SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF WHITE CO. HISTORY THE FLOYD COMMUNITY by Claude Johnson ********************************************** Submitted by : Date: 10/31/97 USGENWEB ARCHIVES DISCLAIMER 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. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor ********************************************** The Floyd community is one where they literally had to commit murder to start a cemetery. It is believed that the first white settlement in the Floyd community was made by Levi Ricker of Limerick, York Co., Maine in the early 1820s. On Jan. the 19 th, 1824, Mr. Ricker recieved a patent for 160 acres of land described as the NW quarter, Sec. 8, T 6, NR 9 West. This was a military bounty for his service in the War of 1812, where he served as a private in Captain Bailey's Co., 34th Regiment. The home which Mr. Ricker is believed to have built was first known as the James Walker home, for he was the first to be remembered living there. It stood at the spot where Donald Choate's house now stands & for nearly a century was known as the old Stamps place. Many older residents of the county can remember this old house, and some of the ghost stories connected with it, such as the headless horseman, freezing negro boys, etc. The house was torn down several years ago. W. L. ("Uncle Bud") Quattlebaum, an early resident of this community, remembered the date 1832 painted on the brick chimney. The house was located on the old Southwest Trail, later known as the Jackson Military Road which ran from St. Genevieve, Missouri to Fulton on Red River west of Texarkana. It was an old Indian route used later by traders Choteau & LeClede as far back as 1779. It is still being used at the same location from the foot of Dug Out Mountain near Harmony through Floyd & across the Choate farm. The first person buried in the Floyd cemetery was Jess Akin who was killed by bushwhackers during the Civil War. The story was, as Mr. Quattlebaum told it, Jim Temple & Bose Watson, both rebels, scared a man named Blaylock who lived on the Stamps place. Blaylock went to Little Rock to get Federal troops to come & catch Temple & Watkins. The troops came upon Temple & Akin hunting hogs. The latter fled & when the troops fired, they hit Akin & killed him. He was buried in the newly established cemetery in 1864. Mr. Stamps owned & operated his own horse-powered cotton gin before the Civil War. Cotton was hauled to the Memphis market. Groceries, such as sugar, coffee, etc. were bought & hauled from the river port at Des Arc. Tom & John Patton operated the first grist mill in the Gravel Hill community in 1857. It appears that Gravel Hill progressed faster because some of the early Floyd settlers came there from as far north as Independence Co. Among these were the Johnsons, Boles, Wanns, Rocks & the Quattlebaums, Hutchinsons & Harrels. Jim & Bud Quattlebaum, L. D. Hutchinson, & W. A. Harrell, brought the first steam gin from Gravel Hill to Floyd in 1883. However, there was one at Mt. Vernon prior to this time. Surplus & hides were hauled to Des Arc & sold at from 50 cents to $1 a pair. The round trip took 4 days, & if the load was heavy it took 4 oxen or 4 mules to pull the wagon. Floyd's first school was established in 1856 or 1857 & was taught by Lewis Moore, near where Homer Bradberry's home now stands 3/4 mile north of Floyd. It was a subscription school. The first free school was built in the community in 1870 & was located almost directly in front of Claude Turpin's home, one mile west of Floyd & was known as Salem. The first session of school was in 1872. This building was torn down in 1904. The next building was located just a few feet west of the Floyd cemetery, and burned in 1911. It was rebuilt in 1912. The latter was a tall two-story affair & remained there until about 1929. Then, a new, modern brick building was under construction when it burned, and another was built to remain in use until the early forties when consolidation swept the district into Beebe. This building was torn down in 1963. The first store operated in Floyd was located at the present junction of the Beebe-Romance & Searcy-El Paso road, and the Post Office was called Evi. Later the name was changed to Floyd for some unknown reason, possibly because it has been confused with others. The next store was located a quarter mile north near the school & cemetery. It was operated by the Mongomery's, Critz, Virg & Tom Ellis, Leggitts, and was taken over by W. L. Quattlebaum & L. D. Hutchinson on Jan. 1, 1911. Mr. Quattlebaum retired first, being the older, and Mr. Hutchinson operated the post office until April 31, 1931 & the store a few years longer, until he retired. J. A. (Uncle Allen) Roberson, father of Searcy's Erza Roberson & John Henry "Rube" Roberson, noted league pitcher, operated a store at Floyd for many years until about 1918 when he sold to A. B. Moore. Mr. Roberson moved to Little Rock where he would be close by to watch Rube pitch ball. Mr. Moore sold his store to W. E. Bradberry, in 1923, he sold out in 1950 to Jewell Hitchinson. This store has since been converted into a dwelling. Early doctors in the Floyd community included, Drs. Gipson, Guyton, Guise, Golden & Ward. Young men were born there & became doctors including Wylie Manning & Leon Quattlebaum, the latter now deceased.