Back When from SW Arkansas

A road runs along the river from Fulton to the ferry and on south into Lafayette County.  Springhill, a settlement as old as or older than Washington, is shown to the north.
The map was not an ownership map but did spot the names of landowners who lived along the roads.  For example, north of Springhill is “Col. Hervey” on the left side of the road.  Hervey was the son-in-law of a wealthy Virginia planter named Edward Fowlkes who had died before the Civil War. 
The Hervey homesite is located on what is now Highway 173, the busy road between Hope and Springhill.  The Hervey Cemetery is now readily visible on a hill top to the east of the highway on the way to Springhill from Hope.  A large two-story home built recently is opposite the cemetery and on the site of the old Hervey home.  The map is an accurate representation of the area in 1865.
Col. C. M, Hervey, by the way, had losses in the Civil War but remained a wealthy man after the end of slavery.  He was one the Redeemers, the old planter class that came back to power after Reconstruction.  He became county judge of Hempstead County in 1874.  He also had holdings south of the Red River and served as county judge of Miller County from 1884-1886.  Hervey St. in Hope, the busiest shopping street in town, is named for him and his family.  He and his wife are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery.
Dooley’s Ferry was strategic enough at the time of the Civil War for the Confederate Army to fortify it and station elements of the Confederate Army there in the event of an approach from that direction by Union forces.  Forts were also built at Fulton to defend the roads from Washington to Fulton and from Fulton to Springhill. 
As it turned out, there was no fighting in the area, and these defenses were never put into use.  They have, however, remained as a reminder of that era a century and a half ago.
 

The Arkansas Archeological Survey assisted by the Arkansas Archeological Society is conducting a dig in the vicinity of Dooley’s Ferry near the Red River south of Springhill in southern Hempstead County.  The dig is under the supervision of Carl Carlson-Drexler, a Ph.D.  candidate in archeology at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, aided by Dr. Jamie Brandon of SAU in Magnolia.  The area has Indian mounds as well as earthworks related to Civil War.  The focus of the dig will be to examine the Civil War component.
Dooley’s Ferry was an important crossing point on the Red River.  Well-to-do planters could live in Springhill and farm the rich alluvial soils along the Red River Valley in Hempstead County and across the river in then Lafayette County, now Miller County.  Life in the river valley was, however, fraught with the danger of malaria and fevers.  Springhill was on well-drained, sandy hills with a good spring and provided a more healthful climate for the planters and their families.
The segment of map shown was drawn by the Topographical Engineers of the Union Army in July 1865, just a few months after the conclusion of the Civil War.  They had worked quickly to map Occupied Arkansas and show the road network, towns, communities and landmarks in the state.   The twists and turns of the Red River are visible with the oxbow lakes that existed at the time.  Just above and to the left of “Bellville,” now a non-existent community, the word “Ferry” is barely discernible. 
 

Mrs. Rosemary Arnold of Little Rock recently donated a large collection to the Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives at Washington. 
Included in the collection are numerous photos, plats, letters, clippings, newspapers and legal documents related to some of the oldest Washington families and covering a period from before the Civil War until well into the 20th century.
The Monroe House still stands in Washington and is part of Historic Washington State Park.  James C. Monroe, a native of South Carolina, was in Washington in the 1830s.  On May 9, 1839, he married Malinda Swindle, a native of Tennessee who was only about fourteen or fifteen years old. 
By 1850, they had two sons—Henry and Albert Dalton---and two daughters.  Both parents were dead by 1860, and their children were living with the John Smith family.  The Monroes included Henry and Albert—then young men, their sisters Mary and Sarah, and two younger brothers James and Charles.  Henry died in the Civil War.  Albert also served, survived and came back to Washington to marry Alice Foster Dugger in 1868.Alice was the oldest daughter of Richmond and Martha Foster Dugger.  Natives of Virginia, the Duggers had come to Washington in the 1850s.  Their home, which is privately owned and has been partially renovated, is still standing on a small hill on the west side of Highway 195 South just opposite the Southwest Archives.  Jonquils blanket the hillside in the early spring at this site of long occupation.
Albert Dalton and Alice Dugger Monroe had nine children with eight surviving to adulthood.  Their oldest son James Stuart Monroe has his photo in the collection.  He married Elizabeth Thompson of Washington on Dec. 9, 1896, and was involved in courthouse work most of his life serving as circuit clerk, deputy clerk and deputy collector over the years.