Wednesday Wonderful Collection - Hall Drug Company Records, MS.000381

Charles Thomas Hall was born in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, the son of John T. and Elizabeth Heard Hall. He began his career in the pharmacy business there. In 1912 he moved to North Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was in the pharmacy business four years. He then moved to El Dorado, Arkansas, and in 1916 opened the Hall Drug Company, which he operated for thirty-three years. He was a member of the First Baptist Church and the El Dorado Masonic Lodge No. 13. He was a Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner. His son, Mack Hall, was manager of the Hall Drug Company.

This collection contains prescription registers, correspondence, pharmacy licenses, and memorabilia.

• 1. Correspondence, 1934-1935 (Box 1)
• 2. Correspondence, 1935, 1937, 1941, 1942
• 3. Correspondence, undated
• 4. Prescriptions, 1919-1942 and undated
• 5. Invoices, 1927-1939 and undated
• 6. List of employees, 1937 and undated
• 7. Missouri Pacific Hospital Association, admission slips, 1933 and 1936
• 8. Pharmacy registration, licenses, 1935, 1937, and 1941
• 9. Article "Preparing the way for the prescription department up front," 1933
• 10. The Rotary Club of El Dorado, Arkansas, lists of categories, 1928
• 11. Petition for initiation to the Masons, El Dorado Lodge No. 13, undated
• 12. Advertisements, 1934 and undated
• 13. Profit margin, circa 1940s
• 14. United States Department of Agriculture, 1917
• 15. Notes, undated
• 16. Hall Drug Company stationery
• 17. Hall Drug Company label, undated
• 18. Blank checks and softdrink tax form, 1933 and undated
• 19. Artwork, Arkansas Razorback and Texas Longhorn undated
• Ledgers: Prescription registration
  
  • 20. 1911-1913 (Box 2)
  • 21. 1913-1915
  • 22. 1915-1917 (Box 3)
  • 23. 1917-1918
  • 24. 1918-1919
  • 25. 1919-1921 (Box 4)
  • 26. 1921-1923
  • 27. 1923-1925 (Box 5)
  • 28. 1925-1926
  • 29. 1926-1927 (Box 6)
  • 30. 1927-1928
  • 31. 1928 (Box 7)
  • 32. 1928-1930
  • 33. 1930-1931 (Box 8)
  • 34. 1931-1933
  • 35. 1933-1935 (Box 9)
  • 36. 1935-1937
  • 37. 1937-1939 (Box 10)
  • 38. 1939-1941
  • 39. 1941-1943 (Box 11)
  • 40. 1943-1945
  • 41. 1945-1947 (Box 12)
  • 42. 1947-1949
  • 43. 1949-1950 (Box 13)
  • 44. 1951-1952
  • 45. 1952-1954 (Box 14)
  • 46. 1954-1956
  • 47. 1957-1960 (Box 15)
  • 48. 1960-1964 (Box 16)
  • 49. 1964-1968 (Box 17)
  • 50. 1968-1973 (Box 18)
  • 51. 1973-1974 (Box 19)
  • 52. 1974-1976 (Box 20)
  • 53. 1976-1977 (Box 21)
  • 54. 1977-1978 (Box 22)
  • 55. 1979-1980 (Box 23)
  • 56. 1981-1982 (Box 24)
  • 57. 1982-1984 (Box 25)
• Ledgers: Accounts payable
  
  • 58. 1927-1929 (Box 26)
  • 59. 1927-1930, 1938 (Box 27)
  • 60. 1927-1943

Wednesday Wonderful Collection - Wassell Family Papers, MS.000201

John Wassell came to America from England in 1829, at the age of sixteen. He became a carpenter, settling in Arkansas in 1836, and winning the contract to do the carpentry in the new state capitol building. Not long after finishing his work on the state capitol, John gave up carpentry to become a lawyer, eventually serving as a judge. He was also the military appointed mayor of Little Rock in 1868. He married Margaret Spotts of Kentucky around 1836, and eight children were born to the marriage, including Samuel Spotts.
Samuel Spotts Wassell was born May 2, 1854. He attended Cornell University and then studied law in Memphis. He married Elizabeth (Bettie) McConaughey April 8, 1878. The two had four children, including Samuel McConaughey Wassell, who was mayor of Little Rock, 1947-1952. Bettie McConaughey was born October 18, 1858, to James W. and Albina McConaughey. Bettie's father, James W. McConaughey, was also a lawyer and early settler of Arkansas, settling in Searcy. James became good friends with a fellow lawyer in Searcy, Dandridge McRae, and eventually married his sister, Albina McRae. During the Civil War, James served under Dandridge as Captain Assistant Adjutant General in the Confederate Army, until poor health forced his resignation in 1863. James and Albina both died young, leaving their only surviving daughter, Bettie, in the care of her uncle, Dandridge McRae, and his family. Bettie was active in the women's suffrage movement, becoming the first woman juror in Arkansas. She also organized the J.M. Keller Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, was honorary state president of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, served on the committee that erected the David O. Dodd monument, was the president of the Nicholas Headington Chapter of the Daughters of 1812, state regent from 1913-1915 for the Daughters of the American Revolution, a charter member of the Arkansas Pioneers Association, and supported efforts to preserve the Old State House. She died November 28, 1923.

This collection contains papers belonging to the Wassell family of Little Rock, Civil War physician John C. Lee, and Confederate generals Thomas C. Hindman, Dandridge McRae, and Albert Pike. Items include personal correspondence, narratives, speeches, women's suffrage correspondence, papers for the United Daughters of the Confederacy, United Sons of Confederate Veterans, United States Daughters of 1812, newsclippings, and other miscellaneous material. The majority of the material pertains to the Civil War and Bettie McConaughey's involvement in Confederate organizations in the early 1900s.

• Samuel Wassell family correspondence (Box 1)
  
  • 1892: Wedding invitation from Mr. and Mrs. J.F. Dowdy, Memphis
  • 1902 November 2: J.F. Dowdy, Memphis, to S.S. Wassell, Little Rock (telegram)
  • 1903 January 28: "Carrie," Chicago, to Mrs. Sam Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1903 February 24: Albert Wassell, El Paso, Texas, to "My dear wife"
  • 1904 December 25: Mrs. M.L. McAlmont to Mrs. Sam Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1904 December 30: H.N. Hutton, Marianna, Arkansas, to Sam Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1904: Bessie K. Wallace to Mrs. Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1905 April 7: Pettit and Sanders, Little Rock, to Mrs. Sam Wassell, Little Rock
  • Undated: "Sister Becca" to Sam
  • Undated: "Aunt A. Jones" to unknown
  • Undated: Calling card, Mrs. John David Crockett
• Legal papers
  
  • Petition to the court, Admission to the Bar, Sam M. Wassell, Marianna, Arkansas
  • Petition to the court, A. Wassell, Petitioner in Pulaski Chancery Court
• Fincancial papers
  
  • 1900-1902
  • 1903
  • 1904 January-August
  • 1904 September-December
  • 1905
  • 1906-1912, and undated
• Sam M. Wassell narratives and material on Mexico
  
  • 1903 February 20: Mexico lottery tickets
  • 1903: Interview with "Captain Mullin," by Sam M. Wassell
  • 1903: "Bullfighting"
  • "Aztec and Toltec Civilization"
  • 1903: "Railroads"
• Dandridge McRae family correspondence
  
  • 1850 January 12: William E. Stockdell, Lunenburg Court House, Virginia, to George F. Burks
  • 1853 July 13: J.W. McConaughey, D. McCreery, and K.T., Little Rock, to Dandridge McRae
  • 1854 April 15: James Martin, Keysville, to Angie Lewis, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1854 May 1: James to Angie Lewis, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1854 May 4: "Cousin Bettie" to Angie, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1855 October 15: Harriet B. Burks, Shelby County, Tennessee, to Angie and Dandridge McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1861 April 25: Dandridge McRae, Little Rock, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1861 May 6: Dandridge McRae, Camp Rector, Arkansas, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1861 May 10: Dandridge McRae, Camp Rector, Arkansas, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1861 May 17: Resolution, 1st Regiment of the Arkansas Army, Camp Rector
  • 1861 July 24: Dandridge McRae, "Headquarters of McRae," Arkansas, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1861: Envelope to Angie McRae
  • 1862 January 6: Dandridge McRae to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1862 March 22: Dandridge McRae, Van Buren, Arkansas, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1862 April 7: Dandridge McRae, Des Arc, Arkansas, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1862 April 17: Dandridge McRae, Rienzi, Mississippi, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1862 April 22: Dandridge McRae, Rienzi, Mississippi, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1862 May 10: J.R. Upshaw, Searcy, Arkansas, to Angie McRae, Sugar Loaf, Arkansas
  • 1862 July 11: Dandridge McRae, Brownsville, Arkansas, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1862 October 17: Dandridge McRae, Clarksville, Arkansas, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1862 October 30: Dandridge McRae to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1862 November 3: Dandridge McRae, "Camp on Mulberry," Arkansas, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1862 November 16: Dandridge McRae, "Camp near Fort Smith," Arkansas, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1862 December 25: Dandridge McRae, "Camp Shoup near Fort Smith," Arkansas, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1863 February 13: Dandridge McRae, Little Rock, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1863 February 24: Dandridge McRae, Little Rock, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1863 May 1: Dandridge McRae, Little Rock, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1863 May 7: Dandridge McRae, "Camp on North Side of Arkansas River," Arkansas, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1863 May 20: Dandridge McRae, Camp Anderson, Arkansas, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1863 June 22: J.W. McConaughey, Jacksonport, Arkansas, to Mrs. McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1863 July 3: Dandridge McRae, Camp Near Helena, Arkansas, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1863 July 5: Dandridge McRae, Phillips County, Arkansas, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1863 September 18: Dandridge McRae, "Camp at Arkadelphia," Arkansas, to Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1870 November 23: William D. Jameson, Hillsboro, Arkansas, to Dandridge McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • 1875 September 8: S.S. Wassell, Little Rock, to Mrs. McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • Circa 1860: "Cousin Bettie" to "Angelina" (Angie Lewis McRae), Searcy, Arkansas
  • Circa 1862: Receipt, F.M. Seawell, to Mrs. McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • Circa 1862: Envelope, Mrs. Angie McRae, Searcy, Arkansas
  • Circa 1862 April 18: Envelope to Mrs. Angie McRae, Little Rock
  • Undated: J.W. to "Miss Bettie"
• Dandridge McRae narratives
  
  • 1883: "[Elector] of Searcy Enterprise," by Dandridge McRae of Little Rock
  • 1883: "Correspondence to George Lewis, Esquire," by Dandridge McRae
  • Circa 1883: "The Foundation of the Kingdom of Righteousness," by Dandridge McRae
• Dandridge McRae family miscellaneous
  
  • 1883: Legal note, "Proclamation of Records Issued in 1883"
  • 1884-1895: Admission ticket, World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition, issued to General Dandridge McRae
  • 1898 March 8: Pamplet, "Speeches of Hon. Thos. C. McRae"
  • Undated: Schoolwork, unidentified
  • Undated: Family history, fragment
• General Thomas C. Hindman correspondence
  
  • 1865 May 19: J. Barkley, Cotton Gin, Texas, to Major General T.C. Hindman, San Antonio, Texas
  • 1865 July 8: T.C. Hindman, Monterey, Mexico, to Doctor J.C. Lee, San Antonio, Texas
  • 1865 August 21: Unknown, Montelise, to "My very dear friend"
• John C. Lee family correspondence
  
  • [1864] August 10: Unknown to "My dear Sister"
  • 1865 August 1: Mary E.L. Hayman, Montelise, to Mrs. Lee
  • 1907 November 7: Mrs. J.C. Lee, Montgomery, Alabama, to William D. Jelks, Governor of Alabama
  • Undated: Mattie Graves to Cousin Mary
  • Undated: W.F. Douglass, 6th Arkansas Infantry, Wartrace, Tennessee, to Mrs. Howard and Mrs. Lee
• John C. Lee family papers
  
  • 1862 November 10: Travel pass for Doctor John C. Lee of Lafayette County, Arkansas
  • 1864 December 29: Exchange certificate, George M. Palmer to John C. Lee, San Antonio, Texas
  • Undated: Historical explanation of John C. Lee's exchange certificate
  • Undated: Petition
• Albert Pike general correspondence
  
  • 1879 March 10: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to "Dear Friend"
  • 1879 July 20: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to "Dear Friend"
  • 1880 October 24: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to "Dear Friend"
  • 1882 December 21: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to "Dear Friend"
  • 1882 December 21: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to "Dear Friend"
  • 1880 February 25: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to unknown
  • 1885 October 20: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to "Dear Friend"
  • 1886 December 27: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to "Dear Friend"
  • 1887 February 5: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to unknown
  • 1888 October 7: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to "Dear S"
  • 1890 April 15: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to "Dear Friend"
  • 1890 April 15: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to unknown
  • Undated: Albert Pike biographical sketch
  • Undated: Reminiscenses
  • 1877 September 5: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to unknown
  • 1879 March 10: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to unknown
  • 1880 October 24: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to "Dear Friend"
  • 1880 October 20: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to "Dear Friend"
  • 1887 February 5: Albert Pike, Washington, District of Columbia, to unknown
  • Undated: Brief sketch of Albert Pike
  • Undated: "An Anciente Fytte," poem by Albert Pike
• Bettie McConaughey Wassell's women's suffrage correspondence (Box 2)
  
  • 1899 March 29: E.C. Browning, Little Rock, to Senator Butler
  • 1918 February 25: Turner Butler, Hamburg, Arkansas, to Mrs. Sam S. Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1918 March 12: Dallas Herndon, Arkansas History Commission, Little Rock, to Mrs. S.S. Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1918 March 12: Mrs. Ohmer C. Burnside, Lake Village, Arkansas, to Mrs. S.S. Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1918 March 21: Monroe Smith, Arkansas Tax Commission, Little Rock, to Mrs. S.S. Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1918 November 1: John W. Wade, Little Rock, to Mrs. Wassell, Little Rock
  • Unknown: Speech, "Equal Suffrage in Arkansas," by Bettie Wassell
• United Daughters of the Confederacy correspondence
  
  • 1902 March 8: Mrs. B.E. Benton, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to Mrs. Sam S. Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1902 September 30: Mrs. B.E. Benton, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to Mrs. Sam S. Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1902 November 3: Kate L. Hickman, Nashville, Tennessee, to Mrs. Sam S. Wassell, Little Rock (postcard)
  • 1903 June 1: Ethel Clarrdy, Atlanta, Georgia, to Mrs. S.S. Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1903 June 12: Mary Himlir Hall, Brinkley, Arkansas, to Mrs. S.S. Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1903 July 29: Kate W. Partee, Little Rock, to Mrs. S.S. Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1904 January 27: Kate W. Partee, Little Rock, to Mrs. S.S. Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1910 April 17: J.M. Keller, Hot Springs, Arkansas, to Mrs. S.S. Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1911 October 17: Matthew Page Andrews, Baltimore, Maryland, to Mrs. S.S. Wassell, Little Rock
  • Undated: Envelope, S.S. Wassell, Little Rock, to Mrs. Virginia F. McSherry, Martinsburg, West Virginia
• United Daughters of the Confederacy papers
  
  • Circa 1902: Travel certificate
  • Circa 1902: Program fragment, "Errata"
  • Circa 1902: Speech, Mrs. Sam S. Wassell
  • Circa 1902: Memorial message upon the death of Mrs. J.M. Keller of Hot Springs
  • Undated: Note card, Mrs. S.S. Wassell, Little Rock
• United Sons of Confederate Veterans papers
  
  • 1910 April 8: W.P. Martin, Weatherford, Texas, to Mrs. Wassell
  • 1910 April 9: W.L. Cabell, Dallas, Texas, to Colonel Sam S. Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1911 May 4: W.S. Hutton, Little Rock, to Mrs. S.S. Wassell, Little Rock
• Little Rock Street Railroad Company
  
  • 1869 April 12: Articles of Association, signed by W.E. Wright
  • 1869 April 18: Waiver of Public Notice for first stockholders meeting
  • 1870 June 17: Minutes of meeting, Weldon Wright, President
  • 1872 June 13: Certificate of stock, Weldon Wright
• Newsclippings
  
  • 1861 July 23: "Glorious Victory," in "Georgia Citizen"
  • Circa 1871: "The Welcome Home," in "Arkansas Gazette"
  • Circa 1886: Unidentified fragments
  • Circa 1910: "For Benefit Monument Fund" and "State Regent of Arkansas D.A.R.," in "The Arkansas Democrat" (includes picture of Bettie Wassell)
  • Circa 1910: "Lewis Family History-One a 'Signer' and Many Were Distinguished"
• Civil War miscellaneous
  
  • 1861 February: A.L. Stuart, New Orleans, to Mr. W.E. Wright, Little Rock
  • 1862 April 3: Descriptive list of pay and clothing while in Confederate service, Private William E. Besson
  • 1862 April 11: Arkansas ten dollar treasury warrant
  • 1863 April 6: Fifty cents, Confederate currency
  • 1863 May 12: Arkansas ten dollar treasury warrant
  • 1863 June 12: Arkansas ten dollar treasury warrant
  • 1864 February 17: Twenty dollars, Confederate currency
  • Circa 1864: War record, Colonel T.T. Ward
  • Undated: Political speech about the expansion of slavery and state's rights
  • Circa 1910: Pamphlet, "Finds Brother After Forty-seven Years"
• Miscellaneous
  
  • 1857 July 1: Land patent, Patrick O'Cain of Pulaski County
  • 1863 January 20: Receipt, J.W. McConaughey to C.J. Hanks, Little Rock
  • 1871 April 28: Tax receipt, Collector's Office, White County, Arkansas, to James F. Burks
  • 1883-1884: Railroad property values
  • 1884 April 7: Program, Eclectic Society of Little Rock, Anniversary Exercises
  • 1884 April 13: Program, Lenten Services, Christ Church, Little Rock
  • 1905 March 8: A.F. Devereux, Little Rock, to unknown
  • 1906 March 12: Certificate, Knights and Ladies of Honor, Little Rock, to S.B. Baird
  • 1907 October 20: Poem, "Our Flag Floats O'er Confederate Home," by Josie Frazee Cappleman
  • 1912: Receipt card, Mimosa Lodge, Knights and Ladies of Honor, Little Rock, to M.M. Hankins
  • Circa 1912: Receipt card, Mimosa Lodge, Knights and Ladies of Honor, Little Rock
  • Undated: Instructions, rheumatism medicine
  • Undated: List, Arkansas men
  • Undated: Broadside, "These Prescriptions are the Result of Twenty-Three Years of Scientific Study"
  • Undated: Bill, "An Act Providing for a Settlement with the Outgoing Lessee of the Penitentiary"
• United States Daughters of 1812 papers
  
  • 1910 October 11: Thomas M. Owen, Montgomery, Alabama, to Mrs. Sam S. Wassell, Little Rock
  • 1910-1911: "Suggestive Study Outline, 1910-1911 for the United States Daughters of 1812"
  • Undated: Envelope, Mrs. Dallas T. Herndon, Little Rock

April Acquisitions and Accessions

Acquisitions

AHC:

Books

“The Lion,” Agricultural Mechanical and Normal College (AM&N), Yearbook, 1967-1968

“The Lion,” Agricultural Mechanical and Normal College (AM&N), Yearbook, 1969

“The Lion,” UAPB, Yearbook, 1974

Bryant High School, Yearbook, 2000

A Family History:  Virgil Aubrey and Elsie Skinner Howard, by Ina L. Howard Wilingham

SARA:

Books

On the Prowl:  2004 Bobcat.  Hope High School, Hope, Arkansas.  Vol. 55.

What Goes Around Comes Around:  1997 Bobcat.  Hope, High School, Hope, Arkansas. Vol. 48.

Periodicals

Arkansas Archeological Survey:  Annual Report for fiscal year 2013-2014.

The Gems of Pike County, Arkansas.  Pike County Archives & History Society. Winter 2015. Vol. 26, No. 1.

Polk County Pioneers.  Polk County Genealogical Society.  Vol. XXXXII, Nos. 1 and 2.  Spring/Summer 2015.

Blade.   April 2015, Vol. XLII, No. 5.

Blade.  May 2015, Vol.  XLII, No. 6.

Blade.  June 2015, Vol.  XLII, No. 7.

Blade.  July 2015, Vol. XLII, No. 8.

American Bladesmith:  Journal of the American Bladesmith Society, Inc.  Winter-2014-2015, Issue 42.

NEARA:

Books

Cite Your Sources: A Manual for Documenting Family Histories and Genealogical Records by Richard S. Lackey

The ASU Story: A History of Arkansas State University 1909-1967 by Lee A. Dew

The Ottenheimers of Arkansas by Carolyn Gray LeMaster

Community Diaries: Arkansas Newspapering, 1819-2002 by Michael B. Dougan

Uncle, We are Ready! Registering America’s Men 1917-1918 by John J. Newman

Pioneers of Power: The Story of Ozark Border Electric Cooperative, 1938-2013 by Jim McCarty

The Man in the Green Shirt: Miles Davis by Richard Williams

ASU Indian 1979

ASU Indian 1981

 ASU Indian 1987

 ASU Indian 2005

Arkansas State University 2012

Arkansas Legal Directory 2009-2010

Jonesboro City Directory 1978

Jonesboro City Directory 1979

Jonesboro City Directory 1980

Jonesboro City Directory 1981

 Jonesboro City Directory 1985

 Jonesboro City Directory 1987-1988

 Jonesboro City Directory 1989

 Jonesboro City Directory 1990

 Jonesboro City Directory 1991-1992

Jonesboro City Directory 1993

Jonesboro City Directory 1994-1995

Jonesboro City Directory 1995

 Jonesboro, Paragould Arkansas Polk City Directory 1997

Jonesboro, Paragould Arkansas Polk City Directory 1998

Jonesboro, Paragould Arkansas Polk City Directory 2000

Periodicals

 Historic Maury: Annual Publication of the Maury County, Tennessee Historical Society Vol. XX 1984

 Historic Maury: Annual Publication of the Maury County, Tennessee Historical Society Vol. XXI 1985

 Historic Maury: Quarterly Journal of the Maury County, Tennessee Historical Society Vol. XXX, No. 2 1994

Historic Maury: Quarterly Journal of the Maury County, Tennessee Historical Society Vol. XXX, No. 3 1994 (2 copies)

Historic Maury: Quarterly Journal of the Maury County, Tennessee Historical Society Vol. XXX, No. 4 1994

Independence County "Bits of Bark From the Family Tree" XXXX 1 January 2015

Greene County Marriages 2.5 cu. ft. donated by Greene County Genealogical and Historical Society

Accessions

AHC:

National Guard Records, 56 cu. ft.

SARA:

Original Hempstead County Marriage Licenses from 1875 to 1900 and into the 20^th century.  3 cu. ft.

Jeff's Corner - Ralph Stanley at Ozark Folk Center

If you were lucky enough to be in Mountain View, Arkansas, on November 7, 1987, you would have had the opportunity to hear one of the greatest guest appearances at the Ozark Folk Center. Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys swept into the auditorium and played their music until it bounced outside and covered the hills and valleys of the Ozarks. If, like me, you were not one of the lucky few who witnessed these concerts, you can listen to the unreleased live recordings at the Arkansas History Commission where they are part of the Ozark Cultural Resource Center Collection of live performances from the Ozark Folk Center. 

Ralph Stanley was born on February 25, 1927, at McClure, Virginia. He formed the Clinch Mountain Boys with his older brother Carter Stanley in 1946. They were later signed by Columbia Records as The Stanley Brothers.  

In 2000, Stanley was famously featured in the film, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? in which he performed the song, “Oh Death.”   Stanley won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal for that performance on the movie soundtrack

The November 1987 performances began with Art Flatt introducing Ralph Stanley at the Ozark Folk Center: “All the way from down in Southwest Virginia in the Clinch Mountain area. A band, I think this is their fortieth year together. . . .They were there when bluegrass started. Please welcome Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys!”

During the concert, Dr. Stanley, who received his honorary doctorate from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, in 1976, as well as all the other members of the band, complimented the Folk Center on their facilities and how pretty the country was there in the heart of the Ozarks. Several of them made sure to brag on the bass fishing in Stone County, and how happy they all would be for all the people in the audience to “talk to the right people” to have them all come back and play as soon as possible. Ralph Stanley commented at one point, “You know, playing in Arkansas reminded me of playing at Petit Jean Park. You know where that is? We played a festival way up on top of the hill.”

"I did spend a week with Wayne Rainey down in Concord,” Ralph Stanley continued. “That’s pretty close, I think. It was about 25 years ago. . . Concord . . . I always wondered where that was. . . .They tell me you turn at the third cemetery on the left as you go out of town.”

Concord, Arkansas, is in Cleburne County, south of Mountain View. Wayne Rainey was a harmonica player out of the Wolf Bayou area of Cleburne County, Arkansas. He performed with the Delmore Brothers after WW II before starting his solo career in 1948. He died in 1993. 

At one point in the set, Ralph lets each of the band members introduce themselves. The 1987 line-up of the Clinch Mountain Boys included Curley Ray Cline on fiddle, Junior Blankenship on guitar, Sammy Atkins on lead vocals and guitar, and Jack Cooke on bass. In addition, Ralph Stanley II performed “Let’s Go to the Fair.” “He’s my little boy, nine years old,” Ralph Stanley, Sr. explained. “He went on stage with me when he was 2 ½ years old. “Dr. Stanley goes on to praise his boy for this being the only day of school he missed so far this year even though he tries to play with his father as much as he can. Currently, all the members of the Clinch Mountain Boys, including Ralph Stanley II, perform with their own bands  throughout the world.

Some of the other songs featured in the performance at the Ozark Folk Center included “White Dove,” “Rank Stranger,” “Clinch Mountain Backstep,” and “Old Richmond.”

In his book entitled, In the Country of Country, Nicholas Dawidoff  maintains that Ralph Stanley has a very different sound than Bill Monroe, even though both are associated with the origins of bluegrass music. “Ralph Stanley has taken care to emphasize . . . that what he sings is actually old-time mountain music – not bluegrass.” Ricky Skaggs, who played with both men, was quoted saying:  

 “When you hear Bill Monroe you hear the fire of the music. When

   you hear Ralph Stanley you hear the high lonesome sound of the

   mountains. . . . Ralph Stanley brings the lonesomeness, the hardness,

   the poverty, the faith of Appalachia to his singing . . . .He sounds exactly

   like where he comes from.”

Dawidoff also writes, “Stanley conspicuously cultivates the aura of a gentle country pastor . . . over the years, Ralph Stanley has self-consciously sought to sound more and more traditional.”

Ralph Stanley, Sr., performed with his grandson, Nathan Stanley, at “Juanita’s” in Little Rock, Arkansas,  on April 18, 2015. The other members of the 2015 Clinch Mountain Boys include Dewey Brown on fiddle, Mitchell Van Dyke on banjo, and Randall Hibbitts on bass. At the age of 88, Dr. Stanley still tours the world with his music, and Arkansans are lucky to be able to see him in person as well as hear the historic recordings housed at our State Archives in the Arkansas History Commission.

Sources available at the Arkansas History Commission: 

Dawidoff, Nicholas.  In the Country of Country, New York:  Pantheon Books, 1997. (ML 3524  .D39 1997)

Wright, John. Traveling the High Way Home: Ralph Stanley and the World of Traditional Bluegrass Music.  Urbana and Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. (ML 420 .S8115 W74 1993)