Index:
Allen, W. O.,
General 1819 Legislature for Ark. Co., 7
Almederas, John
Francis, 6
Bailey, Boyd, 5
Bailey, William
1803 Caney Creek, 6
Barkman, Jacob
1819 Council, 8
Beloit, John W., 5
Biscoe, Henry
L., 5
Breckenridge,
William F., 5
Burnett, Moses
1797, 6
Buster, J. C., 5
Cassidy, Pat
1803, 7
Chartruce, Enos
1800, 6
Clark, David
1819 Council, 8
Clark, Edwin T., 5
Craig, William, 7
De Plasse, Joseph, 3
Dill, John 1802, 7
Dobson, William, 4
Dodson, William, 9
Dominiques,
John, 6
Edwards, Mary
1803, 6
Edwards, Peter, 5
Ellis, Radford
1819 Legislature for Pulaski Co., 8
English, J.
1819 Legislature for Hempstead Co., 8
Escriveve, John
Andre, 6
Ferebee, George
W., 9
Ferguson, W. D.
of Crittenden 1824, 7
Fish, Thomas
1819 Legislature for Clark Co., 7
Fooy, Benjamin
1794 d.1823, 5
Fooy, Benjamin
1821 Judge of Common Pleas Court-Phillips Co., 8
Fooy, John
Henry 1799 to 1802, 7
Fulsome,
Ebenezer 1803, 6
Gallowhorn,
Caty 1801, 6
Gazzia, Joseph
1798, 7
Glass, William
H. 1802, 7
Gonzales,
Augustine, 6
Grace, John
1800 Big Island, 6
Gregory,
William 1802, 6
Groson, Francis, 6
Hanks,
Fleetwood, 9
Hanley,
Caroline m.Phillips, Mrs. d.1898, 4
Hardin, Joab
1819 Legislature for Lawrence Co., 8
Hardin, Joseph,
Sr. 1819 Legislature for Lawrence Co., 8
Harrington,
Bartley, 7
Hogan, John
1800 Copperas Creek, 6
Horner,
Ferdinand S., 5
Horner, William
B. R. 1821 Judge of Common Pleas Court-Phillips Co., 8
Horner, William
B. R., Colonel 1819 Legislature for Arkansas County d.1836, 7
Jones,
Elizabeth 1801, 6
Kendrick,
Austin, 5
Le Fevre, John
1802, 7
Martin, James, 5
Martin, Jasto, 6
McDonald,
Edward 1819 Council, 8
McElrath,
George H., Dr., 4
McIlmurry, John
1819 Council, 8
McKay, Doctor, 7
McKenzie, James
H., 4, 9
McKinney,
William 1802, 7
McLean, John
1803, 6
Montgomery,
Hampton, 4
Mooney, Daniel
1797, 7
Mooney, Daniel
1821 Judge of Common Pleas Court-Phillips Co., 8
Mooney, H. F., 5
Mooney, J. B., 4
Moore, William
F., 5
Nash, Charles
E., Dr., 5
Odle, Benjamin
T., 9
Patterson,
William 1797, 7
Peeler,
Richmond, 7
Pena, Antoine, 6
Perry, Moses
1803, 6
Phillips,
Helena, Miss d.1831, 4
Phillips,
Sylvanus 1797 (1819 Council), 3
Phillips,
Sylvanus b.1766 d.1830, 4
Porter, William
1799 to 1802, 7
Proctor, Edward
1800, 6
Ramer, Abraham
1802, 6
Riggs, William
1799 to 1802, 7
Rightor,
Nicholas 1818 b.1792 d.1842, 5
Roane, Sam C., 4
Roane, Sam
C.-engrossing and enrolling clerk 1819, 8
Robins, Joseph, 4
Rodrigues, John, 6
Roebuck, George
1802, 7
Russell,
William of St.Louis, 8
Sandford, John, 5
Searcy,
Richmond-of Davidsonville was clerk to the house 1819, 8
Sevier, Joseph
1800, 6
Shinn, Josiah
H.-A. M, 1
Smith, Samuel
S. d.1835, 5
Steele, John, 5
Stenson,
Charles 1803, 6
Stephens, Jesse
1803, 6
Stevenson, W.
1819 Legislature for Hempstead Co., 8
Stilwell,
Harold, 7
Stilwell,
Joseph 1799, 6
Strong, William
of St.Francis d.1863, 7
Taylor, John
1803 Copperas Creek, 6
Tessier,
Antoine, 3
Tolleson, I. C.
P., 5
Tyndall, T. H.
1819 Legislature for Pulaski Co., 8
Sylvanus Phillips:
Phillips
County carries this man’s name and is his monument. Born in the United States,
he was in early life attracted to the West and in 1797 built a log cabin near
the mouth of the St.Francis river
in Arkansas, and was, as he said, the only settler for miles around. His
nearest neighbors were Antoine Tessier and Joseph De Plasse, who lived at the mouth of the Cache. Beyond
their residences there were no other settlements in that direction. In 1798 he
explored the Arkansas river for some distance above
Arkansas Post, but found no settlement in that direction. In 1799, the
Commandant of the Post, fearing an uprising of the natives, warned Phillips to
remove to the post. He did so and remained there for many years, and was joined
by J. B. Mooney and the Pattersons,
all related by marriage, and who with him made extensive explorations for
mineral and timber wealth. He gained in this way a great knowledge of the
territory, a knowledge which Sam C. Roane, in later
years, was enabled to use as an effective club in breaking up the gigantic land
frauds which threatened to despoil the State of hundreds of thousands of acres
of land.
<hr>From
Hempstead’s Historical Review of Arkansas, Vol.1,1911: The city of Helena was founded and laid out
about the year 1820 by Sylvanus Phillips, for whom Phillips Co. was named, and his
co-partner, William Russell. Mr.Phillips was one of
the pioneer settlers of the locality where Helena is, having immigrated to the
Arkansas country before it came into possession of the United States in the
Louisiana purchase of 1803. In 1797 he settled at the
mouth of the St.Francis river,
but, owing to troubles with the Spanish government relative to priviliges in the use of the Mississippi river by the two
nations, he withdrew to the Post of Arkansas, later returning to his
settlement. He was representative from Arkansas county
in the first territorial legislature of Feb.7-20, 1820. He was born in 1766 and
died in Helena, October 31,1830. Helena was named for
his young and beautiful daughter, Miss Helena Phillips, who died in her young womanhood, age 15 on
Aug.28,1831 (Note 2). Another of his daughters was Mrs.Caroline
Phillips Hanley, who died in 1898, having lived in Helena since
the time of its foundation. She was born in 1818. In 1830 Helena was made the
county seat and has since remained so. The previous county seat, as defined by
the act of the legislature creating the county was a place called Monticello.
In the year 1800 William Patterson had built a warehouse where the city of
Helena now stands. On the 21st of Nov., 1829, by an act of the
legislature, Hampton Montgomery, James H.McKenzie, and Joseph Robins were
appointed commissioners to superintend the building of a court house for the
county of Phillips, and, were directed to assemble together at the town of
Helena, on or before the first day of January, 1830, and lay off a site for the
court house on the public square of the town. George W.Ferebee
was postmaster at that date. By 1835 it had grown but little. At that date it
is described as having three mercantile establishments, one of which was J.H.McKenzie’s; two taverns and several trading boats. Dr. George W. McElrath, William Dobson, William F. Breckenridge, J.C.Buster, H. F. Mooney, John W.
Beloit, I. C. P. Tolleson, Samuel S. Smith, H. L. Biscoe and Dr.Charles
E. Nash were residents of that date. W. B. R. Horner,
who was clerk 1820-21; Daniel Mooney, Sheriff; Edwin T. Clark and Austin
Kendrick were among the earliest residents. Nicholas Rightor was also one
of the earliest settlers, and was a resident of Helena probably from its
founding until his death in Dec.1842. He was born in Cooperstown, New York,
Jun.24,1792, and came to Arkansas before 1818. He went
to Texas under Stephen F. Austin and spent six months surveyinjg
near Austin; but returned to Arkansas, and associated with William Russell
under a government contract, he surveyed 400,000 acres of land in eastern and
central Arkansas. He was county surveyor of Phillips County 1825-1830. In 1833
the first newspaper, called the Helena Herald, was established at that place.
John Steele, who came from St.Louis,
was its editor, but in a short while he moved to Little Rock and Samuel S.Smith succeeded him as editor. Mr.Smith
died Sept.21,1835. By the
legislature of 1836, Henry L. Biscoe, John Sandford, James Martin, Peter Edwards, Ferdinand S. Horner, William F. Moore, and Boyd
Bailey were appointed commissioners to build a court
house and jail in Helena.
Benjamin
Fooy:
The Fooy family in Arkansas sprang from Benjamin Fooy, a native of
Holland, born in 1759. He tried to better his condition in many parts of the
world and in 1794 found him opposite the present city of Memphis in Spanish
territory at the village of Hopefield, or as it was
called back then, Camp Esperanza. The Commandant Augustine Le Grande granted
him a concession of land, upon which he settled and upon which he died thirty
years afterward, on Dec.27,1823. Thirty years in the forests of Arkansas,
thirty years on the banks of the mighty Mississippi. Honored was he by the
Spaniards while in control; honored again while the territory was known as
Louisiana; honored still more in the days of the territory of Missouri, and
most of all under the territorial laws of Arkansas. He was a justice of the
Court of Common Pleas. His character was above reproach, and his philanthropy
and hospitality were only bounded by his means. He left an aged wife, a large
number of children, and a still larger number of grand children, whose
descendants still ramify eastern Arkansas. Lands were confirmed to him at Hopefield and Wappenocke as
having been settled prior to 1799, and to Isaac Fooy
at Hopefield under a settlement of 1801.
Alligator
Lake:
This
region is now Crittenden county and the confirmed concessions recorded in 1811
and 1813 upon which patents were issued were as follows:Antoine
Pena, Augustine Gonzales, John Francis Almederas, John Dominiques, John Andre Escriveve, Francis Groson, Jasto Martin, John Rodrigues and Elizabeth Jones, whose settlements were made between 1798 and
1802. Elizabeth Jones was also confirmed in her right to a farm on Elk Lake
opened in 1801. On Copperas creek of the St.Francis
the earliest settler was John Hogan, in 1800, who was joined in 1803 by John Taylor. They and their families were
not disturbed by other additions to their neighborhood until some time in1810.
St.Francis River Settlement:
In
addition to those named in the previous chapter there were the following:John McLean and Jesse
Stephens settled on the St.Francis
river near the mouth of the Eel river in1803; a little higher up was William
Gregory of 1802; along its banks was the farm of Mary
Edwards, whose husband located there in 1803. In the
same year Charles Stenson settled at the mouth of the river, and three
miles above him was the home of Edward Proctor, who had lived there since 1800. On the waters
of the St.Francis Moses Burnett and Joseph Sevier had homes, the former coming in 1797 and the
later in 1800. John Grace settled on the low ground above Big Island in
1800 and Caty Gallowhorn on an island in the Mississippi river in 1801.
Enos Chartruce also made a home on the St.Francis
in 1800. Joseph Stilwell also had a concession on the St.Francis from 1799.
On The
Mississippi River:
Besides
Fooy, Phillips, Mooney and D’Armand,
there were the following settlers, widely separated from each other and almost
cut off from the world; in 1803 Ebenezer Fulsome took up ground on the Mississippi about three
miles above the mouth of the St.Francis. In the same
year Moses Perry settled between the White and St.Francis, and William Bailey south of the St.Francis
on Caney creek. Along the banks were Abraham Ramer, a settler of 1802; Joseph Gazzia, of 1798; Sylvanus
Phillips of 1797; Pat Cassidy, adjoining
Phillips and Patterson, 1803; William Patterson 1797, all near where Helena now stands, and
William McKinney, seven miles below Hopefield,
1802, with George Roebuck, a near neighbor. John Le Fevre had a landing seven miles below the mouth of
the St.Francis and settled there in 1802. William H.
Glass and John Dill were between
him and the mouth of the river and moved there in 1802. Daniel Mooney had a home between the St.Francis
and Mississippi, the date of which ran back to 1797. In the neighborhood of
Benjamin Fooy were John Henry Fooy, William
Porter and William Riggs, dating from 1799 to 1802.
William
Strong:
In the
furious fight between William Strong of St.Francis and W.D.Ferguson of
Crittenden, in the thirties, it developed
that Ferguson came to the State in 1824 without bag or baggage and in fifteen
years, as Strong said, had made his “Golcondry”
besides “holding down an office every day of the time and sometimes two.”
Colonel
William B. R. Horner:
He came
to Arkansas a well educated man, bringing with him all the courtesy and dignity
of old Virginia life. He came as a lawyer, thoroughly equipped for a
professional career, but without fortune or the brandishments
of fame. Whatever of legal business the St.Francis
settlement had went to W. B. R. Horner, and in every thriving community there
will always be enough real estate, probate and criminal business to insure a
young practioner an honest competency. He had the
confidence of the St.Francis settlement, the Cache
settlement, the Mississippi settlement and of the
people at Arkansas Post. When representatives were to be chosen for the first
legislature in 1819 there was no lack for candidates. Eight men wanted the
place and made strong efforts to get it. Two of these, Bartley Harrington and Harold Stilwell, had been in
the territory longer than Horner; in fact, they were almost natives, having
lived in the territory from boyhood. Doctor McKay and Richmond Peeler could boast of as long a residence as Horner,
and William Craig a year longer. It was a lively race in
the swamps and undergrowth, but brains and character combined won the race. W.
B. R. Horner and General W. O. Allen were elected to represent Arkansas County;
Thomas Fish from Clark County;J. English and W. Stevenson from Hempstead county;Joseph
Hardin, Sr., a revolutionary soldier, and Joab Hardin from Lawrence county;Radford
Ellis and T. H.
Tyndall from Pulaski
county. Allen was killed before his time was out, and the old settler Stilwell,
sent in his place. He was older than Horner, who had been the oldest in the
legislature before this appointment. William Stevenson was elected Speaker, and
resigned the next day. His reason was that he had rather shoot than be shot at,
and that he had been made a target for one day, which was enough. Joseph
Hardin, Sr. was elected to replace Stevenson. The upper house, called the
Council, was composed of five grand old timers, Sylvanus
Phillips, Jacob Barkman, David Clark, Edward McDonald and John McIlmurry. Richmond Searcy of Davidsonville was clerk to the
house, and Sam C. Roane, engrossing
and enrolling clerk. On May 1,1820, Phllips county was created from Arkansas county, and named
after its patriarch, Sylvanus Phillips. W. B. R.Horner was the first representative from Phillips county in the second legislature. He served through the life
of the third session. He then was elected prosecuting attorney for the First
circuit, which position he held for five years, when he resigned. He served as
clerk of Phillips county from 1820 to 1821. When the
office of Common Pleas judge was created in 1821, Phillips county
was given three judges, and Daniel Mooney, Benjamin Fooy, and W. B.R. Horner were selected for these positions which they
held until they were abolished. At this time he lived in Utica, where he
solemnized many of the early marriages. In 1828, he was made an alderman of
Helena, which he held for five or six years. He had been Postmaster at Helena
from 1823 to 1825. The name of Colonel Wm. B. R. Horner can
not be disassociated from Phillips County and will forever remain as one
of its heroic names. He lived in a rude age, far in advance of his environment.
He lived for law, for progression and for righteousness. His descendants are
also a vital part of Phillips County. The old town of Helena had been getting
along swimmingly for many years, but in 1836 it woke up to find that it had
been “whangdoodled,” as Mr. Oliver said of his canal
matters. At Little Rock there was a legislature in session, and William Russell
of St.Louis had a bill introduced to incorporate the town
of Helena. The Helena members, thinking of no evil designs, made little investigation
and no opposition. When the bill was passed and was scrutinized by Colonel Wm.
B. R. Horner, the alderman, or, as he was colled,
“the lord high mayor,” of Helena, it was discovered that Russell had
incorporated into Helena a lot of his wild land, and was log rolling to have
the county buildings removed from their old location to his holdings. Another
wave of excitement swept over Helena. The people said they would not be taxed
to give an unearned increment of value to a non-resident speculator. But what
were they to do? Col. Horner found a way. He advised the town assessor, the
town constable, the overseer of the streets and the clerk of the corporation to
resign, which they did. He then advised the common council, consisting of
George W. Ferebee, James H. McKenzie, Benjamin T. Odle and William Dodson to do likewise, which they did.
Following all of this, Col. Horner then likewise resigned and there was no
Helena and no way to create new officials except under the old law, which the
citizens resolutely refused to put into operation. A compromise was effected during the year which the bad feature of the new
law were abandoned and a new set of officers created. Col. Horner refused to
re-enter public life, and died shortly thereafter, May 11,1838.
(Note 1) One of his last acts was in the educational field. The school
authorities of the town on Aug.10,1836, appointed him, with James H.McKenzie and Fleetwood Hanks, commissioners to erect a school house on lot
number four hundred and eighty one of the town of Helena.
Sources:
1-Pioneers
and Makers of Arkansas by Josiah H. Shinn-1908
2-Hempstead’s
Historical Review of Arkansas, Vol.1,1911 by Fay
Hempstead
Note 1: Source: http://www.eturner.com/GED-GEN/grpf08353.html
Note 2:Source: http://www.