UNUSUAL FAMILY STORIES!
(of White & Cleburne Co.)

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Submitted by: Bonnie Palmer
Date: 10/31/97
Copyright: All rights reseerved.
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This page is for interesting or unusual family stories. Some have been passed down by word of mouth so you may have to do a little research to prove or disprove them. If you have a funny, interesting or unusual story, please e-mail it to me to add to this page.
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#(The following from prnelson@one.net (Patrick R. Nelson, Ph.D.) to whom we would like to express our gratitute!)
Dear Bonnie: I found parts of an old letter sent to my mother some years
ago by a cousin. The letter describes some of the family history from
White County, and I thought you might find it interesting.
The first 4 pages of the letter are missing.

P. 5 has small map of Ark. with Center Hill and Searcy marked.
(p. 5)
"Meanwhile...In 1902 Joseph Mack Sullivan, a widower with seven children,
moved to a farm near Center Hill, Arkansas. His family: 
George, born 9-5-1882 (d. 2-8-1968)
Jess, born 8-12-1886 (d. 12-26-1917)
Ira, born 6-29-1888 (d. )
Nora, born 12-15-1893 (d. 7-30-1966)
Lena, born 5-1-1895 (d. 7-11-1965)
Mattie, b. 3-3-1897 (d.)
Jack, born 4-2-1899 (d. 6-2-1958)

They built a new farmhouse and every Sunday they drove into town to
attend the Baptist Church.

There Joseph Mack Sullivan met, courted and married LouElla
Tennessee Norman Kellum, a widow with a four year old daughter: 
Edna, born 6-30-1899 [This is my (Pat's) grandmother]
Ella and her small child had been living with her parents, William
and Nancy Norman, since the death of her husband and son in a tornado."

(p. 6)
p. 6 has an inserted, handwritten note on it, apparently from Lucille
(Lottie Lucilee, b. 2-17-1907, Edna's half sister):
"Paul Tanner Sullilvan, son of Littleton Isbell Sullivan &
Mary Hamilton Calver, was born Sept. 30, 1838 and died Feb, 14, 1881. He
married Margaret Caroline Bell in 1857 (exact date not known). Joseph Mack
Sullivan was born on March 28, 1858 at Coldwater, Tate Co., Miss. He died
June 16, 1916, Center Hill, White Co., Ark."

The author continues:
" Ella and Edna were accepted warmly into the Sullivan family and
in a few years there were three baby girls: 
Alice Irene, born 11-2-1905
Lottie Lucille, born February 17, 1907 (Pat's mother?)
Florence Belle, born 6-23-1909

These were happy times for the family. Grampa Norman was a
gentleman farmer with a fine horse and carriage and the contract to
deliver mail on the rural route. Five of the Normans eleven children were
living at home. They also shared their home with Granny Newton, Grandpa
Norman's mother.

p.7 has another insert, this one typed, apparently of Lucille's memories;
"My only memories of her [Granny Newton] are of a tiny,
white-haired lady in a black dress always sitting in a small oak rocker
that was lifted into the wagon on Sunday mornings with her sitting in it
and was lifted out and carried into the church the same way. Frequently
the preacher was her oldest grandson, my uncle George Norman...

My other memory of Granny was the stories she told of the Civil
War when she was left alone on the farm with three small children when her
husband went to fight with the confederacy. Bands of roving soldiers or
possibly marauders often came by the farm and ordered her to cook meals
for them. Silver, money and other valuables had to be buried underground
in order to keep them from being stolen."

The author continues:
In 1911 Lucille's mother was again expecting and the pregnancy was
complicated. The baby was stillborn and Ella, 39, also died. Lucille was
four.

Shortly after the death of his wife, Lucille's father bought a
larger farm which they called the Sparrow Place...

another typed insert;
"The new home was much more attractive than the old one mostly due to the
huge oak and cedar trees surrounding it. The large barn was across the
road and the cow lot was just south of the yard. There was a covered well
house with an adjoining shelter where the clothes washing was done. There
was a large black iron kettle nearby. Fires were built underit and the
white clothes were boiled in it. The girls used homemade lye soap that was
a combination of lye made by running water through a hopper filled with
wood ashes, and grease. Nuts and fruits grew wild in many places. There
was a creek just back of the cow lot that was a favorite spot for us to
play. We arranged play houses in the nearby woods with tree stumps for
tables and wild grape vines for swings. We had horses, cows, geese,
chickens, hogs, two good dogs and a pet squirrel in a cage. In the spring
the breast feathers were plucked from the geese to renew our feather beds.
It was a job of the younger girls to catch the geese and sometimes we got a
good flogging in the process. The geese didn't like goose picking time any
better than we did.'

(page 8)

The Author:
"Those early school years Lucille attended a one room frame school house:"

(Lucilles' memories typed):
"There were double doors in the front and a large log flattened out
by a board on top for a doorstep. There was a bell on top of the roof
which the teacher rang at the end of recess and at the beginning of the
school day. The boys lined up on one side and the girls lined up on the
other side to march in. The bell ringer got too enthusiastic on day and
the bell turned over and became loosened and came crashing down to the
ground barely missing the small boy.

At the end of recess all the students rushed into the well house
and one of the first to arrive would send a long tin bailer down into the
water and when it was filled would wind up a windle to pull it back up and
empty it into a bucket that had two dippers from which everyone drank.
Inside the school house were rough homemade desks that seated two pupils.
There was a large wood burning stove about four feet long in the center.
It had a big drum on top and an open center to hold the heat. In could
weather as many students as possible sat around the stove.

The classes ranged from first grade through sixth. The teacher
took the class that was reciting up on a stage in front of the room.
Sometimes one of the older pupils taught the younger ones. It was a
favorite trick of some of the older pupils to toss notes through the hole
in the drum to someone at the other side of the stove. Sometimes one would
stick in the drum and scorch and it would give off a bad smell.

One day while class was in session as usual there was suddenly a
horrible noise, a pounding and rumbling on the roof. There was a stampede
for the door with the teacher leading the way and she jumped out the door
with a big leap. It was soon discovered that bricks were falling off the
old chimney and sliding down the roof.

The school situation wasn't easy for the young women teachers who
usually were just out of normal school. One day the teacher decided that
Florence was creating a disturbance and told her to go stand in the corner.
Florence didn't want to stand in the corner laid her head down on the desk
and started to cry. The teacher picked up her switch that she kept handy
and came down to the desk that I occupied with Florence and threatened her
with the switch. Then she looked around the room and saw Jack half out of
his seat and headed toward her. She decided Florence didn't need to stand
in the corner.

But if the older kids felt protective of us we also felt protective
of them. One day at recess my brother Jack got into a wrestling match with
Bud Hall and Bud soon had him pinned down to the ground and I decided Jack
needed help. So I picked up a baseball bat and walked over and gave Bud a
couple of bumps on the head. He looked up very suprised and all the older
kids watching burst out laughing. I got so embarrassed that I sat down and
cried."

(Page 9)
The Author:
"And, of course, there was also sibling rivalry:"

Lucille's memories typed:
" One day when Dr. Barker had been called out from Center Hill to
see Papa, Nora decided he should pull one of my baby teeth. I protested
long and loudly and Dr. Barker said he would take me for a ride in his new
Ford Roadster if I would let him pull the tooth. This was the first car I
had ever seen and of course I couldn't turn down that offer so I stopped
crying and out came the tooth on his first pull. And then when I ran out to
the car there was little sister Florence all ready to take a ride without
having had her tooth pulled. I thought that was a terrible injustice."

The Author:
"The Sparrow Place had a mill for extracting sorghum juice from
sorghum cane, and a set up for cooking sorghum molasses. Lucille's Papa
spent hours at this task, cooking sorghum not only for his family but also
for neighbors and friends. Unfortunately, they all paid him back in
molasses insterad of cash and the Sullivan family had to eat a lot of
sorghum during the year.

This was usually a hot, tiring job and eventually Papa's health
failed. Hedied June 16, 1916, with all the family present, after making
Nora promise to take care of the three young girls. George was appointed
legal guardian. Nora always kept her promise, even refusing to marry so
she could look after the family."

(Page 10)
The Author:
"Some of Ella's sisters wanted to split up Irene, Lucille and
Florence and give them new homes but Nora would not hear of it.

Grandpa Norman was driving the mail route himself and was killed
in a tragic train accident. There were some legal hassles over what would
have been Ella's share of his estate. All of this upset George, who
decided to move the family out of Arkansas.

Pat Nelson
6240 Stillwell Beckett Road
Oxford, OH 45056
(513) 523-3369
#
THE TELEGRAPH ROMANCE & BUSHWHACKING MYSTERY
by William R.Wynn

My grandmother, Mary Louella Watts, was the station agent & telegrapher at the Russell, Ark. station of the Iron Mountain RR (later the Missouri Pacific) in about 1880. To find a woman that had this kind of job back in 1880 was most unusual. Before becoming a telegrapher, she was the bookeeper for her father's sawmill & lumber operation in Clay Co., Ark. She is one of, if not the most, interesting of all my ancestors. She later became a large landowner & business woman.

While serving as a telegrapher at Russell, she met my grandfather, Charles H. Crabtree, who was the station agent & telegrapher at nearby Bradford, Ark., also in White Co. There they dot-dashed a romance that finally led to his surrender to the Lady "Lou". Upon marriage, "Lou" & Charles moved to Corning, Ark. where Charles became the station agent. Corning was the location of the Watts Saw Mill, a Watts Dry Goods Store & a Watts-owned Hotel.

"Lou" returned to work in her father's operations as a bookkeeper & store manager. Unfortunately, Charles Crabtree died in about 1888 from pneumonia but not before fathering my mother, Effie Crabtree & my uncle, John Wesley Crabtree. John Wesley Crabtree settled in Clarendon, Ark.

Charles H. Crabtree was the grandson of Anderson Crabtree & Elizabeth Denton of Bledsloe & White Co., Tenn. Anderson Crabtree's (my gg grandfather) parentage traces back to William Crabtree of Baltimore Co., Maryland, who came to America in about 1705. Anderson's father was William Crabtree of Orange Co., NC. At least three of Anderson & Elizabeth's children settled in White Co., Ark. These include: Elizabeth J. Crabtree who married T. J. Patton & Sarah E. Crabtree who died in 1861. Elizabeth Denton's (my gg grandmother) parentage traces back to Rev. Richard Denton who came to America in about 1635. The Rev. Richard Denton who came to America in about 1635. The Rev. Richard Denton is acknowleged to have founded the first "presbyterian" congregation in America at Hempstead, NY in about 1644. This ministry joined similar New Jersey and Virginia congregations in about 1707 and organized the "Presbyterian Church". Elizabeth's father was Benjamin Denton and her mother was Peggy Anderson. Benjamen & Peggy had 15 children, all of them born in TN. Of the 15 children, six moved on to Arkansas and settled in Van Buren, Pope, Prairie and White Counties.

Christopher Denton who was my gg-uncle (brother of Elizabeth) had a twin brother, James. While youngsters, Christopher and James were convicted of stealing a $3 horse and both were sent to the Tennessee State Prison. The family denied any wrongdoing. James died in prison of cholera. Christopher, after release, married Elizabeth Ann "Sis" Holmes and moved to Van Buren Co., Ark. in about 1839. Christopher & "Sis" had 7 children, all born in Van Buren Co., and some of which settled in Searcy, White Co., Ark. These include: Mary Denton who married a Benjamin Watts, Rebecca Denton who married Lewis Morrison & Sarah Denton who married a John Harness. 

Elizabeth (Denton) Crabtree (my gg grandma) outlived gg grandpa and eventually settled in Searcy, Ark., living on an $8 /mo pension awarded as Anderson's survivor for his service in the War of 1812.

Christopher was murdered by "bushwackers" in 1864. I can only speculate that he was a Union sympathizer. At least one of his brothers, John, was in the Union Army. The womenfolk buried him by candlelight as they were afraid.


#
112 YEAR OLD MYSTERY & INSANITY
by Bonnie Baker-Palmer

My great grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Cato, did not know much about his family. His father (Amos Cato) died when the kids were real young. His mother (Mary Elizabeth Stracener) went out of her mind after the death of her husband and possibly also right after the death of her son and was put in an insane asylem (as far as I can tell, sometime in her mid to late thirties). The children were left to fend for themselves and had to depend on neighbors and relatives to take care of them. The children were literally scattered like leaves in the wind. He had several brothers and sisters, Sara J. Cato- "Jenny", born 1869 and married to Lum Moore. Ann E. Cato- called "Lizzy" so most likely Ann Elizabeth, born 1872 and married to Andous Cohorn. Thomas was the third child, born in 1873. Margret or Margit? B. Cato, born 1877 & Johnny Cato, born 1879 and died at age 12.

Thomas's sister Margaret disappeared at the tender age of 12. She was last seen at Floyd, Arkansas, riding behind Sam Sappington on a mule. The family story also says that the man who stole her had been staying with them beforehand. Neither she nor the man were ever seen or heard from again and she was presumed to have been killed. I've spotted Sam's name on other research. (White Co. Census-Look who showed up! Sappington, Samuel, 27, - would have been about 36 at her disappearance - farmer,$200.00, from Ga. Farlenia, 25, from Miss.; Elizabeth ,8, Ark.; Francis, 1/12,f.) I have never found her name ever attached to his afterwards. Many years after the fact, I would like to find out what really happened to her. If Sam was staying with their the family at the time of the disappearance of Margaret, that might possibly mean that his own family threw him out for some reason. I am in the process of tracking him down to see if I can find anything to substantiate this story.

Thomas's mother went insane sometime around the disappearance of Margaret or after the death of the youngest son, Johnny, from what I can tell. We don't know if that was a contributing factor or not.

After Mary Elizabeth, Thomas's mom was committed, Thomas was taken in by a neighbor but supposedly because he had a lot of Indian blood he was thought of as a "heathen" and kept locked in an outbuilding after he had finished his daily chores. He stored up a lot of food and in the middle of a snowstorm (when the people he was living with thought it was unecessary to lock him in) he ran away. He went to his uncle's home, supposedly about 100 miles away, and stayed with his uncle after that. Thomas was born October 4, 1873 in Woodruff County, Arkansas & married Martha Jane Quattlebaum, July 21, 1895 in White County, Arkansas. Children in order were: 1. William Fletcher Cato-born July,1896 2. Millie E. Cato-born March,1898 3. Duel Cato (Francis C.)-born July,1987 4. Arlee Cato (Aunt Arlee) 5. Leonard Cato 6. Louvenie Cato 7. Bedford Cato-Buried in Gravel Hill Cemetary 8. Johnny Cato ***9. Annie Roni Cato (my Ma Baker)
He died October 27, 1962 when he was 89 years old & is buried in Quattlebaum Cemetary in White County, Arkansas.
#