1.     J. R. Withrow.

2.     Huntsville, Ark.

3.     Retired.

5.     May 26^th, 1861.

6.     Huntsville, Ark.

7.     Yes, Emma Watson, December 31^st, 1895.

9.     No.

10. 76 Years.

11.  Native.

12. Native.

13. The houses and barns were built of logs, sometimes the settlers had a brick chimney made from the brick they burned themselves or hired done, the majority of the chimneys were of stone, only the poorer or “laxy” people built “stick chimneys” they were called “lazy chimneys”.

14.  Fat Lamps and pine knots were used for lighting, “I have seen mother “spin”, by a “brush” light, made by piling dry sticks in the fire place.

15. The first electric lights I remember was in 1914, I saw my first coal oil lamp in 1867, it was considered very wonderful, brass lights came in about 1870.

16. Food was the only fuel known in this part of the country, it was and still is very plentiful so there was no need to look further.

17. Corn bread, hog and hominy, sorghum molasses, milk and butter was the only food we had in those days, many people did not have a cow so they did not have the milk and butter, Game was plentiful, but was depended upon for meat only by the hunters and trappers, the game consisted of, deer and wild turkey occasionally a Black Bear was caught.

18. Homespun clothing was the only kind we had, the socks were knitted, the cloth was woven in a homemade loom then out out into garments and sewed by hand, the settlers raised their own wool and cotton, the cloth was dyed with walnut hulls and sumache.

19. In one or two instances I recall, “Bundleing was practiced in marriages”, a wedding was always followed by a “shivaree”.

20. Food was much cheaper then than now, Potatoes sold for $.15 per bushel, corn $.10 per bushel,  meat  $.02 to $.7 per pound, and hogs sold for $.2 ¼ per pound on foot, as to clothing all of mine was homemade, but I understood that “store bought” suits were very high.

21. I do not understand what you mean by common need, but if you mean draughts and floods, we never had them in this country in the early days, but if a family became needy, the neighbors usually knew about it a long time before the family would admit it, and “myseterioius gifts” of food and clothing would be found by the needy family, and in many cases they never knew the giver.

22. Corn, oats, and wheat, and potatoes were some of the early cultivated crops, horses, cattle, and sheep were the animals raised, I never saw a goat until I was grown, and Love Apples (tomatoes) were before my time, but I remember they were not served on the table but grown in this flower garden, some people would eat one once in a while.

23. Bull Tongue and Twister plows were the types of farm implements used, the plow stock was homemade, the Bull Tongue cost about fifty cents and the twister about seventy five cents, sometimes there was blacksmith that had a mold, and when they were molded they cost less, “corn shuck” collars were used on the plow animals, “gunny sack back bands and chain traces, lines made out of paw-paw bark.

24. There were no early industries to speak of, unless you would call “carding and spinning” hat and shoe making an industry, the first hat I ever owned was a hand made hat, it was made by one Lenningham who lived south of Huntsville about three miles, it was made of Lambs Wool, and I like to never wore it out, people who did this kind of work, charged for it, but it was very cheap.”

25. I remember for a long time after the war we made coffee out of parched wheat or corn, we used sun-flower seed tea for kidney trouble, mullein tea for colds, and we used sweet gum resin for chewing gum.

26. We had, house-raisings, hog rollings, quilting bees, brush arbor meetings, dances and socials of all kinds in the early days the same as they did in other countries, no one ever went to town unless the had business, and when that was attended to the went home, we had no time to loaf in those days as they do to-day.”

27. The early forest fires were “fired against”, and the building fires were fought with buckets of water dashed on the burning building one was very seldom saved.

28.  Don’t know.

29. There was a stage line that operated from Ozark to Eureka Springs, the station was at the Withrow Spring, five miles north of Huntsville, it was operated by Samuel Withrow, they changed their horses at this station, there was another one near Aurora, south of Huntsville seven miles, it was operated by John Sisemore, and was known as the “Cold Bean Station”, for the reason that the beans that were cooked for one meal was warmed over from time to time until the were all gone”.

30-31-32-33-34. The early schools were subscription schools, they paid $1.00 per month, and if they did not have the money, they paid in produce or anything that they had of value, I went to my first free school in 1879, at a place called Hopewell, on the site of the present McConnell's Chapel, my first teacher was Matilda Jacobs, the kind of books we used were Webster's Blue Back Speller, Rays Higher Arithmetic, Greens Grammar, McGuffey's Reader and some time a dictionary”.

35. There was very little reading matter in those days, the first newspaper I remember was the Arkansas Gazette, one of those drifted in on the stage once in a while, outside of some religious books I never saw any other kind.

36. There never was a telegraph station in this community, in the early days our messages were delivered by notes sent by boys, or by word of mouth.

37. No horse cars were ever seen in this community, unless you mean “buggies or surreys”.

38. I saw my first automobile in 1912, at Fayetteville, Ark., in was a great sight for me

39. I also saw my first train at Fayetteville, in the year 1880, I remember there was two or three wagon loads went over to Fayetteville mostly for the purpose of seeing the “cars”, and when the train came in, several of the people ran away like scared rabbits.

40. I saw my first airplane in 1929, there was one came here and hauled passengers for a day or so, I did not go up.

41. The first bus line I remember, begin its operation from Fayetteville to Huntsville, in 1911, it was owned by Albert Ingalls, but did not last long, the roads were too bad.

42. I don’t remember about any shows, as we lived on the farm and would not have been permitted to attend, for we were too busy, I saw one or two school entertainments.

43. I don’t remember any except the fourth of July, we always celebrated that.

44. I don’t remember any one except former Governor, Isaac Murphy.

45  & 46. I don’t remember any duels nor feuds, but I have heard my grandfather speak of some but I don’t remember anything about them.

47. I don’t remember any

48. The robbery of the First National Bank here in 1914, is all I remember, there was not to my knowledge any public executions, or lynchings.

49. I don’t remember much about the civil war days, ony I remember those Northern raiders they called “Jayhawkers”, how they used to come in and take the food out of our moths, and kill our stock and chickens.

50. I don’t remember any battles or skirmishes

51. I remember Judge Huckelberry, he was the last of the Northern Judges in this county.

52. I do not remember much about the Klan, we did not have many “Niggers”, and they were well treated, so we was not bothered that way.

53. No.

54. I was not old enough for the war, but my father was killed at the battle of “Poison Springs” at Saline Ark., he was a Confederate soldier.

55. There is an Indian grave yard in my field, two miles south of Huntsville.

56. That is all of the History I know about.

57. Total number of descendants are 12, they are all dead except my son Selvin Withrow at Hindsville, Ark., he was four children

59  And 60. – No.