Monthly archives: February, 2012

Feb232012February 23, 2012January 9, 20181Commentby itswebteam

Lakeport Plantation Presents Author: Dr. Robert Patrick Bender, March 17, 2012

Posted in News
Saturday, March 17, 2012, 2:00 pm — 3:30 pm
 

Dr. Robert Patrick Bender will be at the Lakeport Plantation to discuss the life and career Lake Village’s Confederate Brigadier General Daniel Harris Reynolds.   Dr. Bender is the editor of  Worthy of The Cause for Which They Fight: The Civil War Diary of Brigadier General Daniel Harris Reynolds, 1861-1865 (University of Arkansas Press, 2011). A book signing will follow Dr. Bender’s talk.


Reynolds, a lawyer at the onset of the Civil War,  raised “The Chicot Rangers,” who fought in both the Trans-Mississippi West and in the East.  Reynolds’ diary covers the entirety of the Civil War from 1861 to 1865 and consistently documents the harsh realities of battle, the shifting fortunes of war, the personal conflicts that sometimes divided the soldiers, and a committed Southerner coming to grips with the realities of defeat. He resided in Lake Village from 1858 until his death in 1902.


Books will available for purchase at $35.00 (cash or check only please).  Call or email to reserve a book — 870 265 6031 or lakeport.ar at gmail.com

All are welcome to this free event.



This event is an official event of the Arkansas Sesquicentennial Commission


Feb222012February 22, 2012November 22, 20164Commentsby itswebteam

A Stroll through downtown Warren, Arkansas

Posted in history, News

After a meeting in Warren (Bradley County), I had the chance to stroll around downtown Warren.  I was impressed with how much of its historic fabric is still intact.

The courthouse is an impressive two-story structure designed in 1903 by Little Rock architect Frank W. Gibb.  The National Register form on AHPP’s website describes the building as :
 an impressive two-story brick structure with towers.  Distinctive features of the building include brick quoins arched windows with keystones, gauged brick voussoirs, denticulated cornices, and the usage of two colors of brick.  A cut-stone water table extends around the entire building.  The most distinctive feature of the building is the clock tower located on the southwest corner.  The main body of the tower is two-and-one-half stories with a four-faced clock located atop.  Centered above the clock is a cupola featuring archways, denticulated cornice and a hexagonal roof. 


Near the courthouse are two Art Deco style buildings, the 1931 Warren Municipal Building and the 1948  Warren YMCA (now the Donald W. Reynolds YMCA after a 2005 remodeling and expansion).

Warren Municipal Building

Warren YMCA / Donald W. Reynolds YMCA

Two other bulding that caught my eye were the First State Bank of Warren (1927) and the Bailey House (ca. 1900).  The Bailey house, built for a local druggist, has a unique cupola and other Victorian features. AHPP’s description of the Bailey house claims it “is one of the most architecturally interesting residential structures in south Arkansas.” The First State Bank of Warren struck me with its proportioned neo-classical architecture and the watchful eagle perched atop the building.  First State Bank does not appear to be on the National Register.

Bailey House

First State Bank of Warren

There are many other historic buildings in downtown Warren.  AHPP’s website lists 13 buildings that are on the National Register, so you can explore more there.  Luckily, in July 2012, AHPP will hold a Walks in History Tour and we’ll be able to learn more.

Walks in History Tour sponsored by Arkansas Historic Preservation Program

July 14, 2012 – Historic Downtown Warren

Historic Downtown Warren. In 1880 Warren, the Bradley County seat, became the western terminus of the Ouachita Division of the Little Rock, Mississippi River & Texas Railroad, providing a reliable means of transportation for the town’s vast timber resources. A multitude of small lumber mills operated in Warren and Bradley County in the 1880s, but the industry was later dominated by large mills like the Southern Lumber Company and the Arkansas Lumber Company. The aforementioned companies partnered in 1899 to build the short-line Warren & Ouachita Valley Railroad from Warren to Banks to aid in the shipping of timber. Warren is also the self-proclaimed “Pink Tomato Capital of the World,” hosting the Pink Tomato Festival each June. The tour group will meet at the Dr. John Wilson Martin House at 200 Ash St. Co-sponsored by the Bradley County Historical Museum.

Feb162012February 16, 2012November 22, 20162Commentsby itswebteam

Courthouse Records: Lycurgus Johnson to Lydia Taylor

Posted in history, News

The marriage of  Lycurgus Johnson, age 24, and Lydia Taylor, age 19, on June 13, 1842 is recorded in county records at the Chicot County Courthouse.  The marriage was officiated by Lycurgus’ uncle, Benjamin Johnson, who was the Federal Judge for the District of Arkansas.

Lydia Taylor was the daughter of Col. Benjamin Taylor.  Col. Taylor was among the Kentucky kinsmen who began buying Arkansas land in the 1830s.  He had four daughters, Ann Taylor Johnson Worthington (widow of Lycurgus’ uncle James Johnson before marrying Isaac Worthington), Mary Jane Taylor Cable, Lydia Taylor Johnson, and Theodosia Taylor Sessions.  Col. Taylor died in 1850 when he and his horse were swept away and drowned during a rainstorm.  He is buried in Lexington Cemetery.

Lycurgus and Lydia had twelve children during their marriage:

1. Joel Johnson, born May 16, 1843, died Dec. 30, 1847
2. Benjamin Taylor Johnson, born March 25, 1845, died Jan. 8, 1848
3. John Henry Johnson, born Oct. 23, 1846, died Dec. 20, 1847

4. Mary J. Johnson, born October 21, 1848
5. Linnie Johnson, born September 12, 1850
6. Theodore Johnson, born May 6, 1852
7. Annie Johnson, born April 25, 1854
8. Cave J. Johnson, born February 13, 1856
9. Walter L. Johnson, born January 8, 1858
10. Julia J. Johnson, born July 12, 1860, died November 1, 1869
11. Victor M. Johnson, born February 17, 1863
12. Cable Johnson, born March 15, 1865, died August 5, 1867


Except for one, all the children, were born in Chicot County, Arkansas at the Florence Plantation or Lakeport Plantation.  Linnie Johnson was born in Lexington, Kentucky in September, where the family spent their summers. The couple’s first three children died within three weeks of each other at the Florence Plantation in Arkansas.  Mostly likely the cause of their early deaths was a cholera, yellow fever or influenza epidemic.  Those three children are buried at the Frankfort Cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky.  The two children who died at Lakeport Plantation after the Civil War, Cable (d. 1867) and Julia (d. 1869) are buried at Lakeport.  Lydia and Lycurgus are both buried in the Frankfort Cemetery near Lycurgus’ father, Joel.  It is unclear where Lycurgus’ mother, Verlinda Claggett Offutt (1795-1868), is buried.  There is no marker for her at Frankfort Cemetery and she’s not listed on Joel’s obelisk marker.