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ENGLISH 103b A HISTORY OF CLINTON, ARKANSAS By CARROLL B. EVANS May 10, 1940 HISTORY OF CLINTON, ARKANSAS Clinton is the county seat of Van Buren County, which was formed from portions of Conway, Independence and Izard counties, by an act of the territorial legislature, November 11, 1833. The county was named for Martin Van Buren who was then Vice President and later became President. Clinton is picturesquely located on the south fork of Little Red River, just above the Archey prong and in the central portion of the county. One George Counts is said to have been the founder of the town. The town was incorporated in 1878, but a few years later no election was held and the incorporation was discontinued. In the spring of 1938, however, the matter of incorporation was again revived, and a committee was advised by the attorney general that the original incorporation still held good and that all that was needed was to elect new officials and enact such ordinances as were desired. Before a permanent selection for a county seat was made the seat of government was located at the home of Obadiah Marsh in the vicinity of what is now known as Bloomington settlement. Bloomington was selected as a permanent county seat and remained so until 1834, when it was moved to Clinton. The first courthouse was a one room log structure, built by the old custom of a log raising. The men would meet and work on the building and the women would accompany them and spread dinner.
The removal of the county seat to Clinton was
followed by R. S. Hill, a successful farmer of the Bloomington settlement,
and who became engaged in the mercantile business as one of Clinton's
first business men. Dave owned four fine horses and a carriage with which he made frequent trips to Little Rock for the purpose of conveying court officials to and from sessions of court at Clinton. Dave's wife, Cinda, conducted a boarding house exclusively for white guests, and it was famed for its cleanliness, good beds, and wholesome food. The log courthouse was supplanted by a frame structure standing about 100 feet directly south of where the present courthouse is located. This building was erected in 1886, and cost thirty thousand dollars or approximately six thousand dollars more than the present modern structure. At the time the building was erected, a "carpetbagger" from Indiana was county judge, and his son-in-law was Sheriff and collector. These two owned a sawmill north of town and sawed the lumber used in construction of the building. The original building was only about two-thirds the size of the building erected in 1934. An addition was made in 1880 under the administration of James Fraser. The south porch was erected later and a rock vault was added to the East Side of the building by Judge Gordon Smith in 1907. About 1882 an attempt was made to burn the courthouse. Kerosene was poured on the floor and ignited. Kem Hutches, who resided nearby had drank rather freely of whisky the evening before and naturally arose about midnight for a drink of water to quench his thirst. Kern saw the flame and lost no time in extinguishing it. The county's present courthouse is a modern two-story structure of native stone. It was completed in 1935 at a cost of approximately twenty-four thousand dollars, thirty percent of which was a grant by the federal government. Labor used in the erection was supplied by the Public Works Administration. The building is modernly equipped and fireproof. It is centrally located in
the business section of town and surrounded by beautiful shrubbery. All
constitutional offices are located on the first floor and on the second
floor is the courtroom or auditorium and offices of the county health
department. En route home from Little Rock Mr. Greenhaw stopped to spend the night in Clinton. The next morning he gave a demonstration on a nearby hill and not only children, but many adults were present to see the performance of the wonderful machine. The story is told that about sixteen miles north of Clinton was a church where a well known minister was preaching and had just been predicting the coming of the gas wagon within the next decade when Mr. Greenhaw's car was heard. Church was suddenly and very informally dismissed that everyone might see the wonderful vehicle and some in their hurry and excitement were seen making their exit by way of the open windows instead of the door. Soon after the visit of Mr. Greenhaw's car, a man from Conway County began coming to Clinton every Sunday and carrying passengers on a five mile joy ride for twenty-five cents each. Tom Davis, now a citizen of Little Rock, was the first citizen of our county to own a car which was a 1913 model-T. Due to the absence of a railroad, the automobile and improved roads have brought about a greater change in the welfare of Clinton and Van Buren County than any other factor. The first cotton gin in the county was erected a short distance south of town about 1840. The gin was started on a Christmas morning arid about a hundred people from miles around were present to see it in operation. The gin was capable of picking the seed from about 400 pounds of cotton per day. The power was supplied by two oxen, one at each end of a long beam. The cottonseed which were considered useless were piled out on the ground where the stock couldn't get them because they were thought harmful. Only enough to plant the next crop was ever hauled off. The machine was a great success and changed many families to producing one to two bales per year, whereas before the coming of the gin they had produced much less. About the time of the coming of the cotton gin, a Mr. Dempsey made a plow with an iron mole board to replace the old wooden plow then in use. A still greater advance was made in the early 70's when a mill was put up which ground both corn and wheat. A sawmill was also attached and the entire affair was powered by steam. In that day threshing was done by oxen or horses trampling out the grain on a barn floor. The cradle also replaced the sickle about the time of the appearance of the mill. Stobaugh and Hensley continued to operate this mill until the beginning of the twentieth century. According to the records of the Post Office Department, a post office was established at Clinton December 20,1833, with Russel Bates as post master. Mail was first carried from Little Rock on horse back, but later the route was changed and most of it came from Batesville. Just how the name of our town was selected we do not know, but it is said to have been in honor of DeWitt Clinton, a former governor of New York. Clinton's first high school was established in 1879. It was called the Clinton Academy and was supported partly by tuition and partly by the state. The school was erected near the site of our present grade school and more rooms were added as additional space was needed. J. L. Petty was the first principal and was succeeded by T. L. Cox. The name was later changed to Clinton High School, and in 1929 the Clinton State Vocational Training School was established. T. J. Cowen served as superintendent for two years and was preceded by Sidney B. Walker who now occupies the position. Many girls and boys from adjoining counties attended school at Clinton because of reduced living expenses.
Some years as many as one hundred boarding
students have been enrolled. Clinton has witnessed few calamities in its history, but on the night of January 29, 1926, the greater part of the business district was destroyed by fire. One block of stores on the East Side of the square was almost completely destroyed. This included the post office and the town's only drug store. The first church building in Clinton was a two story frame building just north of the present Methodist Church. An exact date of the erection of this building is not known. The upper story was used as a Masonic hall and between the burning of the courthouse in 1859 and the erection of a new one in 1869, it was used for county and circuit court. About 1875 it was converted into a one story structure and used exclusively for church purposes. In 1879 a Methodist Episcopal Church conference was held in the building and arrangements were made for a church school to. be established at Quitman, Arkansas. This school was known as Quitman College and was later moved to Conway, and is now known as Hendrix College. The old church served until 1915 when a new one was erected. There is no record of a newspaper being published in Clinton prior to 1878, but in 1878 H. F. Fielding established a paper known as the Clinton Banner. This paper later passed into the hands of Judge James H. Fraser who continued its publication for several years. A number of files now in the possession of Judge Garner Fraser show that the Banner was a neat and well published paper. About 1890 S. A. Myover established the Van Buren Journal and continued his publication until 1908 when he moved his plant to Shirley, a small town about 12 miles away where he continued publication of the Journal until his death a few years later. After the disappearance of the Journal from Clinton a republican newspaper flourished for a short time. In 1909 J. B. Fraser, a son of the editor of the Banner started the Van Buren Democrat. He was joined in 1910 by C. B. Oldham. Mr. Oldham later became sole owner and editor until 1933, when due to lack of patronage because of the depression he was forced to suspend publication. A short time later, however, its publication was taken over by C. B. Hurley, editor and publisher of the Morrilton Democrat, with Miss Clara Duncan as local editor and business manager, until 1938 when the paper was sold to J. V. Ormond, present editor and owner. In conclusion, I should like to describe more fully the Clinton State Vocational Training School which I have previously mentioned. This school is one of the two of its kind in the state which were provided for in 1927. The other school is located at Huntsville in Madison County. The institution consists of an administration building, a nice gymnasium, a Smith Hughes building, a home economics building, a superintendent's home, and a seventy-five acre farm equipped with all necessary buildings. The administration and Smith Hughes buildings are of red brick veneer and the gymnasium, home economics building and the superintendent's home are of native stone. All the buildings are attractive in appearance and conveniently located. I feel that this fine school is one of the things that Clinton should be exceptionally proud of. Page 6 of 6 |
The Van
Buren County Historical Society Museum Main Street Clinton history, facts and information started in 1998
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