From the WPA Federal Writers Project - answers to Questionnaire - Arkansas HRS Form J
Interview done by: no name given

 

Early Settlers Personal History
 
1.   1.  Alex Harris
2.  Elkins, Arkansas,
3.  Retired
4.  Farmer
5.  Born- June 8, 1858
6.  One and one half mile south of Wesley
7.  Miss Fannie Lucas, Wesley, Arkansas June 27, 1887
8.  No answer
9.  None
10.  Has lived here 84 years
11.  None
12.  Has lived in Arkansas
13.  A log house – about 14 feet by 14 feet. The fire place made of sticks and clay with huge punched blocks eight by ten inches wide for the floor. And they all lived in this one room. And they had old style double-deck beds.
14.  They used a candle made and made their own lights, and sometime they used a candle rack for light. The candle rack was made from a rounded flat rack, with a hole in the middle. They put a string and poured tallow in the hole in the rack. And that would burn all night.
15.  Electric light was first used in our community in 1939.
16.  Wood was used for fuel
17.  Corn, bread, hog meat and cabbage in head in which it would bury in the ground and they would have it the year around and sorghum molasses, dried fruit, and seldom did they have sugar, once a month they would get a about a cup full of brown sugar and for coffee they made it from the heat and rye. They would cut sweet potatoes and put in a hot oven to brown. Cut up in small pieces of sweet potatoes and make coffee out of them. And when they could get the seed, they would raise Irish potatoes. They had one cow which gave enough milk and butter for the family. A qrits bread board was made out of a round piece of tin or wood, about six penny nails and was drove through the board, closed together from one side and then it was turned over and nailed to another board about 18 inches long and they would bring in their corn which is a little harder than roastin' ear and they would rub an ear of corn ever the nail on the grits board and by that they would make their corn grits. There was deer, fish, turkey, squirrels, possums and coons plentiful
18.Their clothes was home made. They spun and made their own cloth
19.The girls wore long dresses. The boys a four thready jean?? was home made. There was no bundling in Arkansas.
20. They made their own clothes and do not remember the pricing of food. Their shoes was handmade and cheaper than the shoes now.
21. In the community they would share food and clothes with one another. If they killed a beef or hog it was a custom to divide among the neighbors for fresh meat.
22. They raised corn and wheat for their early cultivative crops. They used a yoke of oxen and one old blinded horse. And in about 1878 the tomatoes was ceased to be known as "love apples." And put in a vegetable garden.
23. The farm implements were homemade. For plow - they used a wooden mold board.
24. The earliest industries in the community were sawmills and tie making.
25. Wild plums, sumac berries, polk salad,  paw-paws, wild grapes, sweet gum, sassafras roots, sun flower seed, mullein and wheat bran was used for bread and corn grits and hominy and honey was used.
26.The Laller Creek harbour was held by Joe Robbers, the minister of the Church of Christ. We also held dances in the community. When I was about 8 years of age, an old maid said, “Alex I am going to break you in tonight, to dance’’.  When the first dance was over, I said, "Jasling, I kind of liked that let us do that again." They would hunt deer with dogs and stand on stands. Chicken fighting was a great sport. They would have hog killing and the neighbors would all come in and help then they would fry sausage. After the work was all done they would have sorghum taffy pulling at the parties. And the games they played would be “Pleased and Displeased," “Slap out," "Old Dan Tucker,"The Little Brass Wagon." The comparing of town and farm life today. The town life he didn’t know about, but the farm he likes the old days the best.
27.The earliest forest fires they would rake all the leaves in front of the fire and by doing that it would put it out. And building fires was put out by buckets of water.
28.Richland Creek and White River, Round Mountain to the north, Fritz Mountain, Mark Mountain, Harold Mountain, and two Indian mounds.
29.There was boarding houses and no hotels; they traveled by ox wagon and they walked mostly.
30.They went to school three months out of a year to the fifth grade.
31.About 1˝ miles south of Wesley in 1878.
32.Thomas Chasteen
33. Donations. Teacher would stay at one place then another.
34. Blue Back spelling book by McGuffie, Readers 1st and 2nd by McGuffie.
35. Toleda Blade and Legar in 1875. No magazines.
36. In Fayetteville, in 18 hundreds sometime
37. None
38. In Fayetteville in 1913
39. In Price City, Missouri 1874.
40. Muskogee 1920
41. None
42. None
43. None
44. Has seen the James' boys. They were at McGuire town, getting their horse’s shod. They were headed south, Sheriff Saddler of Franklin, county heard that they were headed south. The sheriff and his deputies went out to meet them on Mulberry River, and two of the deputies rode blazed faced horses and when the James boys came along they hollered halt and hands up. As soon as the James boys sighted them, they started shooting. The two blazed faced horses were shot in the head and they fell dead. The sheriff and his deputies ran and got away. The James boys did not take after or try to harm them.
45. None
46. None
47. None
48. None
49. In 1864 I have seen soldiers an have heard them fighting. But did not not see but one man killed in a 3 day battle.
50. None
51. In 1864 they killed their chickens and drove off their cattle and horses, burned rail fences and destroyed their property.
52. None
53. None
54. None
55. None
56. None
57. None
58. Mrs R. E. Shackford, 2620 Elgin Ave., Muskogee, Oklahoma
     W. C. Harris, 1231 Florence Place, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
59. One granddaughter, Betty Bell Harris 1231 Florence Place, Tulsa, Oklahoma. One grandson, W. J. Skackford 2620 Elgin Ave., Muskogee, Oklahoma
60. None
 
Transcribed by Alex Rowland, Class of 2012