Ravana, Arkansas, and the Enon Baptist Church ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Submitted by: GVRICHARDS@aol.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free Information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Files may be printed or copied for Personal use only. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ravana, Arkansas and the Enon Baptist Church in Miller County, Arkansas (Sulphur Township) by; Alice Brown Taken from the book "Bloomburg U.S.A in Cullen Baker Country", by the Bloomburg Historical Committee. Surname Index to writing below- Alder, Alexander, Allen, Anthony, Arnold, Arron, Beck, Boyd, Brown, Burton, Cockroft, Cook, Day, Endsley, Foster, Griffin, Hanner, Homes, Hughes, Joiner, Jones, McClung, McKeller, Patterson, Porterfield, Richardson, Sanderson, Skinner, Smith, Sprayberry, Stuckey, Sullivan, Taylor, Treadway, Waldon, Wall, Yates. Ravana, Arkansas and the Enon Baptist Church by; Alice Brown In the early days before Ravana, Arkansas was named, a lovely young lady moved there who's name was Anna. She was described as being a "raving beauty". Wo, when the name of the town was discussed, it was decided to name it Ravana in honor of her. The little town of Ravana is located in the extreme south east corner of Arkansas. Actually, it is only three hundred yards from the railroad running through the town to the Texas state line west of the site. By rail, it is five miles to Bloomburg, Tx, north, and three miles to Rodessa, Louisiana, south. The short distance between the three railroad stations is the motive for the alleged story of a drunk man who was traveling on the train in the days of the passenger service. It is said that the man heard the conductor call out "Rodessa, Louisiana", then three miles and a few minutes later, " Ravana, Arkansas", then another five miles and a few minutes, "Bloomburg, Texas" was announced. Upon turning the conductor noticed the man hastily getting his suitcase and hurrying to the trains exit. Thinking to be of service, the conductor asked why he was in such a hurry. The answer was, "Well, I get off at Kansas City, and at the rate this train is traveling, we'll be there any minute". Before further comment on the name itself, however, we must say that many settlers, small industries, churches, school, and even railroad preceded the name of the town. Among the first settlers in the vacinity were * Endsley's,* Days, * Browns, * Sprayberry's, and others soon followed. Most of the first settlers emigrated from Georgia, and many traveled by boat to Jefferson and then by covered wagons, some of them ox-drawn. As far as records can be located, the first school house was built about three miles from the last location, on land that is now owned by the * George Allen descendents. This building burned and was rebuilt, but was again destroyed this time by wind in 1913. At this same time, a Baptist church and Methodist church were also destroyed. It seems to be several years after the first settlers located here before the name Ravana was given to the community, but we understand that the name originated during the construction of the K C S Railroad, which was completed in 1892. Soon after completion of this, the news spread that the first train would travel through. It is quite an amusing story to hear from some of the older citizens, the great excitement this first train through Ravana created. * Mrs. Jesse Anthony was among the spectators waiting for the great event. She reports that when the whistle was heard, one lady discovered that her five year old son was missing. It turned out, after much frantic searching, that he had been so frightened of the train whistle and sound of the engine, that he had hid in one of the stores under the counter. * Mr. Carl Anthony, brother of the late * Virgil Anthony of Bloomburg, jokingly informed the writer that he had a part in the construction of the railroad. He said that every day he walked from his home carrying a gallon of buttermilk and received a "dime" from the workers. He said the men would just pass the bucket from one to the other and they would all drink from it. The most elevated spot in the community is the old * Joiner place now owned by the late * George Becks descendents, and is known as the "Beck Hill". From the back porch of the house one could see for miles, or so it seemed in those days. The * Joiner family, father, mother, and daughter are buried on the old place about one hundred yards from the road. Two large cedar trees stand at either end of the graves. Industries of the community before the construction of the railroad consisted of a horse-drawn cotton gin owned by * Alfred Brown, later a steam-operated gin, owned by * Wash Sullivan. A grist mill and blacksmith shop was owned and operated by * Hiram Brown, until his death. We understand that three stores were in operation at this time. We believe one was owned by * Joel Stuckey, one by the * Hanners, and one by * Will Arnold. It was from the porch of these stores that the crowd waited for that first train to pass. These stores were located on the main street facing west toward the railroad. The buildings were in a row and close together and one long porch served them all. This made a handy and much occupied retreat for men to gather and "spin yarns" while they dipped and spit. These stores served the community for many years, and in the meantime other stores, a depot, post office, doctors office, barber shop, * Woodman Hall, a two story hotel, a boarding house, and a section house were constructed, as were many homes. We are unable to name the stores owners in order, following the first three mentioned, but we understand that * Tom Brown was first among the owners. Others who followed included; * Joel Stuckey, * Arthur Hanner, * J.W. Burton, * Jim Taylor, * John Treadway, * B. Cockroft, * Mart Jones, * Elmer Brown, and * Hattie Waldon. The Waldon Grocery is the only store now existing in the town. We are told that the first depot agent was * Grigg Yates, followed by * Tobe Sprayberry, who served until the depot was closed and later moved from the community. * Mr. Sprayberry also owned the grist mill and blacksmith shop. The first barber was unknown, but * Dock Alexander was the barber during World War 1, and he was also a tie inspector for the K.C.S Railway. The tie yard was prominent at that time and was located where the pulpwood yard now exists. The tie yard went out of existence in 1961. For several years both operations were in effect on this site. * Aunt Ky Brown, and her foster daughter, * Maggie Sprayberry, operated the hotel. This location is now owned by the descendents of the late * Jesse Arnold who built his home there around 1948. Of course, these stores did not all exist at the same time, but it is said that twelve were in operation in 1912, when a fires destroyed six stores and the post office, due to a lighted cigarette being carelessly thrown into an uncovered joint in a gas line. However, these businesses were rebuilt, and * Jim Stuckey opened a store, in a site of which the postoffice was restored. So far as we know, * Jim Yates was the first postmaster, followed by * Jim Stucky and we believe he served until about 1920, and was replaced when he moved from Ravana, by the late * J.T.Taylor, in the same building. Later, * Mrs. Taylor served as postmistress, and was followed in 1942 by * Alice Brown, and it was during her tenure in office, that most fourth class post-offices were discontinued in 1955. Later, she and her husband * Elmer, built Browns Grocery in Bloomburg. Timber business has been the communities chief industry since the days of the early settlers. Even before the railroad came, men cut logs for railroad ties and telephone poles, and hauled them by horse and wagon to Atlanta or Jefferson. In 1936, the pulpwood business began to thrive, and Ravana was among the first small towns to have a pulpwood yard, and this is yet the busiest spot in town. * Jack Terry is checker and loader at the site. The late * M.D.Laney operated a horse-drawn syrup mill near what is known as the Laney pond, north of Ravana in 1920. Five saw mills, at different times, furnished lumber for both this community, and others, and made ties that were shipped by rail from Ravana. Owners of these mills were * Natt Griffin, * Wash Sullivan, * Roscoe Dillon, * Tobe Sprayberry, and * Elmer Brown in this order. * Jess Arnold was prominent in the timber business and furnished jobs for many men through the early 1900's. * A.D. Allen, * Elmer Brown, and several others dealt heavily in timber and cattle business. In addition to other assets, we could boast of a doctor's office and a doctor who lived in our town. He was a dedicated doctor and served many, even out side the community. * Dr. Otis Boyd drove a horse and buggy in good weather and bad. During WWII, flu and typhoid raged and this writer and her family were among those treated for these illnesses as ell as many others in town. About the year 1908, a one-room schoolhouse was built in the midst of the little town. We are unable to name all the teachers who taught there, but we learned that in 1910, * Jessie Allen drove a horse and buggy to and from her home every school day to teach. Miss Allen, (now * Mrs. Carl Anthony), was the only one around who could play the old fashioned organ, and once when a revival was held at Ravana Church, Luther Betterton, who was a deacon of the church, lent her a mule to pull her buggy to each service to play. She tells of many errands to Atlanta for supplies, driving her horse and buggy alone, when she was quite young. Her father, * George Allen, died young and she helped her mother in these ways to rear her three little brothers, * Buron, * Aubrey, and * Thurman Allen. The above mentioned schoolhouse was later transferred into a two room school. We believe * Oscar Patterson and * L.W. Homes were the only two upper grade teachers, and * Effie Alder and * Mildred Arron, the lower grade, before the school consolidated with Bright Star in 1929. The citizens at first, were upset about the consolidation, but soon realized it was for the betterment of education. Students were transported by bus, * Enis McKeller being the first bus driver from Ravana. The church house was built from the remains of the schoolhouse on a lot near the railroad. The lot was donated to the church by * Hanner descendents. The old Hanner House is the oldest left in Ravana. The old depot and section houses have long been torn down, as well as many other buildings, but the people left are neighbors to love and cherish. In 1948, about two weeks before Christmas, electricity came to our locality for the first time. This was, I am sure, as exciting as was the first train. People have probably never been known to be in such a rush to light a Christmas tree, not to mention the blessedness of running water and "Hallelujah" a bathroom in the house! A few years later, we acquired telephone service. This too, was exciting, especially to the children, and even adults called each other, just for the fun of it. The Enon Baptist Church, located about three miles north-east of Ravana, was constituted on the second Sunday in November, 1865, with fourteen charter member, as follows: * Martha Richardson, * H. and Martha Cook, * Martha Sanderson, * Nathan Skinner, * Franky Skinner, * Mary A. Hughes, * Wilson and Amanda McClung, * Harmon and Lucinda Brown, * E.W. and Margaret Foster, and * Louisa Stuckey. On this day, it was decided to call the church "Enon". * Brother W. Porterfield was called on this day to the pastoral care of the church. * E.E. Foster was elected clerk. This first church house, located just across the road from our present location, was destroyed by a storm. It was voted that a new site would be almost directly east of the building that was destroyed. This building was destroyed by fire in 1937. Church was held in the Lodge Hall in Bright Star, then in the * Charlie Brown home until 1949, when the building, which is now Enon Baptist Church was completed. The location was again changed and built near the cemetery on the Bright Star - Ravana Road. * Brother Hershel Wall was called as first pastor of the church. The first body was buried in "Enon" Cemetery in 1880, and was * W.H. Yates, grandfather of * Albert Yates of Bright Star, Arkansas. * Mr. Yates is the oldest member of the church, and has been a faithful and devoted member for sixty-eight years. Though not so old in years (or so he says), * Elmer Brown is the next oldest member of the church, who has never left the church to join another. He has been a member for fifty-two years and a deacon for over thirty-five years. We believe that * Mrs. Ethel Sulivan is next to Mr. Yates in age, but joined another church after Enon burned, and came back later. * Mrs. Ethel Sulivan is the daughter of the late * "Aunt Ida Brown", who was for many years a faithful member of the church. She was the former * Ida Endsley, sister of the late * John Endsley, a large land owner in this area. Yes, Enon Church has stood for many years, it is sometimes been seemingly almost extinct, but there has always been a faithful "remnant" and the Lord to lift us up. We, the church, feel much blessed with the accomplishments of the past several years, with our modern water facilities, cushioned pews, brick vestibule, and at last, carpeted floor. Last but not least, is the lovong spirit that prevails among our members. The present pastor of Enon is * Brother Jim Smith, * Brother Nelson Porterfield was the first pastor of the church in 1965. There are pleasant memories of all who live in Ravanna and attended church at both places, Enon and Ravanna.