1st Edition Greene County, AR History By Benjamin H. Crowley

The following is the early history of Greene County written by the Hon. B.H. Crowley , a grandson of the first Benjamin Crowley ,who made the first settlement in Greene County in 1821 . This series appeared in the Soliphone , a Paragould newspaper in 1906 , starting November of that year and running 13 issues. The articles are exactly as they appeared in the Soliphone .

Its Orgin , Growth and Development , Together with Sketches of Early Settlers , their Mode of Living, The Hardships and Privations Endured .Some things Accomplished.

Gen. Benjamin H. Crowley , author of the history of Greene County which follows , was born on the 28th day of October 1836, and was a son of Samuel Crowley and a grandson of Benjamin Crowley , who made the first settlement in Greene County. He was educated at the Wallace Institute , Van Buren , Ark. and engaged in farming in Scott county until the outbreak of the Civil War. He first served as a member of Gen. Ben McColloch's body guard and remained on his staff until death of that famous warrior. He then became first Lieut. in Gen. Hidman's command and was captured along with his company at Arkansas Post, but escaped and fought until captured again at Smith.He was exchanged and served as Captain of gen. Fagan's body guard. Gen . Crowley returned to Greene County , and engaged in teaching school , reading the law and mending his ruined fortunes. He has been a most successful lawyer practicing in both the state and federal courts with great distinction . Among the civil and military offices filled by Gen. Crowley were:Legislator,senator, delegate to constutional convention , Scottish Rite Mason , Lieut. of company D. Seventh Arkansas Infantry by appointment of gov. conway , colonal of Militia by appointment of Gov. Garland and brig. General of Arkansas state troops by Gov. Jones, Receiver of the land and appraiser of Goverment Lands at Little Rock, by appointment of President Cleveland and appraiser of Goverment lands at Hot Springs by Hoke Smith, Sec. of the interior. All these positions he filled ably and with entire satisfaction to the country.

Gen crowley is one of the city and county's most distinguished citizens and he commands the love and respect of all classes of people . His life has been a success , measured by any standard of human worth, and we congratulate ourselves and the readers of the Soliphone on securing from him the following narrative of the early days in Greene County.

The county of Greene was formed on the 27th day of November in the year 1833 and was the 28th county to be created out of the original territory of the state.

The county was taken from the eastern end of Lawrence county , and included what is now part of Clay county on the North and extended as far south as the old town of Bolivar, a few miles this side of Harrisburg , in Poinsett county.

Greene county was named after General Nathaniel Green of Revoluntionary fame , and was for a long time spelled without the final "e". But when it was discovered in latter years that the great General always wrote his name with the last"e' added , the official and correct spelling of the name of the county has been with the final "e" appended.

The first county site was temporarily established at the home of Benjamin Crowley , where Walcott now is , and remained there until it was fixed at Parris , five miles northeast of Gainsville, where it remained until October 7th 1884. When it was moved to Paragould , by order of the county court , and in pursance to a vote of the people of the county.

The first white settlement in the county was made by Benjamin Crowley in 1821 , at the springs near Walcott and Crowley's Ridge which was named after the first settler and extends from Helena to Cape Girardeau , Mo. is an enduring memoryable name of the old pioneer, The first term of court ever convened in Greene County was held in the family room of Benjamin crowley and was presided over by Judge John T. Jones of the then third judicial circuit . And the first grand jury to be impanneled in the county was in this court , and held its deliberations under the shade of some large trees near by.The very rich lands together with the great abundance of clear sparkling water at this place were some of the inducements that caused Benjamin Crowley to settle where he did.

After Judge Jones had charged the jury and put them in the care of the sheriff , that officer retired with them and after having located them as above descrobed , he returned to the house where court was sitting. Judge Jones inquired of the sheriff how he had provided for the jury's comfort, the reply began that he had them down by the spring , and had provided them with a coffee pot of still house liquor, and that there was nothing to prevent them from doing well.

The Benjamin Crowley who made the first settlement in the county as previously stated was a native of virginia , but had been living in Kentucky for some years before coming to Arkansas. He was raised in Georgia but moved over into Webster or Henderson county Kentucky, and was a surveyor by profession . He was Irish , but native born , and always took a lively interest in the affairs of the county.He crossed Mississippi river at Cape Girardeau , Missouri and came down on the west side of the Black River following the only mail route then in the state which ran from Arkansas Post to St. Louis making a round trip every six months. In the spring of 1821 he and his caravan stopped on Spring river , near where the county line between Lawrence and Randolph counties now runs and planted a crop. When done his crop and the water had fallen he with his sons started east, looking for a better place to settle. Striking an Indian trail running east and west from the Mississippi river , they crossed the Black river at old Davidsonville, and the Cache river about one mile above the Mose Ray bridge. The party struck the Hill country or ridge a little north of where Walcott now is. When they found the large springs , which are numerous at that place and beheld the fine lands making off to the Cache bottoms , the senior Crowley said to his sons who were with him "This is good enough." and they struck camp.

After spending the night on the spot , they started back to what is now Lawrence County .Old man Crowley remained over there to gather crop, but he sent some of his son's and a few negroes on over to the new discovery to build houses, and prepare for the coming of the family and livestock which followed in the late fall, arriving at their new home Christmas Day.

Benjamin Crowley was a man in good circumstances for that time , and owned several valuable slaves , and a number of fine horses , brought with him from Kentucky . Among his blooded stock was a noted stallion , and not getting his barns ready the first night after arriving on the grounds he tied the horse's head to his fore feet to prevent him from getting away or from injuring the other stock. During the night the wolves attacked the horse, and seriously injured him. This country was that time a perfect wilderness , with not another white man in it and the Indians being full and exclucive control of the whold region . All sorts of wild animals including buffaloes, wolves, bears, panthers, wild cats and catamounts roamed at will over the entire country, Deer and wild turkeys were almost as numerous then as domestic animals were. This was then the best range country on the western continent, and stock of all kinds did well the year round without feed , save only such as nature provided them in the woods.

The original Crowley settled on section 4, township 16 north range 4 east and his son Wiley Crowley settled on section 33 and 34, township 17 north , range 4 east. These farms are now owned by B.H. Crowley , another son of b.H. Crowley and are two of the best farms in the county. Samuel Crowley another son of B.H. crowley settled on section 31 tp. 17 range 6 east , where Paragould now stands , he having settled on eight Mile Creek where it is intersected by Pruett Street. Charles Robinson a son in law settled on villiage Creek , near bethel so that each would not be in the others way, and that their stock might have seperate range.

When the Crowley's settled this part of the country there was of course no grist -mills , or anything of the kind . Old man Crowley brought with him an old style mill, with which to grind corn for bread. There was then probally not another mill of any kind in the Territory of Arkansas. The mill was constructed something like the old coffee mill used by our mothers and was fastened to the wall of the house and turned by crank , when grinding shelled corn into meal. If the meal was not fine enough to make bread of the first grinding , you could run it through the mill a second time , and make a passable meal.

Some of the other asettlers not being so fortunate as to have a mill would chop down a tree , square the top of the stump with an adze, and cut out a hole in the top like a bowl , make what they called pestle , and with it beat their corn into meal. This sweep was made by cutting a long pole or sapling , then getting a forked sapling eight or ten foot long setting the same in the ground with the butt end in the ground then put the fork so as to rest on the ground. When not in use they fastened the beater or pestle to the light end of the pole by means of a rope or grape vine more commonly by a grape vine. Many of the poorer people would make what they call "gritters" by punching holes in a peice of tin and thus grate their corn into meal. When corn is in te proper state of maturity. Grated meal makes the best bread. If the corn got to hard to grate it was boiled and then reduced to meal as it did appear tp make the sweetest bread one ever ate.

Later on old man Crowley got him sand stones from a quarry on Sugar creek just north of where the Comissary now stands and dressed them down and made him a set of mill stones, there being an upper and a lower stone, he constructed a mill propelled by horse power , which was the first corn mill of any kind ever put up in Greene county.

Now in sight of the same spot where this mill was set up and separated W.P. bowlin & Co. have a modern up to date patent roller mill as good as any in the country of its size and capacity . Of course after the board and rock mill of old man Crowley's was put up and successfully operated several others were set up in the different settlements.

One trouble with these mills was that you had to do all your grinding in dry weather and as the raw-hide belts would stretch in damp weather and refuse to turn the machinery of the mill.

Speaking of the affects of the weather on raw-hide recalls a story told on old man Hutchins another pioneer citizen of the county. It is said of him that he used raw hide trace chains and that one day he was dragging wood down off the hills not far from his house. A rain came up while he was in the timber with his team one day and he took shelter under a tree where he had to remain most of the day on account of the down pour of the rain.Finally when the rain ceased , he took his mare by the bridle and started to the house, thinking the slide wood and all were following. When he arrived at his woodpile and turned to unhitch from the slid behold no slide or wood were in sight . He being well versed in the behavior of all matters hung his hanes on a projecting limb of a log brought down earlier in the day put his mare under the shed and awaited results. The sun having come out and and the wind arose and by the next morning the old man was not surprised to find his slid and load of wood hitched up to the limb in the wood yard. The raw hide trees had drawn up to their proper length under the warm rays of the sun and brought their cargo of back-logs safely in while the old man slept.

It was very common in those days for men and boys to wear buck-skin breeches and the condition of the weather likewise affected them .Wet weather caused them to stretch and expand wonderfully and after being out in the damp all day , and then coming in at night and setting before the roaring fire in the wide old time fire place these buck -skin breeches began to draw up and pinch the owner and if he did not shed them off pretty early he was doomed to sleep in them or rather remain in them for there was not much rest or sleep for a fellow encased in a pair of raw-hide pants that had become as hard as sheet-iron and were several sizes too small for him.

The odd man Hutchins referred to in the the proceeding paragraph was of pure Irish extraction and was the father of Wiley Hutchins late deceased of the county, and was the grandfather of B.H. Crowley. Zachariah Hutchins was a soldier in the war of 18132 from Tennessee and took an active part in the battle under Andrew Jackson, or olk Hickory, as his soldiers affectionately called him.

This family came to this country in the early days and settled first on Big Creek on what now is known as John Lamb farm.