index, Tennessee "Wills and Administration"
  • 1820-1870: "Wills and estate records of McMinn County, Tennessee" (2 copies)
  • 1824-1945: Monroe County, Tennessee, wills
  • 1836-1874: Okoee (Ocoee) Baptist Church minutes, Polk County, Tennessee
  • Undated: Polk County, Tennessee, records
  • Undated: Abstracts, Ocoee District [Tennessee] early land records
• Death records
  
  • 1860: Mortality schedule, Arkansas
  • 1900-1902: Obituaries, Cleburne County, Arkansas
• Marriage records
  
  • 1771-1868: Guilford County, North Carolina, marriage records, volume 1, names A-F
  • 1783-1870: "35,000 Tennessee marriage records and bonds," volume 1, A-F
  • 1795-1859: Marriages, Blount County, Tennessee
  • 1826-1877: Independence County, Arkansas, marriage records, books A-D
  • 1838-1890: Marriage records, Monroe County, Tennessee
• Military records
  
  • 1863: Service record, P.B. Cunningham, Company G, Thirty-second Arkansas Infantry
  • Undated: History of the Thirty-second Arkansas Infantry
  • 1974: "Fight and Survive," Thirty-second Arkansas Infantry
  • 1975: "Some Tennessee Heroes of the Revolution"
• Printed material
  
  • 1999: "A Majors Journey" by Glen M. Majors
  • Undated: "History of Sweetwater Valley, Tennesse" by William B. Lenoir
  • 1977: "Tennessee Cousins, A History of Tennessee People" by Worth S. Ray