Ouachita County, AR

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SOURCE: Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889.
Contributed by Betsy Mills.
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Ouachita County, Arkansas - from Goodspeed's History of Arkansas

Nearly half of the State of Arkansas lies south of the river bearing
her name, and between that river and the southwestern corner, where
the Red River makes a comparatively slight detour into the State
around a single county, is a vast region from the rich mountains on
the Indian Territory line to almost within one county of the
Mississippi River in the southeast that is drained by the Ouachita (or
Washita) River. It is a region of vast diversity, from the mountains
and springs of world-wide fame along its upper course to the cotton
fields and bayous near the Louisiana line; from the pines, oaks and
cypress which bristle thick over its surface, to the various varieties
of ores locked in its bosom; from the rich hot bottoms swarming with
black humanity in the luxuriant cotton, to the cool and picturesque
mountains, springs and valleys of a uniquely cosmopolitan place--Hot
Springs, a winter resort for the North, a summer resort for the South,
and an asylum for the invalids of all the world.

A little below the middle of this valley and surrounding the head of
its navigation is a county bearing the name of the river. It embraces
about 720 square miles, rather regular in form, excepting a deeply
indented east boundary, due to the river and the Two Bayou* (*Two
Bayou is so named because of its double formation) forming a junction.
The little Missouri River forms part of its northern boundary, and
Clark and Dallas on the north, Calhoun on the east, Union on the
south, Columbia on the south and west, and Nevada on the west, are her
surrounding sister counties. The Ouachita River, with a course
somewhat east of south forms part of the eastern booodary, and cuts
off nearly the northeast quarter of the county. This quarter is of a
level character, and includes a bottom of from four to six miles width
along the east bank of the river.  On the west bank are, for the
greater part of the river's course, precipitated bluffs, deeply cut by
picturesque ravines, and these highlands stretch rather rollingly
westward, with a tendency to grow more rough to the north and to the
south more level. The highest parts of the county are toward the
northwest, while the bottoms are the lowest.  The Ouachita, of course,
is the largest stream. It receives from the northeast part, in order
of size, Tulip Creek, Two Bayou, sud Freo Creek, while from the west
comes Little Missouri River, with its White Oak tributary, Smackover
Bayou, Two Bayou, Ecore a Fabre Bayou and French Creek, with less
important streams, till flowing chiefly toward the Ouachita River. The
soil is very deep and is chiefly red clay and sandy ridges scattered
irregularly over the county. The bottoms, which are overflowed in
winter, have a white clay of good quality for bricks, while the second
bottom is of a rich loamy soil. Red sand bowlders are the only stone.
A brown coal is found in the west and northwest near the surface in
places, and from 25 to 100 feet beneath. The Garnett mines about
fourteen miles northwest of Camden have been worked, and the clays
found there are of good quality.

Undoubtedly the first product of the county is at present cotton, but
the cutting, dressing and shipping of yellow pine comes close second.
White and red oaks and hickory, with red gums, cypress. etc., on the
lowlands are also largely handled. Aside from the old local saw-mills,
the timber was not touched until the completion of the "Cotton Belt"
and the Iron Mountain Branch Railways in 1882, since that time large
milling plants have arisen and are still arising along the railways,
thus confining this industry largely to a belt of about two and a half
miles on each side of the railways, except in cases where tramways
reach out farther. These plants often employ large numbers of white
and colored hands and many teams, while sawing, planing, kilning,
store, office, trainway and other outfits constituting them, often
make a fairsized village in themselves. Among the leading County
plants now in operation are the Eagle Mills at the post office and
station bearing that name, the Cotton Belt Lumber Company at Bearden,
the M. A. Johnson Lumber Company at Evans, the Oscar Rowley Mills on
the Camden branch of the Iron Mountain Railway, the Landeker Mills at
Lilley, the Schwartz and other mills. More are in prospect.

Aside from cotton, corn, oats, peas, potatoes and vegetables are
grown, but not to the extent that careful irrigation and culture would
soon prove they could be. The same might be said of fruits; peaches,
plums, apples and grapes only need intelligent cultivation and
attention to equal the best. Stock is chiefly imported, although a
great deal of ordinary grade for home purposes is raised. That care
and attention in this line will also yet show unlooked for results,
there is no doubt. The time will come when mixed farming will replace
complete dependence on cotton, and a new aglicultural career will
begin.

This region, however, is both old and new-- the ancient home of
Mound-Builders and the rich hunting ground of Indians in the middle
ages. When tbs Genoese mariner, Columbus, supported by Spain, was
discovering our continent a few hundred miles to the south of us, four
centuries ago, the Indians that roamed the Ouachita Valley, little
dreamed that there was such a being as a "pale-face" upon the earth.
The little papooses, however, fastened to the squaws' backs then were
destined, fifty years later, to witness their race guiding a frilled
and furbelowed Spanish nobleman and his company along the Ouachita
banks, or canoeing them past the Camden wharf in mute wonder at the
dazzling white strangers. This was Fernando De Soto, whose return from
his upper Arkansas explorations led him down the Ouachita River, in
the autumn of 1541. Whether he crossed Washington Street, wholly
unconscious that here, just three centuries later, was to spring up a
queen city of the valley, or passed in a canoe and gazed up at the
steep red bluffs below Ira Nunn's home, and wondered how Martin
Luther's agitation in Germany was going to affect the church in his
old Spanish home--these things we do not know, but we do know that he
passed on down toward the great river he discovered, intending to go
on to Havana, where his faithful wife was waiting five long years,
doomed to hear of his burial in the bosom of his great river, and
herself follow him in a few days after the sad news reached her.
Before he reached the Mississippi on this Ouachita route, however, he
spent the winter of 1541-42 at an Indian village somewhere within the
bounds of Union County. The name given to the village was Antiamque.

Within the next fifty years or more, according to the Jesuit
missionary, Gravier, there was on the Ohio River an Indian nation
called the Arkansa Nation, who, in the changes that took place,
removed down the Mississippi to the mouth of the river that in 1673
was given their name, and formed a village. Some of their tribes,
notably the Quapaws, took possession of the Ouachita valley, and the
rest of the region south of the Arkansa River. This was the situation
when Marquette, a Frenchman, made his famous first map of the
Mississippi Valley, in 1673, and marked them according to the French
spelling of the way the name sounded. Ouachita is also an Indian name
spelled after French sounds.

Nine years later, of course, La Salle claimed the Mississippi Valley
for the French. Then over a hundred years pass before any interest
seems to be aroused in the Ouachita Valley. In 1799 the first grant of
land in it is made to the Baron de Bastrop. Very soon after and during
the next twenty years French hunters, traders, trappers and settlers
began to arrive, and held friendly relations with the Quapaws. They
located chiefly about French Port and the head of navigation. Among
those around French Port were the La Boeufs, La Fogles, Montrois and a
few others. At the head of navigation was one Fabre, and the landing
here was called Ecore a Fabre, that is, Fabre's Bluff. This became a
trading point at once. By 1818 settlers had become so much interested
that the Quapaws were led to cede to the United States all of South
"Arkansaw County,"* (*It was created a county of Missouri Territory
December 31, 1813.) except a reservation in the east. Then more were
scattered throughout the new tract, and boats came up to Ecore a
Fabre. Less French came and more Americans from the east Southern
States. Anderson and Richard Tate located above Fabre's Bluff. Fabre
was either dead or gone early in the twenties for Jesse B. Bowman a
hunter with his son and daughter occupied the log cabin at the
landing, and his son-in-law, Richard McAllister, lived near the site
of the big railway iron bridge. One named Magnuse, also lived above
Ecore a Fabre, while Coram Miller, and a few others, chiefly hunters,
lived below on the river. Of course the present county had been Ecore
a Fabre township of Hempstead County, probably ever since the latter
was created, December 15, 1818.

In 1824 the Quapaws ceded their reservation in the south part of the
territory, which had been given the name of their nation--the
Arkansas--and settlement was again given an impetus. John Nunn and a
brother, from Georgia, concluded to run a line of boats up the
Ouachita to Fabre's Landing, and pole the freight up to near
Washington, the brother having charge of the boat and the Washington
end of the route, and John Nunn, controlling at Ecore a Fabre. This
was taken up on John's arrival in 1824.  His family consisted of
himself, wife and four children: Eliza, Ira, Samuel and John, of whom,
Ira, now a resident of Camden, and--excepting two or three colored
men--the oldest citizen of Ouachita County, is the only one living.
Mr. Nnnn lived in an old hut, between his son's present home, opposite
Stinson's jewelry store, and the old Opera Hall, the first year, while
he was building the old log residence in which his now venerable son,
Ira, has spent nearly three quarters of a century, and which is the
oldest building in Ouachita Coonty. The old house--mansion in its
day--stands perched upon the bluff to the right at Camden, where the
"Cotton Belt" Railway crosses Washington Street, shelved, as it were,
to make way for the new Camden that is beginning a new career. It
would be well if it might be long preserved as a historical landmark.
Mr. Nunn, although but a child then, remembers the boat
"Natchitochie," as coming to Ecore a Fabre in 1824, and in 1825, his
uncle's boat, "The Enterprise," began her trips. During the next few
years occasional bands of Choctaws under "Le Bum" and his son,
"Cheffo," would hunt here and raise a crop or so of corn. They were
always peaceable, and left the county early in the thirties, when the
Eastern Indians were passing through. The old "Quapaw Trail," from
Pine Bluff to the Red River, passed below Camden. Mr. Nunn recalls his
coming into the yard one day, when a child, sud seeing an Indian
"brave" out in the rain yelling and slashing the air with his knife;
he was informed that the "brave" took this method of stopping the
storm.

Among others who came in during the next few years were the
Campbells,
Pughs, Smiths, Wadkins, Sloans, Pattersons and others. The "Ontario"
and the "St. John" were later boats. Travel up to Washington by this
route was heavy up to about 1833, when for the next two years, the
opening of the Red River raft caused a falling off. Settlement began
back from the river about 1836, and there was a very continuous influx
down to the war, especially from 1845 down. People held their land by
right of common consent. Probably no entries were made before 1840*
(*as shown by the Camden land office records.) were by John G. Morris,
J. G. Gill, Lewis Randolph, Henry Hays, Richard Tate, John T. Jones,
J. H. Pearce, Campbell & Wolf, Christopher Strong, and Gwinn & Davis,
Jones being the largest enterer, and all in 1836-37. By far the
greater number of entries were made in the fifties.

The earliest justices were, in order, Richard Tate, John Nunn and
Hiram Smith. The first store was at Ecore a Fabre Landing, by one
Pargo, of Monroe, La., about 1830. The first corn-mill was Mr. Nunn's,
and the first saw-mill was on Ecore a Fabre Bayou, about two miles
from Camden, and owned by Green B. Hughes. The first steam-mill was
started on the bayou early in the forties by Nat. Richmond, and the
first water-mill was about twelve miles west of Camden, erected early
in the forties. Ecore a Fabre was the first and, as Camden, the only
town in pre-railway times.

Five years after the Nunns' arrival at Fabre's Bluff a new county was
formed called Union, on November 2, 1829, by the Sixth Territorial
Legislature, and the act was approved of Gov. John Pope, the next last
of the Territorial governors, on that day, a day which witnessed the
creation of five counties by means of his signature, namely: Union,
Pope, Monroe, Jefferson and Hot Springs. This new county, Union,
embraced old Ecore a Fabre Township, and was the eighteenth in order
of erection. By the time it was organized,* (*1830) however, it had
but 640 inhabitants, and even at the end of ten years had only 2,889.
The whole territory though had but 30,388, when Union had 640. It was
decided that Ecore a Fabre Landing should be the county seat, and an
old log building "under the hill" was first used, and the second from
1831-32, on a site near the rear of Proctor's furniture store, was the
real first court house, a gift of John Nunn--a sort of place of
rendezvous, rather than a fixed location of county offices, as the
latter were portable. John T. Cabeen was the first clerk, and John
Black, Jr., the first sheriff and assessor. These were the first
officers--all that seemed necessary. During 1836 the courts were held
at Jeremiah Smith's for some reason, but only for about a year. Then,
of course, when Ecore a Fabre Township was erected into Ouachita
County in 1842, Eldorado became Union's county seat, the details of
which may be found in the sketch of that county.

In order to indicate the proportion of county officers of that period
who were residents of what is now Ouachita, the list is here given:
(*Residents of what is now Ouachita County) The judges--John Black,
Sr., 1830-32; G. B. Hughes*, 1832-33; Hiram Smith*, 1833-35; Charles
H. Seay, 1835-36; Thomas Owens, 1836-38; W. H. Wise, 1838-40, and
Joel
Tatum*, 1840-42.

In the clerk's office were J. T. Cabeen, 1829-30; Benjamin Gooch*,
1830-33; J. R. Moore*, 1833-35; W. L. Bradley*, 1835-38, and A. G.
Hill, 1838-42.

Sheriffs--Jobn Black, Jr., 1829-32; J. H. Cornish, 1832; on beyond the
creation of Ouachita.

Treasurers--C. H. Seay, 1836-38; A. Scarborough, 1838-40, and A.
Madera, on as above.

Coroners--Alex Beard, 1830-32; John Hogg, 1832-33, and J. N. Henry*,
1833, on.

The other officers were Union County men. The records of these days
are still preserved at Eldorado, the second and permanent seat of
justice of Union, when Ecore a Fabre and its name gave way to a new
county and a new county seat. During this scarcely more than decade so
many counties arose that, on November 29, 1842, when Gov. Archibald
Yell affixed his name to the bill, which the Fourth Legislature had
sent to him, he found the new county of Ouachita to be the
forty-fourth. Its capitol was directed to be William L. Bradley's, the
step-father of Mr. Ira Nunn, who then lived in the old Nunn house
before mentioned, at the foot of Washington Street. Here they
organized in 1843, with William Hickman, judge; Philip Agee, clerk; H.
Dews, sheriff; W. L. Bradiey, treasurer; J. W. Smith, coroner, and C.
G. M. Priam, surveyor. It is unfortunate that, in the fire of December
19, 1875, over thirty years of records were totally destroyed, so that
little more than the memory of early settlers can furnish data on this
submect.  The remarkable memory of Mr. Ira Nunn, however, has proved
of excellent service.

In 1843 Commissioners Woodard, Foster and Hickman were appointed to
select a county seat--a matter of no difficulty as Fabre's Landing was
certainu to be chosen. Mr. Nunn offered a square--now partly occupied
by the new Bry Brothers' Block--a frame two story house (40x40) for a
court-house,* (*Erected about 1847) and a dozen or more lots. This was
accepted, and, as the old name was so subject to popular corruption,
Gen. Woodard suggested that Ecore a Fabre be replaced by the old
South Carolinan city's name--Camden. It was agreed to and the plat made to
embrace about a half by a quarter mile on both sides of Washington
Street. The old two-story frame courthouse, that faced on Washington,
served until about 1857, when it was burned. From that time until
about 1858 private log houses were used, but at that date a two-story
brick of the same dimensions was erected in the center of the square
at a cost of over $3,000.  This, after a service of about sixteen
years, was burned on the morning of December 19, 1875, with all its
contents. Since that date rented places have been used a long period,
but the waiting is now rewarded with a magnificent piece of brick
architecture, that crowns all eminence on a half square facing
Harrison, Jackson and Jefferson Streets, and from whose towers and
minarets, the vision may sweep the broad valley for miles. This will
probably be completed about November 1890, at a total cost of probably
over $40.000. It is of pressed-brick, of unique architectural
proportions, and of granite foundation, and when finished will be one
of the finest buildings in the Ouachita Valley--a worthy landmark of
its head of navigation. The old square has been sold, and, for the
present, the old caged wooden jail is made to comfort criminals.

The earliest record is as follows: "Be it remembered that at a regular
term of the county court within and for the county of Ouachita, in the
State of Arkansas, begun and held at the clerk's office in the town of
Camden, the county seat of said county of Ouachita (the court-house
having been, on the morning of the 19th of December, A. D. 1875,
destroyed by fire), on the first Monday in Jauuary, A. D. 1870, it
being the time prescribed by law for holding said court, and being the
3d day of said month of Jsnusry, A. D. 1876, and present and presiding
the Hon. James M. Stinnett, county judge," etc. This was December 19,
1875, and on the following day a citizens' meeting was called, and a
committee appointed to consider the advisability of rebuilding on the
old walls.  These were Hon. J. T. Bearden, chairman; Henry Morrell, L.
E. Dawson, E. Moseley, C. H. Stone, H. G. Bunn, G. W. Brown and W.
Bross.

As there are no existing records previous to this, the changes in
township organization can not be given. The present townships,
seventeen in number, are: Behestian, Bridge Creek, Bradley, Bragg,
Carroll, Cleveland, Ecore (a), Fabre in which Camden is located, Freo,
Jefferson, Lafayette, Liberty, Marion, Red Hill, Smackover in which is
situated Stephens, Union, Valley and Washington. These have grown in a
half century from old Ecore a Fabre Township of Union County.

Her finances have kept up with her development. The total amount of
land tared is 411,750.70 acres at $663,245, with city lots (2,538) at
$404,573, and railway real estate at $333,899.30, making a total of
$1,401,717.30. The personal property for 1889, when there were 3,140
polls, was 1,893 horses at $75,312; 12,103 neat cattle at $78,495;
1,713 mules at $113,974; 3,774 sheep at $3,925; 16,458 bogs at
$23,370; 1,149 carriages, etc.. at $30,859; 452 watches at $10,446;
103 pianos at $12,080; $183,555 in merchandise; in manufactured
articles, $109,585; $187,468 in moneys, etc.; $7,560 in bonds, etc.;
$7,310 in other credits, and $260,099.87 in other property, making a
total personal of $1,104,038.87, and a grand total of all assessments
of $2,505,756.17. The taxes levied were $5,011.49, a 2-mill State
general; a 1-mill sinking fund (State) of $2,505.81, and a 2-mill
school fund of $5,011.49, while the county general of 3 mills was
$7,517.22; the 2-mill court-house fund, $5,011.51, and the district
school tax, $11,795.81. Camden bad a 5-mill general of $3,764.33, and
a 2 1/2 bond interest of $1,882.13, with Stephens at a 5-mill general
of $433.53. The cash on hand at the beginning of the fiscal year in
1889 was $5,612.70, with $4,428.50 outstanding warrants; the year's
expenses were $15,312.75, and the receipts wore $17,526.55, with
$2,214.70 in outstanding warrants on June 30, 1890. The courthouse
balance was $6,439.95, and the 56 school districts had $11,712.11 on
hand.

The population has made great strides at two different periods,
namely, the last decade and that immediately preceding the war.  In
1850 there were 9,591; in 1860 the number was 12,936, of which 8,457
were white; in 1870 it stood still at 12,975, with a less proportion
of white, 7,511, and a larger number of negroes; in 1880 it fell to
11,758, of which 6,253 were colored, and but 5,504 white; but in 1890
it springs up to the highest, 17,164.  There were but 94 and 84
foreign born, respectively in 1870 and 1880.

The vote in 1888 was as follows: 1 for Fiske, the Prohibition
presidential candidate; 67 for Streeter, the Labor candidate; l,l65
Republican votes for Harrison; and 1,303, the Democratic poll for
Cleveland. The vote of 1888 on the Constitutional Convention was 1,385
to 1,072 for it, and the liquor license vote of the same year was
1,839 to 655 in favor of license.

The societies of a general county membership have been successfully
supported. The Farmers' Alliance and its predecessors have kept up an
organization. The Ouachita County Medical Society has succeeded in
effecting a larger society of a district character, into which it was merged
for a short time, but now retains its own organization. The Ouachita Valley
Fair Association, John Ritchie, president, was organized January, 1890,
with a capital of $25,000, and is, at this writing, making extensive
preparations for a fair to be held on their sixty-acre tract, oue and one-half
miles south of Camden, on the Cotton Belt Railway. An Immigration
Society had an existence also for a time.

The county has been well represented in public affairs in almost every
department of activity. C. C. Scott was an associate justice of the
Supreme Court in 1848, while G. A. Gallagher and Isaac Strain served
also as special chief justices.

In the Constitutional Convention of 1861, A. W. Hobson was their
delegate. In 1864 R. T.
Turner and Ralph Seats represented them, and in 1868, James P. Portis
and Nathan N. Rawlings, while Elijah Moseley and H. G. Bunn were
members of the convention of 1874.

Hiram Smith represented Union (now in Ouachita) in the territorial council
of 1833, and A. J. May, alternating with W. L. Bradley, were Union County
representatives in the first State Legislature of 1836-38. Ecore a Fahre
Township furnished Hogan Moss as Representative from Union in 1838,
and Hiram Smith in 1840. Then in 1844-45, Ouachita had her own
Representative, William Foster. In 1846 there were B. W. Pearce in the
Senate, and Thomas Woodward in the House; in 1848-49 A. A. Stith and
E. A. Warren were in the House, of which the latter was Speaker; in
1850-51, were A. S. Huey in the Senate, and T. Armstrong and T.
Woodward in the House; in 1852-53, the same Senator, and J. T.
Bearden and J. B. Rump in the House; in 1854-55, J. H. Scoggin,
Senator, and C. H. Thorn and W. S. Wade in the House; in 1856-57, the
same Senator, and N. S. Graves and S. T. Abbott in the House; in
1858-59, S. T. Abott and J. B. Thrower in the House; in 1860-61-62, C. H.
Thorn in the House; in 1862, E. H. Whitfield in the Senate, and Henry N.
Furr in the House; in 1864-65, W. H. Harper, Senator, and G. W. Neill,
Representative; in the Confederate Legislature of 1864, E. H. Whitfield,
Senator, and H. N. Furr, House; in 1866-67, John R. Fellows, Senate,
and B. F. Riddick, House; in 1868-69, J. P. Portis, Senator, and N. N.
Rawlings and W. H. Wright, Representative; in 1871, J. T. Elliott, Senate,
and D. E. Jenkins and M. A. Fricks, House; in 1873, Senator the same,
and H. A. Millen and C. Thrower in the House; in Baxter's session of
1874, H. G. Bunn, Senator, and H. M. Purefoy and J. A. Ainsley,
Representatives; in 1874-75, C. Thrower, Senator, J. B. Rumph and W.
F. Avera, Representatives: in 1877, Senator the same, and W. F. Avera
and L. W. Matthews, Representatives; in 1879, John T. Bearden and 0.
A. Greening, in the House, the former as Speaker; in 1881, O. A.
Greening and B. F. Riddick, in the House; in 1883, R. E. Salle and J. N.
Scales, in the House; in 1885, W. F. Avera and T. J. Babb,
Representatives; in 1887, J. M. Meek, Senate, and S. Q. Sevier and J. C.
Marshall, House; in 1889, Senator the same, and J. W. Juniel and T. J.
Babb, Representatives.

In Congress Ouachita has had two citizens: E. A. Warren in 1853-55 and
in 1857-59, and J. T. Elliott in 1869, vice James Hinds, deceased.

Her own local officers are as follows: County judges--William Hickman,
1843-44; A. J. Rutherford, 1844-46; Thomas Woodward, 1846-48, James
Hicks, 1848-50; Robert Jordan, 1850-54; Hogan Moss, 1854-60; A. W.
Bacchus, 1860-66; J. M. Stinnett, 1866-68; J. G. Alexander, 1868-72;
-------, 1872-74; J. M. Stinnett, 1872-78; Isaac Newton: 1878-82; J. L.
Richardson, 1882-84; William Cox, 1884-88; and J. M. Stinnett, 1888-90.

Clerks--Phillip Agee, 1843-65; J. G. Browning, July, 1865-68; I. W.
Carhart, 1868-72; W. B. Coit (A. A. Tufts, county clerk), 1872-74; G. A.
Proctor, 1874-78; W. K. Ramsey, 1878-84; Thomas D. Thomson,
1884-88; and J. T. Sifford, 1888-90.

The sheriff's office--H. Dews, 1843-44; H. W. Ashley, 1844-46; H. Dews,
1846-48; G. L. Grant, 1848-54; R. B. Smith, 1854-58; Henry Ross,
1858-65; R. Beauchamp, 1865-66; N. R. Tribble, 1866-68; R.
Beauchamp, 1868-72; P. L. Lee, 1872-82; A. V. Bragg, 1882-86; and D.
Newton, 1886-90.

With treasury keys--W. L. Bradley, 1843-44; Ezra Hill, 1844-46; M. J.
Wilson, 1846-48; J. H. Scoggin, 1848-52; J. H. Holcomb, 1852-54; B. T.
Powell, 1854-56; W. C. Viser, 1856-64; D. W. Fellow, 1864-66; J. W.
Smith, 1866-68; J. Grayson, 1868-74; H. D. Ellis, 1874-76; F. M. Cross,
1876-82; J. T. Darby, 1882-86; and S. B. Side, 1886-90.

Coroners--J. W. Smith, 1843-44; Henry Hoss, 1844-46; W. M. Crswford,
1848-50; R. Butler, ]850-56; R. L. Ward, 1856-58; Charles Bidego,
1858-60; M. B. White, 1860-64; William Scott, 1864-66; M. Winter,
1866-74; W. P. Cawthorn, 1874-76; F. M. Trammell, 1876-78; F. T. Scott,
1878-80; J. L. Proffit, 1880-82; and F. T. Scott, 1882-90.

Level and transit bearers--C. G. M. Priam, 1843-44; E. Compton,
1844-46; R. B. Pate, 1846-48; L. Rodgers, 1848-54; D. R. Jenkins,
1854-56; J. B. Stokes, 1856-60; J. W. Moore, 1860-62; H. White,
1862-66; J. W. Moore, 1866-68; D. W. Lear, resigned; J. A. Norris,
1872-74; J. W. Moon, 1874-76; J. V. Pedron, 1876-82; F. W. Brodnax,
1882-86; J. V. Pedron, 1886-90.

Assessors--J. K. McKee, 1862-64; S. A. Agee, 1864-66; J. M. Douglass,
1866-68; H. L. Grayson, 1868 to May, 1871; N. N. Rawlings, 1871-72; C.
S. Keith, 1872-74; N. R. Tribble, 1874-82; Phillip Agee, 1882-88; and J.
W. Criner, 1888-90.

The most striking feature of Camden and Ouachita County was its
situation at the head of navigation on the Ouachita River; the marked
feature of the future will be its position as a railway center. Down to the
present decade Camden and Ouachita Counties were practically one, and
served as a depot of supplies for nearly a score of counties of Southern
Arkansas, whose cotton bales lined a11 the streets leading to the wharf in
thick procession. There is no doubt that Camden has always been by far
the greatest cotton mart in Southern Arkansas, and so formidable was her
position that previous to the present decade there were really no other
towns in the county. This natural position of course will not be changed,
and what is more, it has attracted the railways, so that in that respect her
future prosperity seems more assured even than her past. Nothing but
blundering blindness in her inhabitants could prevent the old Camden
from becoming a greater new Camden--the river Camden developing into
the railway Camden. But her leaders are awake to the situation, and are
abreast of the New South.

Ouachita County will partake of the prosperity of her capital. The years of
steamboats have merged into the years of railway. The Red River was
the Ouachita's only rival at any time, and that only for a short time when
the raft was cleared in the forties. Camden held the trade of the valley up
to the advent of the Iron Mouutain Railway in 1874, when all contiguous to
that was drawn off very largely.

Railways would have entered the county before the war, had not that
terrible conflict occurred. The Mississippi, Ouachita & Red River Railway
was so far completed that about twenty miles Of road were graded to the
west of near the present "Cotton Belt" depot. It was not until almost seven
years after the Iron Mountain road had begun to encroach upon their
trade that the Louisiana branch, now the Gurdon branch, of the Iron
Mountain was secured to reach from Camden to Gurdon. It was built in
1881, the city of Camden giving over $22,000 and the right of way along
the entire route. This recovered much of the old trade. The depot is in
South Camden, and one train a day each way is operated. It has 23.76
miles of track in the county, assessed at a total of $111,090, with a plant
at Camden assessed at $8,090. Its present name is the Gurdon Branch of
the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway. This had been in
operation scarcely two years when the "Cotton Belt," or St. Louis,
Arkansas & Texas Railway was completed in a northeasterly and
southwesterly course through the county. The city gave it the depot, right
of way and some money, and it was in complete operation by 1882. It
crosses the foot of Washington Street and has a depot a short distance to
the north of the street. A union depot is being earnestly agitated. The road
has forty-six miles of track assessed at $311,882.50, with plants at
Camden and Stephens, respectively, assessed at $14,757.60 and
$8,342. It may be mentioned in this connection that the Western Union
Telegraph Company has 61.75 miles of wire in the county, assessed with
outfits at $2,666.52. It was a couple of years before the new road had
much of an influence on the city and county, but the last five years have
witnessed a remarkable awakening all along the line and out in the
county. And now, in 1890, comes a new harvest of railways: The Camden
& Alexandria Railway, to tap Union County and go on into Louisina[sic], is
now building, giving an outlet in a new direction; the Camden, Louisiana &
Sabine Pass Railway is also on foot, and probabilities indicate its
completion by 1891; the Warren Branch of the Arkansas Valley Railway
has long had only forty-two miles to finish to reach Camden from the east,
and it is now being rapidly pushed. This will give a railway outlet in six
different directions at the head of Ouachita navigation, a situation of
unique possibilities. New towns have arisen too, and the lumber interests
have flourished.

There are now twenty-three post-offices in Ouachita County, haft of which
might be classed as village, town or city. Some, however, are merely
mill-plants, subject to the vicissitudes of the mill itself, so that only those
that are distinctively towns will receive separate treatment. The 
estimates of population are so varied that the list here given is in the
order of size, based on an average between various estimates: Camden,
a city of the second class; Stephens, an incorporated town; Bearden, also
a town on the "Cotton Bolt" Railway; Buena Vista, formerly Senter; Eagle
Mills, as the name indicates, a milling-plant on the "Cotton Belt;"
Chidester, the leading village on the Gurdon branch, with two stores;
Millville, a railway station with store and gin; Barham, a water-mill on the
Branch railway; Evans, a mill and store on the railway; Laster, a railway
mill; Lilley, a railway point with mill and store; Sayre, a railway mill and
store; Van Duzer, a railway mill and store; Mosely, a mill on the railway;
Dowling on the railway; French Port, an old point; Hudson, Liberty, Lufra,
Seminary Smackover, Tremont and Wyloe.

Camden, as Ecore a Fabre, was the first post-offices, with Roland Smith,
Mr. Campbell and W. L. Bradley among its early postmasters. The site of
this place, with its red bluffs standing sentinel over the blue waters of the
winding Ouachita, and rolling back to higher eminences to be crowned by
public edifices, or dropping into its great park-like ravine, with its bridges
and winding ascents, all combine to make it a most picturesque situation,
capable of pleasing the art-loving critic as well as becoming a commercial
capital. The plat is somewhat irregular, with a tendency, heretofore, to line
Washington Street, and compel it to be the great business street at its
lower end, and the residence avenue along its upper proportions. To be
off of Washington Street, was once supposed to be like being out of the
world. The central streets seem to have been used to honor the names of
early Presidents, and where the pleasant proportions of tile noted
Ouachita Hotel rise above the corner of Adams and Washington, seems
to be the eye of Camden. This may be called the center of a populatiou of
between 4,000 and 5,000, although that within the corporate limits is less.
A population with a reputation for life and enterprise not surpassed by any
city of its size in tbs State.

It has really three periods in its career, the Fabre period, down to 1843;
the Old Camden period, down to 1881, and the railway or New Camden,
since the latter date. It was a landing and hunter rendezvous up to about
1830, when one Pargo of Monroe started the first store down near the
wharf, in an old log building. A Yankee trader--Ware--was next here a
short time, trading in hides, and J. R. Moore & Bro. arrived about 1831,
and occupied a log-house, in what is now the street above the wharf.
Albert Rust began about 1831-40. Mr. Gooch and a Mr. Hill were here
short times, but the Nunn family, of which W. L. Bradley became the head
later on, were about all before the organization of Ouachita County in
1842. Then other merchants came in "under the hill;" among them were
McCollum, Ezra Hill, Smith & Thorn, Crocheron and Fellows, none of
whose buildings are now standing. Among those up farther on
Washington Street, where the homes began to be built, were Simmons
and Parr. There was a great influx in the forties and numerous changes,
so that by 1848, there were probably 800 inhabitants lining Washington
Street, a street which would be crowded from one end to the other with
cotton teams awaiting their turn. As high as 40,000 bales a season were
received. The land had been held by the Nunn family, by right of
settlement, until it was entered in 1841, by W. L. Bradley. The old
Ouachita Herald, in its first issue of November 8, 1845, under the
management of Joshua Ruth, who afterward made it of Whig policy says:
"For the want of better paper and by the earnest solicitation of our friends,
we have been reluctantly induced to present the public the first number of
the Herald on a fools-cap sheet. * * * When we issued a prospectus in the
month of March last, for the publication of a paper in Camden,
circumstances, as we thought, justified us in the belief that all the
necessary materials could be procured, and that by the beginning of
summer our press would be established and in full and successful
operation. But in this we were disappointed. Owing to circumstances over
which we had no control, the boating season passed away and left us
without paper and without ink, two of the most essential ingredients which
enter into the composition of the newspaper," etc. He speaks of a
"population of six to eight hundred," and warns "those fickle,
discontented, roving spirits, who come predetermined not to be pleased"
to "toddle on to Texas--it is not far distant." Camden is to be "The
Cincinnati of Arkansas." J. D. Rimes advertises "The Planter's Hotel;" T.
R. Murrell is an attorney; J. T. Riley, a grocer; W. W. Bennett has dry
goods; W. L. Parr in hardware; J. S. H. Rainey and R. M. Hardy are two
attorneys; P. McCollum has a store; Woodward & Heydenfeldt, and J. S.
Mitchell are lawyers, as also is W. E. Powell; Drs. J. H. Ponder & Son,
and Hilliard & Kirby offer their services. Chambers Etter had an early inn.

By the time the war opened, in 1861, the following firms were advertising:
Among the attorneys were, J. H. Bullock, Warren, Grinsted & Warren, J.
T. Bearden, W. A. Purdom and Bragg & Fellows; the physicians were,
Drs. McElrath & Pace, Bourne & Ward, John Seay, L. H. Orme, Ponder &
Crenshaw, Hobson & Pace, S. B. Flowers and J. K. Whitfield; the
Camden Foundry Company; as commission merchants, Ira Nunn and
Williams & Logan; grocers, A. S. Huey & Co., and Silliman & Green;
drugs, Harwell & Ponder, J. A. Avera and W. F. Bracy & Bro.; jewelers,
G. H. Stinson & John Dodge; bookstore, J. D. Mendenhall; hotel, L.
Bartlett; marble, J. Jennings; dry goods, Block & Feibleman, John
Lazan~s, Hodnett, Green & Kellam; Tonny, Stone & Co., Powell & Co.
and others.

Now, besides all such ordinary houses, are the following wholesale firms:
Bry & Bros.,in dry goods; Ritchie & Co., in groceries; D. W. Chandler &
Co., in groceries, also agents for the "Ouachita Consolidated Line of
Steamboats;" A. L. Morgan, in drugs; J. A. Proctor & Bro., in furniture;
Lazarus, Levy & Co., in liquors; Hickey & Avera, in liquors; and J. W.
Brown, in hardware, machinery, belting, etc.

In manufactures Camden has been active. Ira Nunn built the first gin, in
1841-42; in 1858 Chase and Wilson had carriage factories; about 1866
Merrell & McGill opened the old brick woolen mills, near the wharf, and
ran until 1886; in 1870 Thompson's wagon works were started--now
Agee's; now this is also a foundry and machine works; among other
manufactories now in operation are the Camden Shingle Mills of R. D.
Newton & Co.; the Camden Manufacturing Company of D. W. Chandler &
Co.; the Camden Broom Factory, D. W. Brummett, president; the
Camden Ice & Refrigerator Company, J. G. Hicks, president (with a
twenty-ton machine); the Camden Compress Company, J. W. Brown,
president (about 20,000 bales a season); the Edward Clifton Machine
Shops; the Camden Bottling Works; John Austin, manager; the Electric
Light Company, S. Q. Sevier, president (having both arc and
incandescent plants); City Water Works Company, S. Q. Sevier,
president (with Holly Works and 1,000,000 gallons daily capacity);
besides a large milling plant, brick works and lumber yards.

Graham & Brown began hanking before the war. In 1881 the Camden
First National Bank was organized and nationalized in 1889. The capital is
$50,000, and C. N. Rex is president. The Ouachita Valley Bank, J. W.
Brown, president, with a capital Of $50,000, was formed in 1890.

In hotels Camden is famous. The Ouachita, a three-story, superbly
appointed structure, in the hands of W. G. Buchanan, is among the first in
the State. "The Brooks," by J. M. Brooks, is a fine two-story brick.

Two large transfer companies are in operation, and all the cotton interests
are heavily represented.

The city was incorporated, first on January 1, 1849, with S. C. Buchanan
as mayor; W. E. Powel, recorder; N. Clifton, James Vaughn, J. T. Elliott,
P. McCollum and Thomas Woodward, aldermen; and E. N. Woodland,
constable. April 1, 1889, it became a city of the second class, with J. C.
Ritchie as mayor. The city has ten hydrants from the waterworks, five are
lights from the Electric Light Company, a sewer district lining Washington
Street, with a plant costing over $5,500, a volunteer hose company and
fire department, a police system, a city hall, and is divided into three
wards. Her finances are in a healthy condition.

The secret orders are well represented: Bertrand du Guesclin
Commandery No. 2, K. T.; Whitfield Chapter No. 4, R. A. M.; Camden
Lodge No. 11, A. F. $ A. M.; Ouachita Lodge No. 17, I. O. O. F.;
Riverside Lodge No. 959; L. of H.; Pat. Cleburne Council, R. A.; K. of P.,
who have a fine brick block, containing the Opera Hall; Elah Lodge No.
282, I. O. B. B., and Emanuel Lodge No. 177, O. K. S. B.

The press of Camden began with the old Ouachita Herald, by Joshua
Ruth, as a Whig advocate. Its first prospectus was issued in March, 1845,
and its first regular number on March 19, 1846, copies of which are now
in the possession of Mr. Ira Nunn, Camden. It was successively owned by
Mr. Martin, J. A. Jones, Whyte & Clark, and C. C. Thrower, before the
war. The State Rights Eagle was begun in the fifties, by Hobson &
Linscott, and early in the war it became the Constitutional Eagle, and very
soon was consolidated with the Herald, by C. C. Thrower, as the Herald
and Eagle, which was discontinued during the war. On October 7, 1886,
C. W. Whyte resurrected the old Herald, and in 1888 W. F. Avera
secured it. Since April, 1890,it has been in the hands of E. D. McCall, and
its Democratic tone is still preserved. During 1860 the Southern Star was
issued by G. M. Turner. Another brief effort was the Arkansaw Traveler,
by J. A. Warner, for a few years, along about 1850. The South Arkansas
Journal began about 1867, by Elliott & Clark. It ran a few years in the
successive charge of H. A. Millen, John Ward and J. S. Holmes. The
Weekly Financial Commercial Bulletin began about the same time, or a
little later, by H. G. Bunn; was owned successively by J. S. Holmes & Co.,
Browning & Bunn, and E. N. Hill, who took it in 1871. He was then editor
of the Camden Democrat, which had been started about 1868, by
Thrower & Hill. They all died together in 1872. The Camden Tribune, by
A. W. Hobson, afterward associated with Mr. Chandler, died about the
same time, after a year's existence. On the ruins of them all J. S. Holmes
and John R. Ward established the Camden Beacon in 1872, but Ward
soon withdrew. The paper has been under J. S. Holmes & Son since
1888. A daily edition was issued in 1881-82, and since the early part of
1890 its daily has been successfully renewed, and is now one of the
brightest sheets in the State. It is needless to say it is Democratic. The
Greenback Dollar, by F. M. Leatherman, the Real Estate Bulletin, by J. B.
Friedheim, the Public Opinion, and the Halberdier, were other short-lived
papers.

Stephens, with a population of from 500 to 800, grew from old Richland,
in Columbia County, when the "Cotton Belt" Railway was finished in
1882-83. The railway land company owned 100 acres on the site, and laid
it out in 1883; while, at the same time, Smith & Bro., M. L. Edwards & Co.,
and Barber & Tugwell concluded to move over from Richland. First, North
and Ruby Streets (the latter bridging the railway) have become the
leading streets. H. P. Morgan & Co., grocers; Hale & Son, druggists; E. H.
Blake and Halton & Lester, all came in in 1883-84. The growth was then
gradual down to 1888, when brick blocks and a general boom began to
arise, well backed up by a good surrounding country, and managed by
live business men. The south side of First North Street is soon to be built
up with brick also, while on the land recently received as a gift from the
railway company will soon be finished a fine $5,000 school building. The
residences are on both sides of the track. Two good blacksmith shops,
two gins and grist-mills, and the Neimeyer Lumber Company's plant near
by, embrace their manufactures.

In 1889 Stephens was incorporated, with T. J. Edwards as the first mayor.
Banking facilities are now under way, and the Building & Loan Association
is soon to begin a brick hotel and other structures. She also has a
growing cotton trade. J. H. Medlock contemplates the erection of a planer. 
The Masons, Knights of Pythias and Honor all have lodges. They have
few colored people.

The first editor here was J. L. Birch, who issued the Monitor in 1887. J. E.
Boggs secured it in 1888, and soon changed it to The Stephens
Gazeteer. F. E. Morgan had it in 1889, and in 1890 N. T. Thomasson
assumed editorial and proprietary control, and gave it its present name--
The Stephens Gazette.

Bearden was laid out by the Southwestern Improvement Association (the
Railway Land Company) in 1882, and named in honor of Judge John T.
Bearden, then attorney for the company. The plat embraced both sides of
the track, with the main street north of the track. The first cars arrived in
July, 1882. During the year E. W. Norman opened the first permanent
store, and was soon followed by T. S. Wiginton and W. M. Gatling. The
growth has been gradua1 since. 1n 1889 Dr. T. J. Henry led in a
movement of business south of the track, but the main business is still
north yet. The population is now between 250 and 300. This is the seat of
the Cotton Belt Lumber Company, which employs about 100 men and has
a four-mill tramway.

They have a small commercial school, and the only secret order is the
Masons. The Bearden Banner, founded by Jack Ofterlee in 1889, is now
edited by Oscar Lindsey.

Buena Vista was a post-office in the forties, and Reed & Coleman had a
store there before the war. The present town began with the railway in
1882. Among the first merchants, were Yarborough & Ross, John Wright,
and Wright & Bro. It is now the seat of Reynolds' Mill, and has four or five
stores, and from 150 to 200 people.

On November 8, 1845, Capt. Sims organized a military company which
afterward offered their services for the Mexican War, but were not
needed. The vote in 1848 was Whig by 482 to 460. 

In 1860 Ouachita County had 8,457 white people and 4,479 slaves. On
May 4, 1859, the State Rights Engle said: "The cry for a Southern
Convention is the greatest humbug of the age," etc. The Herald, of March
9, 186l, advertises a New Orleans firm: "On the 1st of October next my
house will be opened and a large supply of all classes of negroes offered
for sale, imported from Virginia, Maryland and Georgia. Afterward, during
the whole season the supply shall be kept good by the receipt of large lots
of the choicest negroes to be had from the above States." The Eagle
gives the vote of ]860 as 920 for Breckinridge, 779 for Bell, and 82 for
Douglas, adding "the result is disastrous. There is scarcely a doubt of the
election of Lincoln and the inauguration of a new era in our history." The
vote on the convention of 1861 was 596 for and twenty-one against--all
the latter in Ecore Fabre Township. The vote on delegates to it was 606
for Hobson (Unionist), and 545 for Graves (Secessionist). March 23,
1861, the Herald says: "Now, in reference to the abstract right of
secession as it effects our Representatives at Little Rock (their actions
being influenced seriously by extraneous circumstances), their position is
somewhat peculiar, not to say extraordinary," and "we think secession
was as plainly implied as convention, when that body was convoked." "If
the war has begun, we must fight side by side with our sister Southern
States."

It will be seen that the presidential vote of 1860 showed 1,790 polls.
There is no means of determining positively the number of soldiers
furnished from this county, but many of her citizens who are best able to
judge claim that more than that number entered in the Confederate
service. The Camden Knights of the Golden Circle, No. 1, Capt. W. L.
Crenshaw, First Lieut. J. M. Scales and Second Lieut. J. T. McMahan,
who became captain, was the first company. It was Company C, of the
First Arkansas Infantry, and very few returned after their surrender at
Bentonville, N. C., in 1865. In May the City Guards, Capt. R. Lyons,
Lieuts. S. H. Southerland, Hugh Brown and Eugene Elliott; the Ouachita
Voltagures, Capt. Charles Kingwell; the Ouachita Grays, Capt. H. T.
Hodnett, and a company under Capt. Griffin, all entered the Sixth
Arkansas Infantry, and were in Gen. Hardee's corps to the close. Capt.
Lyon, who was killed in Kentucky, became a colonel. Also A. T.
Hawthorne, of this regiment, became a lientenant-colonel and
brigadier-general. Very soon too, in May, Capt. Samuel Earle formed a
company for the Third Arkansas Cavalry, of which he became colonel,
and was killed in battle at Thompson's Station, Tenn. In June Capt. J. M.
Gee, with Lieut. A. W. Hobson, took a company to this regiment, and
Hobson succeeded Col. Earle. This regiment was a part of Wheeler's
command to the surrender. In June also, Capt. Hoskins formed a
company which afterward joined the Third Arkansas Cavalry. During the
same month the Camden K. G. C., No. 2. Capt. John L. Logan, entered
the Eleventh Arkansas Infantry, and were captured at Island No. 10, and
afteward saw service under Johnston in Mississippi. An extract from a
war letter from Jackson, Miss., from one of them may be of interest: "Dear
Herald: The bloody Eleventh is once more on dry land-- are no longer
chilled by the wintry blasts of Lake Michigan, but once more breathe pure
Southern air, a luxury duly appreciated by an individual who has been so
long deprived of anything pertaining to Dixie (save his patriotism). Five
months' stay in a Yankee prison is decidedly a great privilege-- a glorious
privilege, and one knows well how to enjoy his native country when once
there again." In October, 1861, Capt. Judge Robert Jordan and Capt. H.
M. Purefoy took companies into the Fifteenth Arkansas Infantry. They
were captured at Fort Donelson and exchanged; captured again at Port
Hudson. They spent about half the time in prison at Camp Douglas and
Johnson's Island. There Col. B. W. Johnson and Lient. Col. P. Lynch Lee
were incarcerated in dungeons and sentenced to be shot as a retaliation
for Federal suffering in Confederate prisons. The sentence was not
carried out however. They were at Forts Delaware and Warren.

In March, 1862, Capt. S. H. Sutherland and Lieut. Lee Morgan took a
company into the Eighteenth Arkansas Infantry. A little later (May) Capt.
O. H. Overstreet and Lieut. William Cox, Capt. W. T. Steele and Lieut. J.
A. Ansley, Capt. T. D. Thompson and Lieuts. D. Newton, J. T. Webster
and W. M. White, Capt. J. C. Goodgame and Lieut. Jones, Capt. J. W.
Lankford and Lieuts. Kennedys (two) and J. W. Culp, and Capt. W. M.
Mitchell, and J. W. Mixon (afterward captain) all entered the Thirty-third
Arkansas Infantry. Their colonel was H. L. Grinsted, killed at Jenkins'
Ferry, and Capt. T. D. Thompson succeeded him. Capt. W. T. Steele
became major. 

All the above companies were kept recruited from the county, and
probably two-thirds of those east of the river never returned. Many were
in Cleburne's noted fighting division.

In October, 1862, the Herald says: "Numerous recent victories, at once
brilliant and fruitful, have inspired a well-founded hope, that the war will
result in our favor, perhaps at no distant day." Again, "Capt. Peek, the
quartermaster at this place has made arrangements to supply the people
with shoe-lasts, wooden pegs, cotton and wool cards, and factory thread
to be given in exchange for cloth to make clothing for our poor soldiers,
who have gone forth to fight the battles of their country with a very slim
supply of comfortable clothing for the winter."

In the county too occurred some action; to begin with it was "foraged to
death." The county furnished a good many of Jonas Webb's guerrillas. In
the winter of 1863-64, Gen. Fred Steele was at Little Rock, with Federal
troops, and Gen. Sterling Price, wintered at Camden, and seemed bent
on keeping Steele from Bank's forces on the Red River. Price had
headquarters in the court house at Camden, and his troops were
scattered over the hill to the north. As Steele's forces advanced, Price's
forces deployed below the Washington road, and one day, April 15, they
came to an action about fourteen miles west of Camden, at Poison
Springs. The chief fight was between a Texas and Kansas regiment, and
the loss considerable. The Federals killed were 255, the Confederates'
number are not known. Steele came back to Camden from the
Southwest, and for a short time had headquarters at the James Brooks
house, near the Methodist Episcopal Church. He soon left however for
Pine Bluff.

The war closed and reconstruction measures began. No colored
outbreaks have ever occurred. The severity of reconstruction measures
are indicated in a quiet paragraph from the Eagle, in 1865: "The
conditions are stringent, and nearly as much as could have been required
by the radical party." Among the administration officers of this period were
H. A. Millen and A. A. Tufts, the latter now in charge of the land office at
Camden.

Since the war there has been organized the Ex-Confederate Veterans
Association, President, A. Freidheim (deceased), with about fifty
members.

The records of the circuit court were totally destroyed in the fire of 1875.
Says the earliest record now in existence: "It appearing to the court that
since the adjournment of the last term hereof, the court-house of the
county, together with the clerk's office, grand jury and petit jury rooms
therein, has been destroyed by fire, and that the county court of this
county at its April term, 1876, and on the twelfth day of said month made
an order authorizing and directing the sheriff of this county to procure a
suitable room in the town of Camden for the purpose of holding therein
the circuit court," etc. They procured the "Auction Mart" on the south side
of Washington Street," adjoining the residence of Ira Nunn." The
attorneys enrolled were: Dan W. Jones, James Thompson, John T.
Bearden. W. W. Leake, C. Thrower, Ben W. Johnson, George M. Barker,
Henry G. Bunn, Robert E. Salle, B. F. Morgan, J. R. Young, A. A. Tufts
and H. A. Millen. The grand jurors were H. L. Vickers, P. M. Bope, J. H.
Rainwater. J. T. Darby, I. T. Grindstaff, Ira Nunn, G. H. Stinson, E. S.
Greening, John Lazaros, Hardy Strickland, Louis Wagner, Thomas W.
Lockett, William Bross, David Felsenthall, W. E. Shankle and L. H. Cobb. 

But the courts began in 1843, and among the judges of the circuit who
have been citizens of Ouachita County are: C. C. Scott, A. B. Stith, L. B.
Green, J. T. Elliott and J. T. Bearden; and among the prosecuting
attorneys are: E. A. Warren, J. F. Ritchie, Richard Lyons and B. W.
Johnson. The most of the judges served while it was the Sixth Circuit.

Among the important cases which have been tried in her courts, are a few
cases of capital punishment before the war, and a few land cases. The
first hanging was in 1847, when John Dowdy was hung for killing an
Indian. The land case of J. M. Floyd vs. James Ricks, late in the forties
became a finality case. In 1868, a negro, Crawford Godley, was tried for
murder sud a change of venue taken. Early in the seventies a
complicated
and highly contested case between the county and circuit clerks' attracted
much attention, and in the last decade a case of injury brought against the
Iron Mountain Railway by E. R. Vickers, has been tenaciously contested
even to the supreme court of the United States.

Among the lawyers of the past, who should be mentioned are: E. A.
Warren, M. C.; Hen. John T. Bearden; Judge Strain; Case and Hughes;
Judge C. C. Scott, afterward of the Supreme Court; Judge A. A. Stith, a
talented man; G. A. Gallagher, one of the first lawyers in the State; Capt.
Downman, who was in the Cuban fillibustering expedition; William Haskill;
Judge J. T. Elliott. M. C.; Rainey and Daly; John R. Fellows, now district
attorney for the city of New York; Judge John Brown; C. Thrower, an able
man; Col. H. L. Grinsted, a scholarly writer; George P. Smoote, now of
Prescott; W. W. Leake; Walter L. Bragg, of the Inter-State Commerce
Commission; J. R. Thornton and E. A. Warren, Jr., both authorized to
practice by special act of Legislature, because under age; Col. Richard
Lyon; Nat Hill, now a writer in Washington, D. C.; G. M. Barker and
others.

The present bar in active practice (as given by a leading attorney in the
approximate order of admission here) are Col. B. W. Johnson, J. R.
Thornton,* (*Partners) Col. H. G. Bunn,** (**Partners) H. P. Smead,* T.
W.
Hardy, J. B. Friedheim,*** (***Partners) G. M. Barker, Thomas J.
Gaughan,** S. Q. Sevier,*** Thomas Hardison and N. T. Thomasson, of
Stephens, and E. B. McCall, and a few others in less active practice. 
Nearly all are located at Camden.

About 1828 a Pennsylvanian, named McIlwane, came through Ecore a
Fabre and wanted to teach, and one of the old log stores was given for
that purpose,  probably the first school. Benjamin Gooch was also an
early teacher. About 1847 Prof. J. A. Warner organized the female
seminary north of the Baptist Church, which has done such good service.
Prof. Sprague opened a male school on the site of the Episcopal Church
at Camden also. J. D. Alexander also taught a high school during the
forties. Many, however, went to district schools; some even rode on
horseback to the Fayetteville school up in the Ozark Mouutains, and even
into Kentucky and Tennessee.

The public schools have grown slowly, hut of late years have made
marked improvement. Camden has seven white and three colored
teachers; Stephens has two teachers, and is making excellent
preparations for new schools, while other places are merely county
schools. The county has made great progress since 1888, but the reports
since that date are not obtainable. For the year ending June 30, 1888, the
enumeration was 2,360 white and 2,759 colored children, making a total
of 5,119, an increase of 327 over 1887. In fifty-one school districts, from
thirty-seven of which there were no reports, there were 1,431 white and
1,234 colored children taught, an aggregate of 2,665. Of these but 928
studied written arithmetic, 505 took English grammar, 276 history, and
110 still higher branches. The total number of teachers employed was 62,
of which 35 were males. There were 51 frame and brick school-houses
valued at $18,105, four of which had grounds enclosed, and 20 of which
were erected during that year. The funds received were as follows: A
previous balance of $10,105.60; common fund, $4,169.77; district tax,
$8,626.72; poll tax, $2,884.64; other sources, $200; making a total of
$26,598.03. The total amount expended was $l7,739.81, of which
$15,761.30 was paid to teachers.

The Methodists held services here in a circuit about 1827. Rev. Charles
Seay and Rev. Gross were among the first preachers, and the first
services in Camden were held at Mr. Nunn's. Probably the first building
was the old Methodist Church, early in the forties, north of the present
site. The Primitive Baptists settled about seven miles south of Camden,
chiefly in the forties. Parson J. M. C. Robertson and Rev. Hartwell were
preachers. The Missionary Baptists came in about the same time, with
Rev. Rutherford as one of their early preachers and teachers. The
Free-Will Baptists came in before the war with Revs. Freeman, Gammell
and others. Their building at Camden was begun before war. The
Presbyterians came in early in the forties from Union County and built a
church at Camden about 1847. The Episcopalians came in early in the
fifties and bought a building intended for a school at Camden.  The
Catholics came to Camden chiefly, early in the seventies, and the Jews
late in that decade. The colored have been chiefly Methodists and
Baptists.  In the estimated order of present strength, numerically, the
various demoninations are as follows: Methodist Epixcopal Church,
South, Missionary Baptists, Presbyterians, Cumberland Presbyterians,
Methodist Protestants, Disciples or Christians, Protestant Episcopalians
at Camden, Catholics at Camden, Jews at Camden, and a few
Congregationalist. A Christian Endeavor Society is in operation at
Camden.