7-8. Widower, Married December 28, 1890, Charleston, Verna McBee, wife
died in 1925
9. Native of Arkansas
10. From October 5, 1870, to November 20, 1940
11. Native of Arkansas
12. " " "
13. Logs and some few framed houses made of pine lumber; most of
chimneys were made of stone
14. Oil lamps
15. 20 to 25 years ago in Charleston
16. Wood principally, some coal
17. Not in my boyhood. Depended on hogs, cattle and sheep for meat.
Game not plentiful in my boyhood. Did have plenty of squirrels,
quails, and prairie chickens.
18. Factory clothing same as now, except most of women and
children's clothing were made at home from cloth purchased at stores.
19. No customs that I can think of, except that the fellow with a
buggy had a big advantage. Most of had to go a foot. Charivaries
(shivarees)
were rather common.
20. Flour by the barrel at times brought as low as $3.00 each
barrel. It is worth about $5.00 now. Men’s suits could be bought for
as low as $10.00, calico brought 5 cents per yard, and other cotton
goods in proportion
21. A great deal of barter was engaged in, and in case of sickness or
other misfortunes those who had food divided it with those less
fortunate.
22. Corn, Cotton, Oats, Potatoes, All garden vegetables and native
grass for hay
23. Bull tong plow, turning plow, V harrows, and for more than 40
years we have used cultivators
24. Cotton gins, Grist mills, mostly operated by steam. When I was a
boy there was one gin in the community that was operated by a tread
mill on which oxen were used to turn the wheel
25. As I was born after Civil War, cannot say, we sometimes used
Sassafras roots for tea, and poke salad or greens
26. No incidents of importance
27. Only with Bucket Brigades; was on prairie; sometimes plowed
furrows and set back fires when we had a large fire.
28. Potato Hill Southwest of Charleston said to have so named because
of it resemblance to a potato hill.
29. Only hotels in smaller towns. The Haynes homestead South of
Charleston kept travelers very often, and most farmers would take in
a traveler at night, but most of the time would accept no pay.
30. About the same as now except a small church school at
Charleston, founded by the Rev. E. L. Compere an early Baptist
minister. After he left, the school was run by Rev. Kregel, another
Baptist preacher. Private schools were run on a tuition basis. I
attended the public schools.
31. Same as above, the Compere school after Civil War
32. E. L. Compere, Rev. Kregel, J. M. Pettigrew, M. C. O’Donohue, Miss
Ann Humphreys.
33. Tuition was usually $1.00 per month paid in money. Public
schools are financed now by taxation. The rate when I can first
remember was 5 mills.
34. Webster's Blue Back speller, McGuffey's readers, Rays
Arithmetic,
Appleton and Barnes Histories
35. Weekly newspapers (Weekly Arkansas Gazette) Ft. Smith Elevator,
Bible, Shakespeare and other old time classics
36. At Charleston in 1898.
37. None here
38. I saw and rode in an automobile in St. Louis while attending the
World's Fair in 1904.
39.Saw trains when a very small boy at Ozark, Arkansas.
40. Do not remember
41. Do not remember date.
42. Had none here that traveled
43. Held an Ex-Confederate Re-union East of Charleston for more than
40 years. Pat Cleburne Camp had at one time 125 members. Finally, the
last of the Confederate soldiers died and re-union discontinued,
Celebrated Armistice Day Nov. 11, 1918
44. No
45. Know of none
46. Know of none
47. No real old ones known to me
48. Know of none in an early day
49. Born since Civil War
50. Same as above
51. Only know from others
52. Not old enough
53. I helped organize the Knights of Pithias in 1904
54. None at all
55. Know of none
56. Know of none
57. Nine
58. Gordon Bryan, Heavener, Okla.
W. J. Bryan, Little Rock
Floyd T. Bryan, Foreman, Arkansas
Dora Bryan, Charleston, Ark.
59. Sharon Bryan, Heavener, Okla.; Neva Ballard, Cheyenne, Okla.;
Jean Bryan, Little Rock, Ark.; Floyd Bryan, Jr. and Marylin Bryan,
Foreman, Arkansas
60. My biography is in the Centennial History of Arkansas, by Dallas
Herndon
Transcribed by Alisha Carey, GHS Class of 2007
