Early Settlers Personal History

1. Mr. John James Boatright

2. 912 William Penn (St., Van Buren)

3. Retired railroader and farmer

4.  "          "               "     "

5. Sept. 6^th, 1866

6. Arkansas County, near Hickory Plains

7. Anne Frances, 1888 Sept., Alma, Ark.

8. No

9. 74 years - all his life

10. Native of Arkansas

11. Born in Arkansas

12. Split wood, and mud lined with clay, Log house, one room

13. Tallow dips, Lamp oil

14. None

15. Wood

16. Deer, turkey, hog, plentiful game

17. Homemade jeans and suits

18. Yes, they had lots of shivarees

19-20. None

21. Corn and cotton, ox, mules, horses

22. Learned to plow with a homemade single shovel plow, next a double shovel

23. Farming

24. Sunflower, sumac berries, Polk salad, sassafras roots, sweets gum, paw-paw

25. None

26. Bucket and wet sacks, rake around it so it wouldn’t spread.

27-29. None

30-31. Shibley. Teachers, Ed Scott, Joe Summers, Mrs. Monrow. In a log schoolhouse used. Logs took out of the wall. Slates, Logs split with wooden peg for seats. One desk in house. Black Oak name of school. Five miles east of Van Buren. It has been torn down.

32. None

33. Blue Back Speller, McGuffey Reader

34-36. None

37. 30 years (ago), Dean Springs

38. First train seen in Van Buren over sixty years ago

39-46. None

47. Saw a Negro hang over at Fairview Cemetery. He killed a man, Mr. Joe Hawks sheriff

48-56. None

57. Oldest child Effie, Willie, Mollie, Eugene

58. 12 Grandchildern-6 Great grandchildren

59. None

Transcribed By Whitney Robison, GHS Class of 2009