Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutZ-7164-1 Application 4-pirp mn AT.R ground. Joining from the south a mile west of the Walnut Grove Road is Burlingame Road which connects with the Upper Hot Springs Road. EARLY SETTLERS Caucasian settlement of the Ferndale region had begun in the 1830's; however, records are scant. Thomas Reese Sevier acquired the eventual site of the town of Ferndale in 18380 but there is no further record of him being there. Probably the oldest continuous habitation is.: -that of the Crowson family. In 1840 we find Isaac and Frances Crowson, and sons John and William, farming in Maumelle Township. In 1850 John C. and Eliza Crowson, from Tennessee, and their children Eliza Ann, Thomas J., and John W. were living there. By 1860 Elizabeth Crowson was living with her mother, Hanna Richards, and two more children, Anna and Isaac. There were two other Crowson family units e Jonathan and his wife, Polly, who had three Rowland children in addition to younger Crow- sonsi and Isaac and Mary Crowson and their children John Thomas, Willie and David. Contemporary Crowsons are Tom and Dub, sons of Winfield Crowson, still living on the old family farm north of Fletcher Creek. One of the most famous residents of the area was Thomas Fletcher, eldest son of Henry Louis Fletcher who had come from Kentucky, via Northeast Arkansas, settling along the Saline River north of Benton. After his marriage in 1840 Thomas and his wife, Lucenda, acquired a rather large landholding south of Fletcher Creek, from Little Maumelle Creek eastward to the vicinity of the present Walnut Grove Road, which they farmed with a considerable number of slaves. In 1860 their children were listed ast Lewis, James, Beckum, John, Nancy, Catch, Stephen, Mary and Martha. Thomas was also active in politics, being elected sheriff in 1858. He served until 1862 when he was elected to the state legislature. He again served as sheriff from 1866 to 1868. In 1869 he moved his family to Ninth and Cumberland Streets in Little Rock where he was associated with the law firm of Farr and Fletcher. He made two campaigns for governor, and in 1885 was appoint- ed by President Cleveland to the post of United States Mar- shall for the Eastern District of Arkansas, in which capacity he served until his death in 1900 at age 83. Mrs. D. D. Terry remembers the gala celebration in 1890 of the golden anniversary of her Uncle Tom and Aunt Lucenda at the Terry Mansion. It was for Thomas Fletcher that Flet&her's Hallow, Fletcher Creek and Fletcher Spring were named. [or further Information on Fletcher see a related article elsewhere in this issue During the late 1840's Joseph Hiram and Robert Jordan FULASKI COUNTY HISTORICAL REVIEW Rowland came to the community from near Atlanta, Georgia along with their wives and familles.5 In 1883 another bro- ther, John Rowland, a farmer and Methodist minister, moved his family from Congo to the area. From these sprang the rather large Rowland clan. Another large Ferndale family, the Grimmetts, stem from Robert Grimmett who came with his wife Malinda from Bucksnort, Alabama in%1857 to the valley along Little Maumelle Creek west of McFadden Creek.7 In 1860 their children were listed as: Mary A., Ruthie- M. William S. Simpson., Smith, Bitha J., Pleasant J., and James. Robert joined the Confederate Army and -died in service of complications of measles.9 From his sons William I. and Pleasant have come the current Grimmett clan. In the -eastern end of the community were the Blands, Whites and Oglesbys. Moses Bland, his wife Rebecca, and their children: Sarah, Rosalie, Mary, Angeline, Thomas and James were in Ferndale in 1860. Previously a Jesse Bland lived in Pulaski County in 1840 and William S. Bland, a miller, lived in the same township in 1850. The Whites are descended from John White, born in 1800 in North Carolina, who came with his wife Mary Davis, to the Lower Hot Springs Road in 1853. A son, Josiah, bought land In 1869 from Thomas Fletcher along what is now Burlingame Road. Introducing the Oglesbys was M. M. Oglesby who was living in the community in 1860 with his wife, Hannah, and their childrent William, Leir, Robert, Marguerite and Thomas. In 1880 there was James H. Oglesby and his wife, Mary J., a daughter, Hannah, and step- children, Martha, Adam and Isaac Crowson. This was the family of Hunter Oglesby who still lives there.10 Dr. George Sutton is the first resident of the site of Ferndale of whom record can be found. He came there with his wife, Amanda Simpson, about 18?5 and, after her death, moved to the vicinity of Big Maumelle and remarried. He was murdered on a visit back to his native North Carolina in 1893• The Ferndale property was owned briefly by a Dr. White and then acquired in 1890 by Milton Osborn, son of Dr. George Sutton, better known as "Mit." He farmed, operated a sawmill and combination grist -mill cotton gin and drove a service wagon trough the surrounding country until he sold out to Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Douglas in 1905.11 On the Ferndale Cutoff Road W. W. Protho was living in 1870 with his wife Emma and four childrenz Henry, George, Alice and Lizzle.12 George became owner of the estate and is credited with the donation of the land for Prothro Camp- ground.13 Farther west lived the families of Robert Simpson and -4- TPwP?, nAT,R Robert Henry Breshears from Mississippi, John P. Koon from South Carolina, W. A. McHughes, John Jacob Greenberry and Washington Kanady, all of who seem to have come to Ferndale shortly after the Civil War.l� Blacks were also in evidence in the community. Early census records indicate Negro families living adjacent to Caucasian families with the designation "B" suggesting slaves or emancipated blacks. A few black families were living in the area iri the early 1900's, best known of which were Ben and Sally Clayburn, Mrs. Clayburn survived her husband and is shown on Charley White's gin records to have continued to make a cotton crop through 1926. She was famous the for smaaking wedding cakes for local weddings.1Until there were two other black families living along the Denny Road. THE TOWN OF FERNDALE The name Ferndale came into use fairly recently. Earl- iest settlement centered around White Oak in the eastern part of the community and Spring Valley to the west. In 1840 the census taker worked out of North Point, several miles north and west on Highway 10. In 1878 Doe Branch Post Office was established near Spring Valley with Robert B. Simpson first postmaster. The Doe Branch Post Office was discontinued in 1914. A post office was established on Burlingame Road on June 25, 1890. The office was known as Banty Post Office and Daily Joiner was the: first postmaster. On October 7,1893 the Banty Post Office was renamed "Frank Post Office." It was discontinued on January 31, 1915. Ferndale Post Office was first established on August 27, 1914 with Walter B. ic lier as the first postmaster.l The name "Ferndale" was inspired by the huge masses of ferns growing around a spring in the vicinity. A plat of the proposed town, showing two streets, a Church and Community Center, was filed June 10, 1926 by Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Douglas.17 ['the names of the postmasters of each of the various postoffices are listed in Appendix El Several schools flourished in the area. White Oak Sch- ool, at the juncture of Fletcher's and Little Maumelle Cree1z, on the old Lower Road, functioned from just after the Civil War until it was replaced in 1919 by Fletcher's Spring School, two miles south on the main Twelfth Street Pike. Four miles west was Spring Valley School, which came into being at about the time of the Civil War and met in the building occupied by the Methodist Church. On the Garrison Road the building which had been used by the Harmony Church was moved closer to the road and converted into a school. All of the local sch- ools were closed in 1926 when the districts consolidated and the students went to Joe T. Robinson School.18 ;WM PULASKI COUNTY HISTORICAL REVIEW 'L- M-ounAT V CHURCHES Religion has always held a high place in the lives of these people and the churches constituted an important focus of their activities. The first Church, of which record can be found, was Pleasant Grove Baptist Church. It was organ- ized May 22, 1852 with Rev. S. Douthit, pastor; SJW. Nowlin, . clerk; and George Jack, Thomas S. Huchingson, A. Huching- son, Ira and Holland Smith, Mary Nowlin (wife of S. We)$ E. N. and Sarah Chennault and G. U. and Elizabeth Chennault, charter members. (Old residents report it was for this Chen- nault family that the mountain now called "Shinall" was named.) In August of 1852 a committee composed of E. N. Chennault, Green Rowland and Thomas Fletcher were selected to supervise building a church. Their financial report read: lumber and nails - $35.00, labor - $45.00; boards - $4. 8 The Pleasant Grove Baptist Church was located north of High- way 10 and about a mile west near the North Point Community. Church minutes, replete with disciplinary actions, foot wash- ings and protracted meetings, exist through 1867 and then there is a gap. When they resume in 1889 the church has been moved to Prothro Campground, a location with advantages of proximity to more families such as the Prothros, Suttons and Palmars; a spring on the premises and Little Maumelle Creek for baptisms. Unfortunately the later advantage Jturn- ed out to present decided disadvantages - floods. 1913 an emergency business meeting was called to discuss re- building the church which had been destroyed by high water and on April 5, 1915 the new building was dedicated, still at Prothro Campground. From 1917 the church record is again Interrupted until a meeting for reorganization was held on June 19, 1924 at the Fletcher Springs Schoolhouse. The following year Mrs. Estelle Douglas donated an acre of land in the town of Ferndale and the church voted to tear down the building at Prothro Campground and move it there. The next critical event was a fire in 1938 in which the building and contents burned to the ground; however, it was rebuilt and continues to grow to this day.19 There were two Methodist congregations in the region, the oldest being Spring Valley. Miss ❑ttie Simpson tells of her father, Thomas Robert Simpson, born in 1846, attending church there as a child, suggesting its origin about 1860. The church building was a multipurpose structure housing war- ship on Sundays, the Spring Valley Grade School on weekdays and a second story was occupied by the Mary Williams Lodge. A new sanctuary was erected in the early 1900's, after the lodge moved, and served the congregation until it faltered in the early 1930's and its remaining physical assets were moved to Roland. The church was served by circuit riding ministers along with its neighbor congregation, Walnut Grove. Until 1912 they were on the Maumelle Circuit along with -r- PULASKI COUNTY HISTORICAL REVIEW churches at Noland, Natural Steps and Martindale (on Highway 10). After 1912 they were on the Oak Hill Circuit together with churches at Oak Hill, Pleasant Hill Wesley Chapel and Paron, where the parsonage was located.26 EA list of Fern- dale ministers may be found in Appendix IX_�-j Sometime after the Civil War a Methodist Society was meeting at the Old White Oak School and on March-8, 1885 had its first conference as White Oak Methodist Church with Rev. W. W. Mills, pastor and Paralee Bland White, secretary. On October 27, 1888 land was conveyed by Moses and Rebecca E. Bland to trusteesi Josiah White, James Motes and Thomas Bland for the construction of a church, the name of which was changed to Walnut Grove Methodist Church. The building re- mains on the bank of Fletcher's Creek on Walnut Grove Road but the congregation declined and in 1951 merged with the Pride Valley-Church.21 Of all the ministers who have served in the Ferndale community none is better known than Rev. Jack (John F.) Taylor. Born in 1867 in Chivena, Texas he first appears in the rec- ords of the Methodist churches of the area in 1897 and continues off and on until his death in 1945. He was a plain man, never wasting money on fancy clothes, with a firm grip on the "ole time religion," witnessing in churches, homes, jails and long the roadside. Living on one -tenth of his earnings, he applied the rest to worthy causes. In his life- time he scraped together a foundation sufficient to support a foreign missionary to this day. During his early years Brother Taylor rode the circuit on a grey horse he affecticn - ately called "Charles Wesley," but later he was crippled in a fall from a church he was helping to build and he made his rounds thereafter hobbling with two canes. He thought noth- ing of coming by bus from his home at Malvern to Little Rock and starting out to walk to Ferndale. Fortunately he was known and loved by all and could always count on a ride.22 From the standpoint of the number of lives touched, cheered, uplifted or strengthened this was one of the greatest Church- men in the history of the state of Arkansas. A particularly bright spot in Ferndale history was Pro- thro Campground. It was located along the east and south banks of Little Maumelle Creek where it bends sharply from a northo'to east direction before crossing the Ferndale Cutoff road about a mile south of Highway 10 on land donated by George Prothro. Here in late summer families of all denom- inations from miles around gathered, worshiped and visited together during the "protracted meetings." The area was fair- ly level and contained many large shade trees and a spring of refreshing water flowed from the south bank into the creek. The date of its first use is unknown but it became a regular Irem ,wr,nunnr.F meeting place when the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church moved there around 1880 and became pretty much of a community center when the Mary Williams Lodge was relocated there in 1905. However, the most joyous activity remained the summer camp meetings.23 Buggies and wagons arrived with entire families, bedding and food. Even cookstoves were dismantled at home and set up at the e mpground for the one to three wee entay. Mornings brought the smell of coffee boiling P fires and frying home cured ham wafting through the grove. During the -days there was visiting in the shade of the trees or around the fires as more elaborate foods were prepared such as field peas and cornbread from meal freshly ground at nearby gristmills. Hymn singing and preaching day and night were held in a brush arbor, lighted after dusk by kerosene lanterns. For shelter there were a few slab wood cottages but many remained in the open except during heavy rains when they refugeed into the church and lodge hall, erected suff- icient bedsheet partitions for Christian dignity, and con- tinued in the joy of brotherly fellowship. Hopefully there were conversions and these were baptised in a wide place in the creek just below the present bridge. Unfortunately the winter and spring floods had driven the churchaIn lodgthelate y by 1928 and the campground fell into disuse. 1930's the grove was still clear but no buildings remained. Since then it has been taken over by dense underbrush. Dear to the hearts of the members of the churches of the community of Ferndale are the cemeteries. The Pleasant Grove Baptists continued to use the cemetery at their original location north of Highway 10 where there are graves of, among others, members of the Goodson, Prothro, Nowlin and Fletcher families. The cemetery was turned over to the care of North Point Baptist Church on July 4, 1948. Adjacent to the former Spring Valley Church the cemetery remains, beautifully kept by the trustees, a final resting place for members of such families as the Grimmetts, Koons, McHughes and others. The Walnut Grove Cemetery, on the hill east of the church, is said to have antedated the church. Slaves of the Fletcher family were reported to have been buried there much earlier than the establishment of the church. Among others, members of the Rowland, Crowson, White and Oglesby families are buried here. The Palmar Cemetery, beside the Garrison Road on land donated by Bill Palmar, is now nearly overgrown with brush. The few legible stones indicate members of the Simpson and Sutton families are interred there. The last burial in that cemetery was for Edward Sternberg on June 28, 1921. LODGE Masonic activities are also quite important to the Fern- dale people. Mary Williams Lodge was instituted at Spring am L;UU IV'i'1r n10 1_U11j. U1il, rnr V .L r.n Valley on May 30, 1872. The charter members were John C. Henderson, J. D. Hensley, Robert B. Simpson, Joseph P. Sutton, J. F. Goodson, J. H. Chastain and Thomas Y. Craig. The East- ern Star was organized in 1905. On November 22, 1905 the lodge was moved to Prothro Campground where they were harr- assed frequently by high water until in 1927 the lower hall was inundated by the flood. On April 28, 1928 the lodge was moved to the intersection of the Denny Road and Ferndale Cut- off on land+donated by Stella Prothro, where they remained until they moved to the present structure, on land donated by Ova J. Grimmett, which was in use, though not completed, on October 19 1953.25 CA: list of worshipful masters of Mary Williams Lodge is contained in Appendix II12. DOCTORS Medical -care was of the country doctor variety at Fern- dale. The first physician of record was Dr. George Sutton, who divided his time between farming and calling on patients. After he moved to Big Maumelle in 1885, a Dr. White owned the Ferndal farm until 1893 but nothing more has been learn- ed of him.2� Dr. Gilbert from Congo made calls in the area. He was known for his use of blue mooss pills.27 From 1900 until his death in-1920 Dr. Wayland Roberts of Paron treated many of the Ferndale people.28 With the coming of the rail- road Dr. Chaney practiced in the community and Dr. W. A. Lamb, who was associated with Neimeyer Mill, made trips out from Little Rock.29 Though unofficial, another health aid was Fletcher's Spring - said to have healing powers. Several people board- ed at the Wooten house while taking the cure. For example, a Mr. Ringo from Little Rock cured a resistant leg ulcer with daily applications of the sediment from the spring.30 On another occasion Ben Clayburn was reported to be lying in the branch that ran from the spring. The women of the neighbor- hood checked and found that he had become ill and ho ed that by immersing himself in the water he might get well.31 MINES Though Ferndale was primarily a farming community there have been several interesting industries. The most colorful were the mining ventures. Around 1850 Thomas Fletcher had several prospect pits and sizeable mines dug in the hills along Fletcher's Creek and south of Little Maumelle Creek.32 Just west of the intersection of Twelfth Street and Walnut Grove Road a horizontal shaft was cut into the south face of a cliff and then a vertical shaft was sunk from the top of the hill to meet it. A small open pit mine was located about a mile east of Ferndale on the south side of Little Maumelle -10- T,1vDATnAT_V Greek. Some interesting ore specimens remain in the poss- ession of Mr. Fletcher's great granddaughter, Mrs. Booker Worthen, but there is no record of his recovering Bsigig nificant amounts of any mineral. On January 31, 1907 the ear Mining Company was incorporated to mine capper in the hill southeast of Ferndale with H. W. Ferling president= W. J. Hodges, secretaryt Henry Yeager, L. E. Hanaon, W. L. Vick and Herman Conred, remaining officers. At the height of their operation eight miners were working in two shifts in a shaft 300 feet deep. About one carload of malachite ore was even- tually shipped from that pit and from another location near Lake Alneta. On August 3, 1910 the corporation reported st- ock valued at $16,500; machinery estimated at $1,592; labor costed at $110908, lumber for shaft and buildings valued at $500.00 and ten acres of land worth $19000. There is no further activity reported after 1911.33 Rumor has it that most of the machinery was pushed into the shaft. Gold has been reported in the area. In 1933 Joe Fair- child operated a small gold mine and sluice -trough several miles west on the north side of Twelfth Street Pike but no significant gold was found. Paul-Eberts in 1963 panned a trace of gold from Hog Branch two miles west of Ferndale. The only current mining operation in the area is a small cry- stal mine near Lake Alneta, worked by Walter McGrew. Practically everyone who knows anything about Ferndale has heard of the Lost Lead Mine in the hills to the west. Faith McLaughlin is said to have discovered lead while gigg- ing (spear fishing) in Turkey Creek. He would not tell the location of his mine but always kept a supply of lead in a hollow tree for all his friends to use.34 Others say the Indians first discovered the mine and one is supposed to have come back and taken Tom Simpson to it, after blindfolding him. Another story is that the mine was used during the Civil War and covered over with an elm tree which blew over in a storm, some years later, revealing the mine.35 A different story is that a traveler noticed lead when his horse shoe scraped a soft roak and revealed the metalic 9 Int.36 Finally, there is the story of the hunter who was resting and he idly tossed his knife at the ground and then discovered lead.37 The common element of all of these stories is that the locat- ion was secret and has been lost. MILLS Of considerable importance to the citizens of Ferndale were the mills. In the 1860's a water powered mill was oper- ated on Maumelle Creek neaE the ford at the White Oak Comm- unity by "Lonzo" Crowson.3 John Rowland bought the land along with the mill in 1883 from a Mr. Hill and Mrs. Rowland -11- rnrT.ecxT r1n7TNTY HTSTORICAL REVIEW operated it until 1886 when a flood washed out the dam and building.39 In the 1870's Josiah White built a gristmill and gin on Fletcher Creek near Burlingame Road. At first he used horse power and then around 1900 he moved nearer the road and converted to steam power. This mill was operated by his son, Charles White, until 1926. Mit Sutton operated a steam sawmill and combination gristmill and gin at Ferndale until the tragic accident in 1898 in which engineer Cherry let the boiler run dry and then injected cold water. In the explosion that followed Cherry was critically scalded, Robert Sutton was badly injured, a mule hitched nearby was killed and fragments of machinery were showered over a large area.40 A steam driven gri twill was operated on the Clay place on the Garrison Road. l A water mill was operated south of Twelfth Street Pike near the Saline County line.42 LUMBERING With vast stands of virgin timber in the region there were several sawmills near Ferndale. Mit Sutton's sawmill on McFadden Creek was operated by Jim Lindsey, who had another sawmill south of the present Ferncliff Camp, after the Sutton left the community In 1905- In 1898 sawmills operated by H. D. Collins and M. Dent were reported.43 In 1910 a tornado swept west of Ferndale uprooting a great many trees. Those trees were sawed up by Charley Vandergriff and the lumber used by J. S. Wooten to build the striking Wooten villa which has recently been restored by Dr. and Mrs. Allen Rozzell. By far the largest lumber operation was the A. J. Neimeyer Com- pany which moved from Saginaw, near Malvern, to Pulaski Cou- nty in 1907. The mill was located on Nineteenth Street Pike in Little Rock and connected with the timberland via the Lit- tle Rock Maumelle and Western Railroad. The first work camp, Maumelle Junction, was located where Ferndale is now, near a "Y" in the railroad, from which one line ran due west and the other ran northwest along the Garrison Road, giving rise to the name "Tram�oad." At this point the trains could be turned around. The logging camp was composed of dozens of 1Ox20 foot shelters, which could be lifted onto flatcars for moving, plus tents and temporary shacks spread along the railroad and south along McFaddep Creek. At the edge lived a group of black rd11 workers. 5 A commissary was located in the area and it was operated by Fred and Horace Wooten.46 Logs were cut deep in the woods and hauled by Shay locomotives to the main line on which they were moved to the mill by a large rod engine, Number 100, and later Number 101. Mr. Hunter Ogles- by tells of living with his bride in tents at the site of timber cutt, ng. On. one occasion a heavy snowfall collaps&d the tent and on another a hard rain ran water through it. 7 ,mvnuner_F In 1916 as the timber was cut out in the Ferndale area, the camp was moved west to Cold Springs in Saline County where it remained until the mill and railroad were discontinued in 1922.48 CAMPS AND RETREATS The beauty of the hills and streams of the region led to the location of several weekend camps and retreats in the Ferndale area. Fred Heiskell was impressed by the similar- ity of the area to his home in Tennessee and in 1925 he en- gaged an English architect, Jack Peter, who had spent consid- erable time in Peru to build Whisperw'ood near the junction of Little Ma.umelle and Fletcher's Creeks. The peruvian in- fluence is evidenced In the architecture. Mr. Heiskell had just returned from Whisperwood when he died in 1931.49 Also in the 1920's Dr. and Mrs. A. C. Shipp and several other families built Ferncliff Springs a short distance up McFadd- en Creek from Ferndale.50 Drs. W. A. Lamb and Oscar Gray built Okatoma a half mile below Twelfth Street Pike on Flet- cher Creek.51 A group of Arkansas Power and Light employees built a camp on Little Maumelle Creek just west of the inter- section of the Denny Road and Ferndale Cutoff. Camp Joseph Pfeifer was opened in 1929. The name was chosen in honor of the. father of Preston Pfeifer who contributed heavily to the fund.52 In 1937 Ferncliff Corporation was formed and as a result a religious camp, Ferncliff Camp, was established. The first resident manager was Hugh Patterson, Sr. In 1961 the camp was deeded to the Presbyterian Synod of Arkansas. Over, the years people of Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Nazarene denominations have also used Ferneliff.53 Coincident with the coming of doctors to weekend homes in the community came the need for telephone service. In 1926 Dr. W. A. Lamb together with Bob Bandy and Winfield Crowson organized a private telephone line servingresidents morning sidets and connecting with the Little Rock system. 54 On of December 21, 1926 the new telephone service rang out the news of the worst tragedy in the history of the Ferndale area: Winfield Crowson had been driving his three daughters in the wagon to meet the school bus when they were caught in Flet- cher Creek. A dam broke above them sending a wall of water down on the wagon. All three girls were drowned.55 In this era of a mobile society one can appreciate the constancy in this community of Ferndale. Time has seen plenty of change but many of the same families remain. They are a part of those beautiful hills, a solid part of the community of Ferndale and an integral part of Pulaski County history. -tj- rntT AQVT (`nTTNTY T4TBTORICAL REVIEW APPENDIX I LIST OF POSTMASTERS, POST OFFICES AND DATES OF APPOINTMENTi Doe Branch, Pulaski County, Arkansas - established December 30, 1878, discontinued 1914s Postmasters Robert.,B. Simpson William A.• McHughes Robert B. Grimmett Mary H. Richards Mrs. Frankie McHughes Dates of Appointment December 30, 1878 March 26, 1883 November 29, 1898 December 29, 1902 January 29, 1913 Banty, Pulaski County, Arkansas - established June 25, 1890, discontinued 1893, Daily Joiner Johnson D. Joiner June 25, 1890 August 2, 1890 Banty reestablished as Frank, Pulaski County, Arkansas, Oct- ober 7, 1893, discontinued January 31, 1915, John M. Clark William M. Tatum Robert E. Sutton Thomas J. Johnson Laura M. Johnson James M. Johnson Lizzie Kanady October 7, 1893 February 24, 1896 September 14, 1896 September 16, 1898 March 26, 1904 February 22, 1910 October 19, 1912 Ferndale, Pulaski County, Arkansas - established August 27, 1914, Walter B. Eaker Fred W. McDonald Mirtle S. Page John J. Junkin Leallian C. Herrington George A. Douglas James W. Carter Gertrude Oakerman Lillian G. Mizelle Corsi B. Jones Mary Grooms Ball Jack Powell Dorothy S. Grimmett William 0. Grimmett Dorothy S. Grimmett Bertha G. Hoolman August 27, 1914 October 199 1916 June 15, 1921 March 16, 1923 October 11, 1924 April 5, 1926 February 12, 1934 March 1, 1938 December 2, 1939 March 13, 1941 March 1, 1942 March 31, 1945 June 3o, 1945 May 5. 1949 December 31, 1952 July 15, 1953 -14-