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Randolph County residents live in a very special place; a tranquil area where all around are farms, towns, industry. In just a short time one can be as isolated or as urban as one wishes to be. With its sparkling rivers, dense woods and wildlife in abundance, its scenic beauty is unrivaled.
Randolph County has been part of four great counties - France, Spain, the Confederacy, and the United States. Four territories - District of Louisiana, District of New Madrid, Territory of Missouri and Territory of Arkansas. Two states - Missouri and Arkansas, and three counties, New Madrid, Lawrence and Randolph.
What is now Randolph County was first part of the District of Louisiana, designated so in 1804. In 1805 it was made part of the District of New Madrid in the Territory of Missouri. It was part of the county of Lawrence in the Territory of Missouri from January 15, 1815 to July 4, 1819. From July 4, 1819, until October 29, 1835, it was part of Lawrence County, Arkansas Territory. On this latter date Randolph came into existence as a separate county in the Arkansas Territory until the next year (1836) when the territory became one of the states of the Union.
Eartly settlers were attracted to the area of present day Randolph County because of its river accessibility, fresh water, healthfulness, and abundance of wild game. Just who the first white man who came to what is now Randolph County to make his permanent home will never be known. There is some evidence to support the claim that there was an active French trading post at Pocahontas before 1790 and possibly as early as 1760.
Although there were already settlers in the Pocahontas area, Dr. Ransom S. Bettis is given the distinction of being the first settler on the land that once was known as Bettis Bluff .... now called Pocahontas. Dr. Bettis came to this area about 1815 from North Carolina. Little is known of the Bettis family, but it is known that Ransom had one daughter, Cinderella, who married Thomas Stephenson Drew. From available facts, it is quite possible this was the first white family to make the site of Pocahontas their home.
Thomas S. Drew came to Randolph County in 1826. He had served as County Clerk in Clark County, Arkansas for four years. After his marriage to Cinderella Bettis, Dr. Bettis gave the newlyweds 800 acres of good farm land in the Cherokee Bay area. Today the town of Biggers stands on part of this land. Drew and Dr. Bettis became associated in activities that led to the founding of Pocahontas as the county seat of Randolph County. People at the Columbia settlement were trying to get the county seat located there, just as Thomas Drew and Dr. Ransom Bettis were trying to locate it at Bettis Bluff, as it was called then. A date was set for the election of the county seat. Drew and Bettis announced a free picnic and barbecue at Bettis Bluff on that date. Although the people at Columbia wanted the county seat at Columbia, they came to the celebration at Bettis Bluff. An old story handed down through the years says that eats and drinks were free. After eating a delicious meal and partaking freely of alcoholic beverages, the crowd had a warm feeling for the sponsors and just up and voted for their town to be the county seat. Some old timers tell a different version of the story. They say that they were "railroaded" and received a short deal from Bettis and Drew. They contend that "some sort of a deal had been put over on them." Because of this idea, people said that the name should not have been spelled as the Indian Princess, Pocahontas spelled her name, but that it should have been spelled "Poke-it-on-to-us." since the deal was poked on to the people of the Columbia community. Anyway, Bettis and Drew proceeded to lay out a town on the site of Pocahontas. After the county seat had been designed and plans made to build a courthouse here, they plotted the town and began to sell lots.
Thomas S. Drew was an important figure in the formation and development of Randolph County. The Territorial Legislature of 1835 yielded to the request of the people and Randolph County was formed from part of the area then called Lawrence County. The county was named after John Randolph of Roanoke, Virginia, a statesman who was one of the first settlers in the area.
In 1836 a Consitutional Convention was called to meet in Little Rock to draw up a state constitution. Thomas S. Drew and Henry Slavens, both of Cherokee Bay were chosen as two delegates from Lawrence and Randolph Counties. Thus, Thomas S. Drew helped write our first state constitution.
Drew's political life flourished and he was elected as the fourth governor of Arkansas in 1844 and served one four year term. After an illustrious political career and a colorful life, Mr. Drew died in 1879 at Lipan, Hood County, Texas. Here his remains lay in an unmarked grave until 1923, when a number of interested citizens succeeded in having the body re-interred in the Masonic Cemetery in Pocahontas.
Ultimately finding its niche in the scheme of things Randolph County now lies in Northeast Arkansas and is bounded on the north by Oregon and Ripley Counties, Missouri; on the east by Clay and Green Counties; on the south by Lawrence County and on the west by Sharp County. Elevation ranges from 250 feet at its lowest level to nearly 1,000 feet in the northwest section known as the foothills of the Ozarks. Land area measures approximately 640 square miles and the 1980 census notes a population of 16, 834.
For agriculture, Randolph County is one of the most adaptable counties in the state. It contains about an equal area of flat alluvial soil and hill land. The plentiful water supply makes stockraising a most profitable enterprise. Five rivers of the county, the Black, Elevenpoint, Current, Spring and Fourche provide the county with excellent recreational facilities. Old Davidsonville State Park is a great attraction to local residents and visitors to the area providing camping, picnicking and boating facilities.
Randolph County is famous for many "firsts" even before the days of becoming a single county unit. Davidsonville, Arkansas' oldest town was established by John Davidson in 1815. It was in a part of County of Lawrence (then Territory of Missouri) and the first post office in the state was built here in 1817. Following that, the first courthouse in the state was completed in 1818 and Arkansas' first land office in 1820. The earliest official recorded land claim in the county was made by John Janes, a Virginian who settled near Ravenden Springs in the Northwest part of the county in 1809. During this period, the waters at Ravenden Springs were noted for their healing powers and attracted people from several miles around. Janes Creek was named in his honor.
The first court held in Lawrence County, before the formation of Randolph, was held in what is now Randolph County. This court was held April 1815 at the home of Solomon Hewitt. This was supposed to have been the first actual term of court convened in Arkansas. The first court held in the county after its organization was eight miles north of Pocahontas at the home of James G. Russell. The date of convening was April 4, 1836.
Throughout history transportation was extremely slow and difficult. However, transportation made civilization possible, bringing towns and cities together. So it was with what was termed as the "Old Military Road" which runs through Randolph County from Missouri at Pitman's Ferry and by way of Supply, Maynard, Attica, Old Jackson, and across Spring River into Lawrence County. This was the county's first overland route. It was first known as the Natchitoches Trail and used by the Indians.
After the coming of the white man the road was a general route of travel from St. Louis by the way of the old French settlement of St. Genevieve to the Southwest across Arkansas into Texas and Mexico. Around 1800 a ferry was established (the first in the state) at what is now Pitman. The first mail route in the state of Arkansas was over this route.
Other modes of travel in Randolph County were by boat, and eventually the railroad. The first steamboat, "The Laurel," came up Black River to Pocahontas in 1829. The first railroad started as early as October 1849 in the county and the first train through Randolph County was December 1872.
Many revered and highly respected men and their families are woven into the tapestry of Randolph County's history...with first names like Shadrach, Obediah, Elijah. Family surnames....Abbott, Athy, Biggers, Black, Brooks, Bryan, Campbell, Chastain, Dalton, Davis, Decker, Esselman, Evans, Hamil Hatley, Haulcroft, Haynes, Hite, Hogan, Holt, Ingram, Jackson, Jarrett, Johnson, Johnston, Kirkpatrick, Lamb, Lemmons, McCarroll, McDonald, Mariette, martin, Maynard, Mock, Pitman, Price, Purkins, Redwine, Rickman, Ruff, Sago, Schnabaum, Schoonover, Shaver, Shride, Simington, Skinner, Smith, Spikes, Stubblefield, Waddell, Waddle, White, Wiley, Witt, Wyatt, Thompson and many, many more which space does not permit.
These pioneers settled in communities and small towns such as Albertha, Attica, Biggerers, Dalton, Gravesville, Hamil, Middlebrook, Maynard, Noland, Water Valley, Oconee, Pitman, Palestine, Ingram, Ravenden Springs, Reyno, Supply, Warm Springs, O'Kean, Pocahontas to name a few. During the intervening years the towns of Pocahontas, Reyno, Biggers, Maynard, O'Kean and Ravenden Springs have become incorporated.
An interesting story is told of how Reyno evolved from what was termed as "Old Reyno." which was located about two miles southwest of the present town of Reyno. It had it beginnings in 1857 when Dennis Wells Reynolds I, born in Jackson County, Illinois, settled there. He established the first trading point in that area. Other merchants followed and began businesses. Reyno received its name from a shortening of the name Reynolds, the first settler. When a decision was made to name the town Reyno, a plat was drawn and filed July 28, 1886. An application was filed with the Post Office Dept., Office of the First Assistant Postmaster General, Washinton, D. C. on November 13, 1886 for a change of name and site of the Post Office at Cherokee Bay to Reyno. Approval to move the Post Office approximately 2 3/4 miles southeast to Reyno was approved on December 27, 1886. As a result of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad building a line in that section of the county in 1901, the town of Reyno was soon abandoned and business houses and residents relocated about two miles north to be on the railroad line. The present town of Reyno was in corporated on August 19, 1908.
Churches have always played an integral part in the lives of most people. This was extremely so in the days of long ago when church "socials," pie suppers, box suppers and other forms of entertainment were sponsored by the church. It was simply a matter of having a central place to congregate as well as worship. The churches of the county were represented in those days by the Methodist, Baptist, Church of Christ, Presbyterians, Catholic, Church of God of Holiness, and some communities ahd a central meeting place where all sects and beliefs were welcome to come and preach. Early records note that a church which was established at the old Fourche de Thomas, or Columbia settlement, known as "Salem Church" was the first Baptist church in the state, and was established in 1818.
The first Methodist church in the county was built by William Spikes on Tennessee Creek a short distance sourthwest of Ingram and called Mount Pisgah. It was supposed to have been built around 1830. The old Methodist Church at Siloam was built about 1840. About the same year the Glaze Creek Church of Christ was established. Mount Pleasant Church at Pitman is reported to have been built about 1825. This was a Missionary Baptist Church. Another early Church of the county was the Cherokee Bay Church and described in early records as a "United Baptist Church of Christ." The old Antioch Baptish Church was organized sometime around 1850. Other churches are Church of Christ at Brakebill built in 1830, Shiloh Baptist Church 1875, St. John's Catholic Church at Engelberg built in 1887 and St. Paul's Catholic Church in Pocahontas Built in 1898.
And so it was, then as today, the church was one of the focal points of family life.
In reviewing past history it is with much interest that the first officials of Randolph County be noted.
The honor of first County Judge went to P. R. Pitman, who served four terms in that esteemed office. His tenure was 1835 through 1842. Joining Judge Pitman in the ranks of first offical was B. J. Wiley, Circuit Clerk, who served from 1835 through 1842. There was no office of County Clerk and these duties were performed by the Circuit Clerk of that day. In 1901 the two offices were split and since then there has been a Circuit Clerk and a County Clerk. J. T. Robinson was the first County Clerk. William Black, Sheriff, was elected to serve from 1835 through 1840. At that time the sheriff was also collector. These offices were not split until 1971, at which time Betty Johnson was elected collector and still serves in that capacity. There was neither a Treasurer nor Assessor among the first elected officials. However, from the period of 1837 through 1838, B. M. Simpson was elected treasurer. The first assessor was L. F. Johnston, 1863-1868.
It is only fitting that the history of Randolph County not be completely recorded without recognizing other citizens who have contributed to the growth and esteem of Randolph County in some area of their lives. Records show that Mrs. J. M. (Rita) Dunn of Biggers was the first woman called to jury duty in January 1936. This was a first for women in the 100 year history of the county. Lucille Stolt ran for the office of County Clerk and successfully won that race in 1966. She served for a period of ten years. Mrs. Stolt is the first woman in Randolph County to serve in an elective office of the county.
The famous Wonder Horse, a nationally known child's toy, was invented by William Baltz of Pocahontas.
Wear Kibler Schoonover, a graduate of Pocahontas High School became the University of Arkansas' first All-America football player; left end, All-America Football Team, 1929. He was inducted into National Football Hall of Fame in December 1967.
Dr. H. H. Price, State Representative from Randolph County 1937-1938, introduced House Bill 451 which provided for the establishment of more libraries and the enlargement of those already functioning. The 1937 session of Legislature appropriated the necessary funds for aid to county libraries and Randolph County Library was the first library in the state set up under the new County Library Act qualifying libraries to receive state aid.
Every Randolph County citizen has been and is important to its development. It is also necessary to remember and recognize the efforts and the sacrifices of those who have "blazed the trails."
"For what is man's lifetime unless the memory of past events is woven with those of earlier times?" From "Orator." by Cicero.
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Front cover shows 3 courthouses of Randolph County, which cover a span of 171 years. The first is known by historians as the Solomon Hewett House drawn from an actual photo of the house. In this house, located on the bank of Spring River, three or four miles from Davidsonville, was held the first court of Randolph County in early 1815, although the house was in Lawrence County at that time.
Another courthouse seen on the front cover, the 1871 building was built on the original site in Pocahontas, which was given to the city and county at the time of the county's formation, by Ransom S. Bettis, founder of the town, and his son-in-law. Thomas S. Drew, afterwards governor of Arkansas. A former courthouse had been built on the site in 1837-39, and served the county until 1872, when the building shown on other side was completed. This building served as Randolph County's courthouse 68 years, until 1940 when the present courthouse was built. The old 1871 courthouse is one of the state's oldest public buildings and known far and wide--a noted landmark--Located in downtown Pocahontas ...a beautiful old structure.
Brochure
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