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Early Reminiscences.
In the year 1810 about the first of December, one John Hemphill our
grandfather on our mother's side, left Bayou Sara, La. in perogues (for
Arkansas) with his wife and children (his wife's name was Nancy Lawson
before their marriage) (and) his children were: William Hemphill the oldest,
my mother Emily Hemphill, Andrew Hemphill, Harriet Hemphill, Narcissa
Hemphill, Samuel Hemphill, John L. Hemphill and James Hemphill.
Jacob and John Barkman and the Davises brought his negroes and drove his
stock through by land, and they all landed at the bluff or steamboat landing
on January 1st, 1811 at what is now Arkadelphia. My grandfather settled on
the place now owned by Charles Henderson on Mill Creek, one mile north of
Arkadelphia and as soon as he discovered salt near Daleville, he went to New
Orleans with his perogue and bought a lot of salt kettles. The perogues were
rowed and pulled up and down the river. He made the first salt ever made in
Clark county.
My grandfather was an Irishman with a No. 1 education and it is said that he
killed a pumpkin thinking it was a varment. He died in 1819 and was the
first white man ever buried in the Blakeley graveyard. When my grandfather
came here there was but the following persons living in what is now Clark
county: Adam Stroud and family, Abner Hignight and family, Abram Newton and
family, Hendrix White and family, Isaac Cates and family and (George) Butler
and family. Old man Dick Tate lived at Tate's Bluff at the mouth of the
Little Missouri river.
William Hemphill married a Miss Jacobs. Emily Hemphill married Thomas Fish,
and Harriet Hemphill married David Fish, and Narcissa Hemphill married
Robert S. Tate, father of our Bob, and Andrew Hemphill married Margaret
Welch, about that time.
Thomas Fish my mother's first husband, after serving a term in the
legislature, died. About 1815 the Tweedles came to Clark county, and about
1820 one of them married a Miss White and they separated, and the other
Adam Stroud's daughter, they also separated. The names of the Davises were:
Green Davis, Zachariah Davis, Nathan Davis, Edward Davis, John Davis, and
the girls names were: Rebecca Davis, married Jacob Barkman; Hannah Davis,
married John Barkman; Lavisa Davis, married Dr. John H. Peake, and Elizabeth
Davis, who married John Murphy.
My father's folks came from Missouri in the year 1818 and my grandfather
settled on the place Pettit's Creek known now as the Tom Townsend place, and
built a mill on Caney Creek just above the road running from Arkadelphia to
Rome, or Gurdon and lived there a few years and then moved to the place that
W.A. Trigg lived on for 25 years, known in former days as Raymond, where he,
my grandfather, died in 1837. He had a very large family. His wife, my
grandmother, was Anny Stamps and had twelve children, seven boys and five
girls, as follows: J.O. Callaway, J.S.T. Callaway, P.S. Callaway, Thos. M.
Callaway, Nat C. Callaway, William A. Callaway and James M. Callaway; and
Mary Callaway, Elizabeth Callaway, Nancy Callaway, Anny Callaway, and
Charity C. Callaway. Aunt Charity (is) still living in Arkadelphia at the
home of her son, John Phillips.
Mary Callaway the oldest child, married Willim Arnette, who died at or near
Washington, Hempstead county. Elizabeth Callaway married John Forbes and
lived only about five years after she married; Anny married A.G. Johnston
and lived about seven years and Charity married Phil Johnston. He lived only
about seven years after they married.
My father and mother were married in 1825, and "Big Bill" was their first
child. He was born September 7th 1826. All the parties in the foregoing are
dead except Charity Phillips known as Aunt Charity.
The foregoing was handed down to me by my mother. In my next chapter I will
give some things by tradition and some of my own knowledge.
S.D. Callaway
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The Gurdon Times, Twelfth Year, Early Reminiscenses by S. D. Callaway,
January 13, 1906.
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