Tornado Damage at Old Jeffery Burial Ground

An EF2 Tornado ripped across the White River Bottom at Ruby's Landing near Mount Olive on April 10th destroying one home and devastating the Old Jeffery Burial Ground. Two memorial stones were damaged. Both Jehoiada Jeffery's stone and Nancy (wife of Daniel M. Jeffery) Jeffery's stones were sheered off at the base but should be restorable.
We've been told that a crew from the Arkansas Dept. of Corrections (Calico Unit) will be coming within the next couple of weeks to clean up the damage. After discussing the damage with members of the Jeffery Family, it was decided that the two damaged stones will be removed from the cemetery to keep them from being stolen. They will be returned to the cemetery once they have been restored.

Vintage Photos: Old Ruddells Depot, Ruddells, Arkansas

Photo from Ruby Jett Hightower Collection

The settlement of Ruddells stood about two miles downriver from the present site of Sylamore. The little town grew up around the operation of the Young Lime Company which mined limestone from quarries on the hillsides of the White River Valley and crushed it into various limestone products beginning as early as 1906. The company operated a large cylindrical kiln that "cooked" the limestone into quick-lime, an important product used for a huge variety of construction and manufacturing applications. Sometime after the original owner, Edgar Young, sold the operation to the Case family in 1907, more kilns were built and in 1924 a hydration plant was built to produce hydrated lime, also used in multiple ways in indusrty as well as domestic settings.

Ruddells, Arkansas

The kilns were fired using hardwood as fuel which provided many jobs for the community...especially for blacks who lived in the area...until the hardwood forests were depleted and the quarries played-out prompting the whole operation to be moved to Limedale near Batesville and Cushman where it still produces product today under the name, Arkansas Lime Company. The kilns, which were built below the quarry, were fed with rock mined from the quarries and were delivered to the kilns by way of a cable and drum system which allowed the weight of a loaded cart rolling downhill to pull the empty carts back to the quarry. After the operation moved to Limedale, the company built a narrow gauge railroad to haul rock from its quarry to the site of the kilns. This railroad continued in use until only recently and was one of the last remaining narrow-gauge lines to operate in North America.

Very little remains of old Ruddells. A cemetery, a rock building, and foundations are all that indicate a community once thrived in the area. The depot shown in the photo above was constructed of two refrigerated box-cars put together and was put in place sometime before 1913. There were also other buildings in the little town including a school, churches, and the White River Canning Company which provided employment for area women. Stave Mills, like the large ones operating in Mount Olive and Guion at the time, provided the components to build the 10,000 barrels per month needed to ship the "White Owl" finished lime products from the quarries and kilns.

Old Ruddells, named after Edgar Young's Father-in-Law, a descendant of Abraham Ruddell who migrated to the White River Valley around 1813 building several water-mills, no longer exists...but because of its importance to providing employment for the citizens of Izard and Stone Counties during the time of its existence, it's vital that the community is remembered!

To learn more about Ruddells, see the April 1971 Issue of the Izard County Historian.

Here's an interesting link containing correspondence of Abraham Ruddell who settled near Batesville after his long Indian Captivity with Tecumseh. Note - Clicking on the "Abraham Ruddell" link will open a MS Word Document telling the story of the Ruddell brothers (Abraham and Stephen) who became captives of Tecumseh...and later...his adopted sons!

Video: Jane Mason Jeffery Burial Site Clean-Up

The Old Perrin Place: Search for Jane Mason Jeffery

This past Saturday morning, The EIC Crew, along with Freda Cruse Phillips and Martin Darrell, met Ken Coon at a gravel-pit above the White River Valley near Sylamore before heading down to the Old Perrin Place...previously the Daniel Jeffery Homestead. We've been wanting to visit this area of the county for nearly two years and were thrilled to get the chance to travel along the old CR18 route to the river-bottom.
The first white-settler to homestead the land and develop it as a farm was the brother of Jehoiada Jeffery, Daniel Jeffery. Later, the land was obtained by the family of Franklin Perrin.
Freda, a local historian from Stone County who is passionate about her work wrote the following:

Born in 1840 in Ohio, Franklin Perrin moved to Batesville with his parents prior to the 1850 census. He made friends with the young Jehoiada Jeffery and at age 30, they were both living at Sylamore with Celia Harris, 50, a mulatto, in 1870. In Feb 1888 Miss Celia deeded him the land on which they lived on Green Mountain Road, a portion of which is presently owned by Stan Townsend overlooking Sylamore. Franklin also bought land next to Daniel Jeffery’s farm on the opposite banks of the river. Frank had one older brother David and two younger brothers, Samuel and James and a sister, Sarah all of whom lived their lives in Independence and Izard County. Sarah was a school teacher in 1860 at the age of 18. Franklin Perrin died in 1917 at the age of 77 in Batesville, Arkansas. He was living in the home of his sister in law Eliza Teague Perrin at the time of his death. It is unclear when the Perrin’s sold the farm and moved to Batesville. People who grew up on Polk Mountain and in the valley above Sylamore in the 1930’s refer to the farm as the “old Perrin place” – the last of the original families from the 1800’s who lived there. Ken Coon is the current owner of the “old Perrin place”, the homesteaded land of Daniel Jeffery, son of Dr. Jane Mason Jeffery and “ol” Jim.

Our primary focus for this adventure was to finally visit the final resting place of Jane Mason Jeffery. Jane Mason Jeffery was the matriarch of the Jeffery clan and was well-known throughout the White River Valley as a doctor and midwife. Her story is possibly the most colorful and inspirational one amidst White River history. She is buried on the old Daniel Jeffery/Franklin Perrin Place having lived with her son after her husband and Jeffery Family patriarch, James (Old Jim), kicked her out of his home for practicing medicine along the river against his wishes. Jane is a revered ancestor of the Jeffery Family and therre are some wonderful family historians doing ongoing research into her life and those of her descendants who are in chief ways responsible for the developement of Izard County government and commerce.

We also learned about an alleged account that during Desoto's exploration of the White River, two of his expedition died and were buried on the bottom near the site of the Jane Mason grave. It has been reported by eyewitnesses that until relatively recently, two iron cross markers indicated the graves of these two early Spanish explorers. The crosses cannot now be located and were either stolen or washed away in the '82 flood.

We've put a video together of our adventure to the site and it is posted below.




Video at Bottom - Enjoy!
















Freda would like to invite readers who may have information on the Perrin and Jeffery families and who are willing to share it to contact her via e-mail at:(fredacruse@yahoo.com)
Or by phone at (870) 213 5015

Video: Magical History Tour - Parts 1,2,&3

Following are parts 1, 2, and 3 of the video covering our recent "Magical History Tour"!

View YouTube versions of all three by clicking here.

Enjoy!

Part 2 Below...Link to Part 3 at Bottom!






Click here for YouTube version!




Click here for Part 3!

Webshots Album Slideshow: "The "Magical History Tour"!

Following is the Webshots Album we put together from photos by various participants in the "Magical History Tour" Road Trip!
If you'd prefer to see it in a larger version, click here.

Enjoy!

Note-If you have photos you'd like to include, attach them to an e-mail and we will add them.



The "Magical History Tour" Road Trip

Video Coming Soon!

The "Magical History Tour" Road-Trip

Following are just a few shots taken by the "Magical History Tour" staff during Saturday's road-trip. Though we didn't get an absolute head-count, there were between 50 and 60 people who attended the event and 24 vehicles snaked through the backroads of old Mount Olive! We had a good crowd out early for the short walking tour back to the double-chimney which once stood in the town's hotel and to another foundation we think might have been one of the schools or academies. The tour began with Terry Smith, new owner of the old Mount Olive Schoolhouse, who informed everyone of the excellent plans he has for the historic building before participants departed for the rest of the road-trip. Mrs. Carol (Jeffery) Cooper thrilled us all with a history of her family and a tour of the Augustus Curren Jeffery home before the tour continued to the Old Jeffery Cemetery and the Jehoiada Jeffey homeplace. From there, everyone returned to the Schoolhouse for excellent musical entertainment from Bo & Mary of the duo, Jubal, while eating desserts bought during the pie-auction.
Because of your generous participation, Exploring Izard County will be presenting a check to the Melbourne Museum in the amount of $500!
Thank you all so very much!

NOTE - We will be working on our Webshots Album as well as a video over the next few days and will post them both to the site when they are completed. You'll not want to miss them as we will be including many photos from participants and quite a lot of video!

Video: "Magical History Tour" Teaser!

Elijah Jeffery House

Though we've visited this site before, we were unaware until recently that it was originally the Elijah Jeffery Home. We've not been to this old place, which was later operated as a boarding house, since the ice-storm earlier this year. It was heartbreaking to find the old building in a devastating state having had much that was standing only a year ago collapsed.

The photo of Pilot Knob was taken as we returned to the Melbourne area from Mount Olive via Jumbo Road.

Old Mount Olive Cemetery (Flat Rocks)

The Flat Rocks Cemetery, also known as the Old Mount Olive Cemetery, lies just above the boat-ramp at the old riverboat landing near Pelham Creek in Mount Olive. The man responsible for encouraging the county-seat move to Mill Creek (now Melbourne) as well as the name-change late in the 19th century, William Carroll Dixon is buried here. Mr. Dixon served as the Izard County Clerk from 1858 until being elected to the State legislature after the Civil-War. He also taught school for many years. W.C.'s infant nephew, son of his brother, Benjamin F. Dixon with whom he was very close, also lies in the location within a family plot marked by large limestone slabs. Benjamin Dixon and his wife, Sarah (Harris) however, are not resting here...Benjamin is buried at the old Bingham Cemetery in Melbourne while Sarah is at the Optimus Cemetery across the river. Benjamin was a professional music teacher and stone mason who served with the Confederacy during the War Between the States.
The Jeffery Family is also represented in this place with graves of children of Elijah Jeffery as well as he and his second wife, Massey Caroline (Robertson) , and his third wife, Nancy Jane (Clark).
Also resting here are Elihu Bone and his wife, Charlotte (Jeffery - daughter of Jehoiada and Mary (Weir) Jeffery)as well as another son-in-law of Jehoiada and Mary, Andrew Cresswell Harris. Mr. Harris' wife (and Jehoiada's daughter), Lucretia, is buried at Optimus.

NOTE: We have recently found that what we've known as the old boarding-house at Mount Olive was originally the home of Elijah Jeffery.

The Augustus Curren Jeffery Home

Augustus Curren Jeffery, better known as A.C. Jeffery, was one of the earliest historians of the county having penned a series of historical essays for theMelbourne Clipper during the 1870s. His work is some of the very few historical writings that survived the ravages of time and was compiled into a book entitled, Historical and Biographical Sketches of the Early Settlement of the Valley of White River, Together with a History of Izard County.
The home was built sometime prior to the War of Northern Aggression and is of log construction covered by weatherboarding. The original rock chimneys which each sported fireplaces both downstairs and up were replaced at some point with red-brick structures manufactured by slaves. The house, itself. was built by slaves and several outbuildings still stand. There was also a Summer kitchen and slave quarters on the property of which some portions of the foundations can be seen.
The home is furnished with family heirlooms handed down over the many generations of Jefferys. Along the walls are photos and documents from the family's long history in the Mount Olive area including land documents signed by at least four 19th century U.S. Presidents (including Abraham Lincoln-photo shown) as well as a retail liquor permit from the 1870s.
This property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the most significant historical sites in the county.
We all owe a debt to A. C. and others like him who took the time to write down the early history of the county and the EIC Crew owes a debt to the kind landowners who allowed us to experience being in the very place much of the county's earliest history was recorded.

Note: The photos of documents are in their original format and can be clicked-on to read.

Video Below!