From the WPA Federal Writers Project ... Mrs. Anna Wahlquist Cannaday

Early Settlers Personal History

1. Mrs. Anna Wahlquist Cannaday
2. Huntsville, Arkansas
3. Retired
4. Housewife
5. August 27th, 1867
6. Rawleigh, Missouri
7. Yes, W. G. Cannaday, May, 11th, 1890, Huntsville, Ark.
8.
9. Native
10. 64 Years
11. Native
12. Came to Arkansas with my Family
13. The early houses in this community were constructed of logs, once in a while you saw a stone house, the chimneys were of stone, and I don’t think I ever saw a stick chimney in this community, stone is too plentiful.
14. “Candles poured at home was one form of light, some people used the ‘Fat lamps’, these were made of a hollowed out stone so as to form the bowl, then the fat was poured in, and some kind of a wick laid into the fat and allowed to hang over the side.”
15. “The first Electric light I remember in this community was in 1912, two fellows by the name of Hargis and Ledbetter started a little plant here.”
16. “Wood is the only kind of fuel I know of used in this section, the Blacksmith’s got to using coal, but that was hauled in from a mine between Springdale and Fayetteville, Arkansas.
17.” Wild meat was used mostly when I was a girl, as game was plentiful, Turkey, Deer, Quail and Pheasants were very plentiful, once in a while someone would kill a black bear, later on the settlers begin to raise hogs and cattle, and the games begin to play out.”
18.” All our clothing was homespun and homemade, later on the calico prints began to come on, some of the people would trade produce for this cloth and make dresses for themselves out of it, but the majority “ stuck to Homespun”
19. “There was nothing out of the ordinary about the courtships and marriages in those days, only they done their courting in their presence of an older person, and the boy and girl was never supposed to kiss until after they became engaged and the engagement was announced, Bundling as I understood it was where the marriage agreement was made by the parents of the boy and girl, this was never practiced in this community to my knowledge.” “Shivarees” were always in order”
20.” Food prices on produce of the farm, was much cheaper then than now, Corn was 25 cents per bushel, wheat was higher for the reason there was not much of it raised, it run around 50 cents per bushel, there was no market for butter, eggs, vegetables and milk, for the reason that everyone had their own, we never bought any clothing because we made our own so I don’t know about the prices.”
21. “There never was a case in this community, when common need arose, we have been very fortunate, our poorer neighbors were always helped, but in many cases they never knew who were the givers, many of them were Poor but Proud, and would not have accepted an outright gift and they known from whence it came.”
22.”Corn, Wheat, Oats, Potatoes, Cabbage, Yams, Beans, were the early cultivated corps. Horses, Mules, and (Very Few) Hogs, Sheep and later on Goats, were the kind of animals were raised, Tomatoes ceased out to be known as “Love Apples”? about 1866, I remember we had a neighbor who had moved in from the north, and at that time tomatoes grew wild everywhere, there was quite a patch near our house, and this lady would stop on her way home each day and gather a few tomatoes and cook them, and eat them. Of course we all thought they were poison, and as she borrowed our skillet to cook them in, our mother would make us give that skillet a real scrubbing before we used it again.”
23.” Turning Plows, Double shovels. Georgia stocks, (Single Plow) “Cradle” for cutting wheat, mowing blades, were the kind of farm implements we used, and the iron parts were used usually bought and the implements were made by the Blacksmith who furnished the wooden parts.”
24. The only industries that brought us any money was; weaving clothes, knitting sox, and blankets, of course we had carding mills scattered over the country, we owned one and operated it near Huntsville, it was in the family until a few years ago when we sold it to Henry Ford, he had it shipped to Detroit, Mich. The cloth, sox and blankets that were made were sent to Van Buren, Arkansas, by freight wagon, to be sold.”
25.”Poke, Wild Cabbage, Wild Lettuce, Plantain, Lambs Quarter, Ladies Slipper, Square Weed and Lambs Tongue were some of the wild plants we used for food, Sun Flower seed we used for horse medicine, Sassafras for a tea substitute, Mullein for coughs and colds, Horehound for making cough syrup, Sumac for making Purple Dye, Black Walnut Hulls for making black dye, Poke Berries for making a kind of Ink., I don’t remember much about the Civil War, only that times were very hard after the war. We had to dig up old smoke house floors, and boil down the dirt to get salt and live on what the woods produced until we could make a crop.”
26. “Yes we had house raisings followed by house warmings, and a big dinner or supper as the case might be, there was also Quilting bees, Log rollings, Brush Arbor meetings, socials, sorghum making, but hog killing and game hunting was always a private affair we had no game drives, and no Indians that I remember, the early farm and country life was what you would call very crude, as compared with today, we had no modern things at all, and only went to town when we had urgent business.
27. “The way I heard my father say they fought forest fires was, if they could not whip them out with a brush, they were fired against, and allowed to burn out, there were very few house fires, and as the houses were made of logs, they burned very slow, and were usually put out sometimes minus the roof.”
28.” The only creek I know of that was named was Holman’s Creek, near here, it was named for a man of the name who settled on it in the early days.”
29.” The only Hotel I remembered stood where the court house (Old) now stands, it was built by a fellow by the name of Long, The stage station was at George Simpson's Barn in Huntsville for a while then they moved it to Withdrew Springs, five miles North of Huntsville.”
30-31-32-33.” Subscription schools were the first schools we had in the county, they charged $1.00 per month, my first school was in the Methodist Church in Huntsville in 1874, it was taught by Clinton Bollinger and you could not pay in kind.”
34. “We used Webster’s Blue Back Speller, and McGuffey’s First Reader later Geography was added, but I don’t remember the author.”
35.”We did not have any books or magazines to read in our home, once in a while we would get a copy of some newspaper, the Arkansas Gazette is the only one I remember, people on the farm did not have much time for reading in those days.”
36.”We have never had a telegraph station.”
37.” The first automobile I ever saw was in 1910, it was a Sears Auto Buggy, it got stuck on a hill by our house, and had to be pulled up the man driving it was selling needles.”
38.”I saw my first train in 1875, at Rawliegh Missouri.”
40.”I saw my first airplane in 1929, at Huntsville, Arkansas.”
41.”The first bus line in this section was in 1904, it operated from Fayetteville to Huntsville, and it did not last long.”
42.”Stock companies put on the first shows in this county, however we had “Entertainments” put on by local people, and I don’t remember when the first “Magic Lantern Show” came here.”
43.”The only out of the ordinary celebrations I remember are, when Jefferson Davis was elected Governor of Arkansas, they had a big celebration, also when McKinley was elected President, I remember at the McKinley celebration they had what looked to be a large square cake, which was an empty square box fixed to look like a cake, when they would open it had a sign inside which read “This is what the Democrat Party will get.”
44.”I knew Isaac Murphy well, in fact I set up with him the night he died, and he was a very highly respected man.”
45.” There was not to my knowledge, any duels fought in this county.”
46.” I do not remember any feuds.”
47.” There is one tombstone inscription in the graveyard here, that is very peculiar, it bears the date of 1826, after telling all about the man buried there, it goes ahead and tells who his widow married after his death.”
48.”I remember no bank robberies, except in 1912, the First National Bank here was robbed, they captured all the robbers and they recovered most of the money.”
49.”I was too young to remember much about the actual war, but I remember very well, the hardships that we went through after the war, that is when we used all the food substitutes you mentioned.”
50.”I don’t remember any battles, only as related by my folks, and that not very well,”
51.” I remember the Carpet Baggers were not though very well of, they came in and “gobbled” up all the offices, and took the best of everything that was left after the war.”
52.”I don’t remember a thing about the Ku Klux Klan.”
53.”I have never helped establish any religions or fraternal organization, any more than being a member of some.”
54.”All my people were southern, and lined up with the south.”
55.”I do not remember much about the Indians, except hunting parties used to return from the “Territory” in the fall, they did not bother anyone and no one bothered them, I have an “Indian bread tray,” ( Mortar I saw it ) which I used for water and trough for my chickens.”
56.”I know of no historic sites in this county.”
57.”I have seven children and fourteen grandchildren.”
58.”The names and addresses of my children are; Clyde Cannaday, Memphis Tenn.; Floyd Cannaday, Fayetteville, Ark.; Frank Cannaday, Huntsville, Ark.; Orpha Harper, Huntsville, Ark.; Ida Simpson, Hindsville, Ark.; Ethel Potts, Huntsville, Ark.; Lola Cannaday, Huntsville, Arkansas.”
59.” The names and addresses of my grand children are; Anna Marie Cannaday, Memphis Tenn.; Cecil Tom Harper, Huntsville, Ark.; Joseph Harper, Huntsville, Ark.; Mary Lea Harper, Huntsville, Ark.; Lucille Phillips, Huntsville, Ark.; Mary Anna Simpson, Hindsville, Ark.; Margarett Simpson, Hindsville, Ark.; Reba Simpson, Hindsville, Ark.; Robert Potts, Huntsville, Ark.; Roberta Gladys Potts, Huntsville, Ark.; Jack Connelly Potts, Huntsville, Ark.; Barbra Jean Potts, Huntsville, Ark.; David William Potts, Huntsville, Ark.; Robbi Jeannette Cannaday, Fayetteville, Arkansas.”
60. “I have never written anything of note.”

Transcribed by Cole Crippen, Class of 2012