From the WPA Federal Writers Project ... Jonas Gilbert Berry, Huntsville, Arkansas

Early Settlers Personal History

1. Jonas Gilbert Berry
2. Huntsville, Arkansas.
3. Sheriff and Collector.
4. Farmer and Trader.
5. January 22nd, 1867.
6. Grapevine Prairie, Tarrant County, Texas.
7. Yes, Lydia Hudson, Alabama Settlement, August 22nd, 1889.
9. No.
10. 72 Years
11. I am a Native, having moved here when I was 3 months old.
12. Came with my folks
13. The early houses in this section were built of logs, with stone chimneys, and in some instances stick chimneys were built, the floors were of split logs, known as “puncheon” floors, the roof was of clapboards, not nailed on but weighted down with rocks or logs or both, there were no window panes, sometimes some of the settlers would take a deer hide, and oil it until it was nearly clear (transparent) and stretch them over the openings, but in most cases, they were just open, with shutters made of clapboards, and pegged together with wooden pegs., the doors were made of split logs, with a homemade latch and a deer hide latch string.”
14. We used grease lamps, tallow candles, pine knots or anything that was handy for lighting, coal oil lights were not used until I was nearly grown.
15. It was about 1915, that electric lights first appeared in this community.
16. Wood is the only fuel that has ever been used in this community to my knowledge, and it is still the chief fuel.
17.The diet of the early settlers, was very simple, it consisted of corn bread, game, fish, pork sometimes, home cured bacon, beans, potatoes, turnips, cabbage and other vegetables, we did not have much wheat bread, biscuit once in a while.
18. All the clothing was homespun and homemade. I owned my first pair of “store bought” shoes when I was 16 years old, and they were what we called “Brogans”.
19.The courtships and marriages in this community, were about the same as in other places, “bundling” was not practiced, but “Shivarees” always followed wedding, in some cases, where the groom was a bit stubborn about treating, he was ridden on a rail until he “paid off”.
20. Food prices were much cheaper then than now, Corn sold for 25 cents per bushel, Wheat 50 cents per bushel, Oats 25 cents per bushel, Pork 2½ cents per pound on food, and 8 or 9 cents per pound cured, Beef about 2 cents per pound on foot, and the only beef we got was when one of the neighbors killed a beef and sold it out in the neighborhood, as to clothing, I did not own a suit of clothes (except homemade) until I was 16 years old, I worked it out carrying the mail from Huntsville to Harrison Ark., my salary was $8.00 per month, the suit cost $4.50, of course then we only wore coat and pant suits.
21. We did not to my knowledge have a condition where the sharing of food was necessary, only some few individual cases.
22. We raised corn, wheat, potatoes, oats, vegetables, and sorghum cane.
23. All the early farming implements were homemade, the local blacksmith, forged the plow shares or blades, and fashioned the beams and handles from the wood from the nearby forest, the consisted of single or “Georgia stocks”, Single and twisting shovels, some people was rich enough to own a regular turning plow, but in lots on instances the ground was broke or turned with the “Twister”.
24.The only industry I remember was a homemade carding machine, it was located near what is now Smyrna School House, was owned by a man by the name of Cannaday, it was powered by a “Treadmill” operated by a blind horse, people from all over the country brought their wool to this mill to be carded, then we had homemade wooden sorghum mills, these were used to crush the juice out of the sorghum cane, they were horse powered, and were moved from one community to another, sometimes, but more often the settlers hauled their cane to the mills where the sorghum was made for them on the halves.
25. Yes we used Mullein for coughs and colds, Sassafras roots for a tea substitute, also Spicewood, Sweet Gum Resin for chewing gum, sun-flower seed for horse medicine, paw-paws were eaten for food, sumac berries were used for dye, Poke Salet for food and medicine, I have helped my mother dig up the old smoke house floor, and run the dirt through the “ash hopper” for the purpose of extracting the salt form the dirt, we also put ashes in the ash hopper poured water on them until they started to drip, this made our lye for soap making.
26. They had play parties, house raisings and warmings, Quilting bees, corn husking, brush arbor meetings, games, socials, sorgum making, rail splittings in the early days, I remember that many a time I have split rails all day, and then dance all night, the split rails all day the next day, of course the dances were given by the man we split rails for, he also furnished the meals, sometimes we would barbecue a beef or hog, there was always plenty to eat. I remember nothing about the Indians, except that they sometimes come back in the fall of the year to get honey.
27. The early methods of fighting forest forest was to either whip them out with brush brooms, or fire against them, the houses being log burned slow, the most of them were saved by pouring water on them out of buckets carried from the nearest spring.
28. I don't remember how any of these hills, rivers, or other places get their names.
29. The only Stage Station I remember, was the one at our house, we kept the horses and the men on the charge off, that was the Harrison to Fayetteville line that went through Huntsville.
30.-31-32-33-34. I went to my first school in the “Alabama Settlement”, in 1874, at first it was a subscription school, and we paid $1.00 per month, if our folks did not have the money, they paid in produce or anything of value, later we had three months free school, in a log church house with a brush arbor "lean-to" My first teachers name was C. T. Mitchell, and we used, Webster's Blue Back Speller, McGuffey's Reader, Rays Arithmetic and our writing was “copy” set by the teacher.
35. We did not have any books or magazines as we have to-day, once in a while a newspaper, The St. Louis Republic and the St. Louis Globe Democrat, is all the early papers I remember.
36. We have never had a telegraph station in this community.
37. None.
38. I saw my first Automobile at Huntsville, Ark., in 1906
39. I saw my first train in Ozark, Ark., in 1877.
40. I saw my first airplane in Huntsville, Ark., in 1929.
41. The first bus line I remember was from Huntsville to Fayetteville in 1906.
42. The early shows were mostly stock companies, of course we had entertainments at the schools, later on the “Magic Lantern” shows begin to come through the country.
43. The only important early local celebration that I recall was, When Grover Cleveland was elected President.
44. I remember Isaac Murphy well, but don't remember any one else of any importance.
45. I don't remember any duels
46. I don't remember any feuds only what I heard about through my Mother. (Some member of his family was engaged in the Whorton Creek Gang-Berry Feud, but he does not want to talk about it, I sent the account in on an other interview.) - Author.
47. I don't remember any early tombstone inscriptions.
48. Horse thieving was very common, in the early days, my uncle and his brother-in-law had some horses stolen, they followed the thieves to Boone county, and there caught up with them, a battle followed, and two of the thieved were killed. In 1912 the First National Bank of Huntsville was robbed, I was not sheriff at the time, but was appointed as special deputy to help capture the robbers, I caught them at Fairland, Okla., and returned them here for trial, they were Jimmie Monroe, Thomas Moore, Charles Myers and Neal Maulchay, Then in 1916 the Bank of Hindsville, Ark., was robbed by Orval Evans, I caught him.
49. I don't remember much about the Civil War.
50. I don't remember any.
51. I don't remember much about the reconstruction days, except that times were very hard.
52. I remember nothing about the old Ku Klux Klan.
53. I am a Mason and an Odd Fellow, but I never helped establish any organization.
54. I had no military affiliations, but my people were all for the south.
55. There is an Indian burying Ground on my farm 10 miles east of Huntsville, some few years ago, the University of Arkansas sent some men over there and dug up several skeletons which were said to be Indians.
56. I don’t know of any other historical sites.
57. I have 8 Children, and 16 Grandchildren.
58. My Children are, Mary Roberts, Huntsville, Ark.; Thomas Berry, Fresno, Calif.; Albert Berry, Hindsville, Ark.; Lee Berry, Stuttgart, Ark.; Clyde Berry, Stuttgart, Ark.; Elbridge Berry, Logan Kans.; Velma Deavers, Beggs, Okla.; Joan Berry, Los Angles, Calif.