In the County: August 6, 1953

From The Eagle Democrat

Mr. and Mrs. John McMurry celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage at their home south of Banks last month. They were married fifty years ago this month in the home of Mrs. McMurry's father, who lived in North Oak Grove community north of Warren. They resided at North Oak Grove for some time, but moved to Banks in 1918. They've lived there since that time. Mr. and Mrs. McMurry have four children: L.E. McMurry of Warren, M.T. McMurry of Little Rock, Mrs. Glen Allison of Little Rock and Mrs. Russell Lilly of Banks, and six grandchildren.

Mr. and Mrs. Russell Lilly live with her parents in their nice home in Banks. Mr. and Mrs. Lilly lived in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1939 through 1941 and moved on to Mobile, Alabama, for a short time prior to Mr. Lilly's entrance into the armed forces. Mr. Lilly works for the Warren Butane Company here in Warren. The Lilly's have one child, a little girl named Sandra.

Mr. and Mrs. Louis Armstrong have their home about a quarter of a mile south of the McMurry-Lilly place on the Banks-Hermitage highway. Mr. Armstrong works for an El Dorado Construction Firm and commutes to the job each day from his home. Because of Mr. Armstrong's work, the family moves around quite a bit. They've lived here only a short time, but both are originally from Bradley County. Mrs. Armstrong is the former Louise Vail, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bob Vail. The Armstrongs have one son, Marcus Fay.

Mrs. Arthur McDiarmid, who is crippled with arthritis, was seated on her cool front porch at the time of our visit. Mrs. McDiarmid, who is a widow, has lived on this place for fifty years. She was born and reared in this neighborhood, the daughter of A.A. Smith, who came to Arkansas from Mississippi. Mr. Smith married in Calhoun County and came to their neighborhood to live. Mrs. McDiarmid's parents loved children. This is quite evident when one learns that they had eighteen children, raised one grandchild, then adopted five children and brought them up. Mrs. McDiarmid and her late husband had three children: Smith McDiarmid, who lives only a short distance south of his mother's home, Mrs. Victor Tucker of Houston, Texas and Troy McDiarmid, who is unmarried, lives at home with his mother, and works for Warren Butane Company in Warren.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith McDiarmid have an attractive home just south of his mother's place. Mrs. McDiarmid is the former Beadie Wagnon of Banks. Mr. and Mrs. McDiarmid have three children: Mrs. James Priddy, a graduate nurse who is married to a Camden physician, Joy McDiarmid, who is working at the Bradley County Memorial Hospital prior to entering nurses training at Warner-Brown Hospital in El Dorado, and one six year old son, Danny McDiarmid, home with his parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Dillard Ederington live north of Mrs. McDiarmid's place on the Banks-Hermitage highway. Mrs. Ederington is the postmistress at Banks and Mr Ederington farms and does a small bit of construction work. Mr. and Mrs. Ederington have two children: Miss Virginia Ederington, longtime Washington staff member of Representative Oren Harris, who spent the past two years with the American Embassy in Rome, and who is now on the staff of Senator J.W. Fulbright in Washington, and Mrs. Walter N. Roark, Jr., wife of Captain Walter N. Roark, Jr., with the Air Force in North Carolina. Mr. Ederington's sister, Miss Hattie Ederington, was taking care of Captain and Mrs. Roark's handsome little son, Walter N. (Nick) Roark, III, at the time of our visit.

Submitted by Jann Woodard

In the County: August 13, 1953

From The Eagle Democrat

All of the people visited this week live south of Banks and in the Lanark Community.

W.P. Hines, who lives a short distance from Banks, successfully combines public service with farming. A star route mail carrier, he is also a prominent farmer, and was one of the delegates from this county to the meeting of the Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation in Fayetteville last week. Mr. Hines' mail route covers territory between Banks and Moro Bay and then around by Gravel Ridge. Mrs. Hines made the route for her husband while he was in Fayetteville. He's been with the post office department for six years. Mr. and Mrs. Hines both were born and raised five miles below their present home and came here following their marriage. It was the only move either of them has ever made. They've lived on this place for thirty years. They call their neighborhood Banks, since the school district boundary is very close to their home. South of this line is called the Lanark Community. Mr. and Mrs. Hines have no children.

Howard W. Jones has lived on his place in the Lanark community since the end of World War II in 1945. A veteran of that war, he was stationed with the Army at Fort Lewis, Washington. A farmer, Mr. Jones had in cotton, corn and tomatoes this year. He finds however, that good rains have come too late for some of his crops. They got a small shower in this neighborhood two days before our visit, but they still need rain, he said. Born in the Pleasant Valley Community, Mr. Jones lived there until he moved to this place. Mr. Jones has four children: Mardell, Kenneth, Christine and Charles Jones.

W.H. Belin has lived in the Lanark neighborhood all of his life. Prior to losing his health, Mr. Belin owned a large farm north of his present place. When he became crippled, however, he sold this farm and bought the place where he is now living. His father, W.H. Belin, Sr., was one of the first subscribers to the newly-organized Eagle Democrat in the early 1900's. He was a subscriber all his life. Mr. and Mrs. Belin have three children: J.O. Belin of El Dorado, J.W. Belin of Warren, and Mrs. P.H. Jankowski, who lives across the road from her parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Sam Ormand have a beautiful country home on a hill in the Lanark Community. Mrs. Ormand is the Lanark correspondent for the Eagle Democrat and has been sending in Lanark news to this newspaper since 1934. The Ormand place was homesteaded in 1849 by one William Childs and it passed into the hands of the Ormands in 1940. They purchased it from the Merchants and Planters Bank of Warren just after they moved here in 1939. Mr. Ormand has been working for the Farnsworth and Chambers Construction Company in Camden this spring and summer and Mrs. Ormand, with the aid of a 16 year old boy, made a crop on the place. Cotton, Mrs. Ormand says, has come out very well due to the recent rains. Mr. and Mrs. Ormand have five daughters, Mrs. Carl Johnson of Jersey, Mrs. Dan Clanton of Houston, Texas, Mrs. Zigmond Kryszak of Detroit, Michigan,Mrs. Frank Bonds of Columbia, Ohio, and Frances Ormand who is still at home with her parents.

Mrs. Ormand's parents and brother, Mr. and Mrs. E.L. McGhee and their son, Wilbur, live just down the road from the Ormand place. Mr. McGhee was just recovering from a serious illness when we visited there, and was sitting on the front porch enjoying the morning air. Mrs. McGhee is a native of Bradley County, being originally from a short distance south of Ebenezer. She was a Hairston, and a cousin of Wylie Hairston, who lives just west of Warren on the Banks highway. Mr. McGhee was from the same community. The McGhee's have four children: Mrs. Ormand, Wilbur McGhee, Phinos McGhee and Mrs. Clyde Wear of Warren.

Submitted by Jann Woodard

In the County: August 20, 1953

From The Eagle Democrat

All the people visited this week live in the Lanark Community south of Banks.

Mr. and Mrs. Gus Anderson own the old Dan Wilfong place south of Banks on the intersection of the Jersey and Spring Hill roads. They came here five years ago from Little Rock and built a handsome brick home. Mrs. Anderson is the former Clatie Mae Sparks from the Lanark community and Mr. Anderson is a native of the same locality. Well-known as a cotton farmer, Mr. Anderson reported the first cotton blooms in Bradley County this year and says that he is expecting an excellent crop. Rain has come at the right time this year, he says, but he needs some now to bring the cotton open. Mr. Anderson is a member of the County Production and Marketing Administration Committee and Mrs. Anderson is active in the Lanark Home Demonstration Club. Their two sons, Jerry, 17, and Chester, 12, are members of the Banks 4-H club.

Mr. and Mrs. T.J. Loomis live a short distance down the Spring Hill road from the Anderson place. They've lived here since 1945, when they bought the place and remodeled the house. Mr. Loomis is the son of Walter Loomis of Banks and Mrs. Loomis was a daughter of John Langston of near Hermitage. Mr. Loomis is a tractor operator for the Southern Lumber Company's woods operation. Mr. and Mrs. Loomis have two children, both of whom are prominent in County and State 4-H Club work. Their son, Gene, went to school in Warren last year. This year, their daughter, Donna, will join her brother in attending school at Hermitage. Mrs. Loomis also takes part in Extension Service Club work. She is the reporter of the Lanark Home Demonstration Club.

Mr. and Mrs. Van Hamaker moved to this community twelve years ago from the Crossroads community between Warren and Banks. Mrs. Hamaker was a daughter of John Adams of that community and Mr. Hamaker was from Prospect. Mr. Hamaker is a farmer and is manager of the Warren Gin during cotton picking season. Mrs. Hamaker, in addition to her household duties, is president of the Lanark Home Demonstration Club. Mr. and Mrs. Hamaker have four children: Lester Hamaker of Warren, Mrs. Raymond Batie of Little Rock, Mrs. Wesley Smith of Richmond, Virginia, and Perry Lou Hamaker, at home with her parents. The territory just around the Hamaker home was probably the first part of the County to be hit by the disastrous tornado of January 3, 1949. Winds twisted the Hamaker home off its foundations and pulled some fence on their place--posts and all--out of the ground.

Mr. and Mrs. Thurman Williams moved across the road from the Hamaker home shortly after the tornado. Gordon Moseley, who had been living there, moved away the winter of '49. Mr. Williams is a farmer and does some logging work and Mrs. Williams is the secretary of the Lanark Club. Mrs. Williams is the daughter of Claude Smith of this neighborhood. The Williams' have one child, a 3 year-old daughter named Margaret Ann.

Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Wolfe live on a hill just past the Hamaker home. They've lived here eleven years, coming from Warren. Mr. Wolfe has been working for Farnsworth and Chambers Construction Company in Camden but that Company's work at the Naval Ammunition Depot was completed a short time ago. He is now at home farming. Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe are both natives of Parnell Springs Community northwest of Warren. They have three children: Joe Carroll, Charles Lloyd, and Ozelle Wolfe, all at home with their parents.

Submitted by Jann Woodard

In the County: August 27, 1953

From The Eagle Democrat

All of the people visited this week live in the Spring Hill and Lanark Communities in the western part of the county.

Mr. and Mrs. Willie Williams have lived on their present place for five years. They moved up here from Spring Hill and Mr. Williams is a logger and farmer. The Williams' have four children: Mrs. Oliver Rice of Crossett, Mrs. Thomas Peek, who lives at home with her parents while her husband is in Alaska with the Air Force, and Eva Mae Williams and Herbert Lee Williams, both who are at home. Mrs. Williams takes part in the work of the Lanark Home Demonstration Club and the two younger children are 4-H Club members.

Lester Grice, who lives a short distance down the road from the Williams place, brought in the first bale of Bradley County cotton this year. The bale was ginned at the Parker gin in Banks and Mr. Grice had a large group of hands in the field at dawn Monday to pick enough to make a bale. His cotton, as is most in this area, is in excellent shape. The Grice family moved to this farm eleven years ago from the northern part of the county. Both Mr. and Mrs. Grice are originally from the Parnell Springs locality. They have three children: two sons, Otha and Ovid, and one daughter, Mary Frances. Both sons are married and live in the neighborhood.

Mrs. Pervie Stewart and her son, Robert, have lived on their present place eight years. Mrs. Stewart's husband died in January, and the Stewart farm is rented out to another farmer at the present time. Robert Stewart is an inspector at the naval Ordinance Plant at Shumaker. Mrs. Stewart has lived around Banks and in this section all her life. She is a daughter of Walter Loomis, and one of thirteen children.

T.J. Vail lives just past Baldwin Meek's farm on the Spring Hill road. he was brought to Bradley County from Mississippi as a small boy and has been in this section since that time. He is a farmer and up until a short time ago worked at the Naval Ammunition Depot at Shumaker. He's off the Shumaker job for a month, however, since a contract ran out. Mr. Vail has three daughters: Mrs. Junior Bradford and Mrs. Junior Grice of Warren, and Mrs. Tom Dees, who lives just next door to her father. Mr. Dees is logging in the lower end of the county.

Mr. and Mrs. Noble Scroggins have their home close to the Spring Hill Church. The Scroggins have lived here seven years and Mr. Scroggins is a farmer. He has in cotton this year and it's in good shape. He also had some tomatoes, but they were mostly all destroyed by hail. Mrs. Scroggins is the former Mary Lois Baker of Sumpter, and Mr. Scroggins is originally from Farmville. They have one son, Charles Edward, who will begin school at Hermitage early next month.

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Submitted by Jann Woodard