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pg 269
THE ARKANSAS BAPTISTS AND INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS LIBERTIES - By Rev. J. B. Searcy
Baptists have ever been the bold champions of religious liberty, and the fierce opponents of the "union of
church and State." Any legal connection of church and State, however slight, is dangerous to religious liberty.
This evil began in what was called "Canon Laws." These laws prescribed penalties for moral or religious
violations, but the State had to inflict the penalties. This opened the floodgate to religious persecution.
Rhode Island, under Roger Williams, its founder, was the first State that ever guaranteed absolute religious liberty,
and prohibited the union of church and State. Williams was one of the first Baptists of the New World.
While Baptists have always stood for the absolute separation of church and State, yet they have stoutly contended
for "the right of petition," and have repeatedly appealed to the State and National Governments for the
protection necessary to carry on their evangelistic work. These petitions have been filed for protection and redress
both on behalf of the individual and of the church. Acting on this principle, some sixty years ago, when our mission
work in China was in its infancy, it seemed perilous to risk our missionaries among a people that had no idea of
the meaning of "religious liberty."
In 1853 the Arkansas Baptist State Convention met at Camden, and during the session addressed a "memorial"
to the President and Congress of the United States on the subject of international religious liberty, which this
writer thinks is worthy of a place among the archives of early Arkansas history. The following is the "memorial":
To the Honorable, the President and Congress of the United States:
The memorial of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention respectfully showeth that your memorialists are members of
a religious body which embraces a large and respectable portion of the citizens of the United States. The object
of their petition is one which in the estimation of your memorialists, and in that of hundreds of thousands of
Christians in this land, embraces interests of great importance. As the community of civilized nations find it
necessary for the protection of the persons, property and rights of their respective inhabitants when visiting
foreign countries to enter into treaties with each other, and to establish resident officers abroad, in order to
watch over and secure these rights, it seems to your memorialists as reasonable and justifiable to provide in our
treaties for the security of free toleration in religious worship as for the security of any other rights.
All intercourse among civilized nations must be based on a firm exchange of free privileges, and a reciprocity
of advantages and immunities, and therefore, as the citizens and subjects of all nations with whom we form treaties
enjoy the free and unmolested exercise of their religious opinions and worship on our shores, we think this great
and powerful republic owes it to her citizens who reside in or visit foreign countries to include in their treaties
not only stipulations for their commercial and social rights, but also a guarantee for freedom from molestation
in their religious worship, a right deemed more sacred and important by Christian nations than any other privilege.
Your memorialists, in behalf of the body which they represent, and uttering the sentiments of millions of their
fellow-citizens in different parts of the land, earnestly request the attention of your honorable body to this
subject. And your memorialists will ever pray, etc. Signed by the regular officers of the convention in behalf
of and by the unanimous vote of the whole body, now in session, in Camden, Ark., this October 3,1853.
Jesse Hartwell, President. Samuel Stevenson, Secretary.
It is worthy of remark that this "memorial" had the desired effect, and for more than half a century
our missionaries in China have had as good protection in their religious teaching and worship as commercial men
have had in their business, and I am glad to send down to posterity a copy of the "memorial."
pg 272
THE ARKANSAS HISTORY COMMISSION—A REVIEW OF ITS WORK - Secretary's Report, By Dallas
T. Herndon
From small beginnings less than half a dozen years ago this Commission has made rapid strides towards the goal
which it set out then to attain. It is easy enough for any one to see why nothing less than that was to have been
expected.
It is now but a little more than a dozen years since a small coterie of forward-looking citizens waked up to the
fact that there had never been any effectively organized effort made to save the sources of our own state and local
history. A brief look over the field was quite sufficient to convince these same seekers after truth—the truth
of how the State and its institutions and its people came to be such as they are—that this condition of affairs
must not continue to exist.
Knowing full well, as they did, that subtle, vital forces, which make for enlightenment and progress, were lying
dormant and impotent in thousands of old records and documents, everywhere in the State, rotting and eaten of worms
for want of proper care, these discerning persons did not wake up to fall asleep again. Straightway the little
band organized for action. A campaign was started—a campaign that canvassed the whole State as its field of operation.
During the six and more years of preparatory work the workers so wisely and thoroughly cultivated the field that
patriotic citizens in every county and town in the State were reached and stirred to a lively sense of the importance
of the thing to be done. What was the result? Simply this: Public opinion has continued united in staunch support
of the Commission for these last half dozen years, while the latter—the Commission itself—has forged ahead with
the work for which it was called into being.
A good many years ago a great American, who was himself a notable example of his own teachings, said, "If
a man write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, though he build
his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door."
A little while ago one of the leading periodical journals of the country made capital Use of the simple truth which
this homely figure drives home. The aptness of the application was such that the meaning fairly struck one in the
face. "When Emerson or whoever it was that said that," said the editor, "he put the secret of efficiency
and its reward into words that will be remembered till men cease to believe that doing one's own task the very
best one can is worth while."
Since the day of its birth some dozen years ago, as the history of its transactions amply testify, this Commission
has moved with singleness of purpose straight to its mark. All that it has attempted to do has been shot through
with one spirit—a spirit intent on doing the thing in hand, just that and nothing more, in the best possible way
under the circumstances.
Though political turmoil and strife have sometimes beat round about as if bent on injecting the blighting influence
of indifference and incompetency into much that is of vital concern to the public welfare, it is gratifying to
be able to say to the intelligent, forward looking citizens of the State, those who truly want to see the State's
educational interests of every helpful, hopeful sort forge ahead, that the History Commission has never in all
its history suffered itself to be diverted for an instant from prosecuting the high aim charted for it by the legislature
that created it.
Though we have not built our house in the woods, so that the paths leading to the State museum and library of public
archives appear as beaten, yet of the hundreds and even thousands who have come in here during the past year, few
perhaps have passed out again without indicating some measure of admiration for the forethought of a people who
think it worth while to preserve those records that reveal even the very life and spirit of the community.
Indeed, there is hope—more, there is a positive guarantee—of the integrity and efficient administration of
democratic institutions when public opinion commits itself definitely to the principle which holds that nothing
short at the least of an elementary understanding of the history and traditions of the community where one lives
should constitute a part of the mental equipment of every freeman.
If we were asked to single out one feature of this work and put it forward ahead of the rest, as the most vitally
important part of the whole task to be performed, perhaps we should all with one accord agree that to the duty
"to build up a library rich in the original sources of our history" belongs that distinction. That part
of the work would seem to strike deeper and closer to the real heart of the whole matter, though at most it only
differs from the rest in degree and not in -the quality of its importance. For with the undertaking in all that
it comprehends the ultimate aim is to stimulate every man of us to think more clearly and straighter to the point,
each for himself and of himself, as responsible members of the community in which we live. While we have striven
to overlook no part of the work, especial pains have been taken day in and day out to assemble and assimilate as
well reliable and trustworthy material for the history of the State—of its laws, of its institutions and of its
people.
And now, at a time when we are surveying the work of the Commission as a whole, it is highly gratifying to be able
to say that anyone wishing it may, with the difficulties in the case reduced to a minimum, find his way by the
use of our card catalogue system to much of the published information of an historical and biographical nature
that has appeared from time to time in the years that are gone.
Many of the sources of this information are rarely to be met with by the public generally. Only a little while
ago no small part of it was even quite forgotten. Today, whatever is listed in our biographical catalogue, for
example, has been gathered up and placed in the archives in such a manner that it is easily accessible to anyone
who may have occasion to use it. In the first place, a number of books, largely or wholly biographical in character,
have appeared from time to time in other years. Most of them, in the very nature of the case, could only hope to
touch the field of historical biography in a few high places. The editions were quite limited—copies of the several
books were never at any time accessible to more than a few hundred individuals. Some of them, and probably all,
are now entirely out of print.
In the preparation of this catalogue it was and is our aim to present the whole mass of this published biographical
material, such as it is, in that manner that one may at least know what we have and be able to make use of it for
whatever it is worth. Thus has been laid the basis or a foundation for beginning a much larger undertaking in this
particular division or department of the work.
It is necessary to speak here but briefly of the plan for further developments in this direction. The Commission
has already acquired possession or the custody of newspaper files covering almost the whole period of the State's
history. In these old files is written the only record in existence of the part played by hundreds and thousands
of those who in their lifetime had a share in the processes which have brought Arkansas to its present state of
development.
Many such records appear in public print, usually at the time when the "grim reaper" has but lately sealed
the fate of one's career. Naturally, the record, if not indeed the individual, is soon forgotten. A few years pass
and nobody knows where to look to find any account of the life of the person in question.
Newspapers, as a rule, do not index their files. The information they contain is lost, therefore, for all practical
purposes, until by patient research, someone who knows how to assess historical values has had an opportunity to
bring to light whatever is worth preserving.
At present the biographical catalogue of the Commission contains, alphabetically arranged, several thousand references
to biographical narratives from just such sources. All those so arranged may be found on consulting the archives
and newspaper files of the Commission, if one has only a very little time and patience to follow up the references
given under each separate entry in the guide index.
But more than that, all the information thus far put into the classified catalogue, has been published as a bulletin,
making a pamphlet of more than 160 pages—a very handy guide book of fugitive biography that has made its appearance
only to be forgotten. The advantage of such a publication doubtless will readily occur to anyone. With such a book
at the elbow persons living at a distance may ascertain on the instant what is to be had about anyone in whom they
happen to be interested, without even taking the trouble to visit the quarters of the Commission.
As time passes and the lines marked out in this direction are followed up, the results ought to become an asset
of inestimable value to the State. Can any truly sincere well-wisher of all conscientious efforts making to put
the people of Arkansas in that state of mental preparedness which will enable them to make the most of their opportunities
entertain doubt about the value of such work?
Still another matter of similar character, though perhaps of greater importance even, is worthy of some special
mention in this connection.
From the very first there has been more or less constant demand for information of one kind or another concerning
all sorts of questions relating to the history of the State. Every such demand has always received our careful
consideration. And in consequence the requests for assistance and guidance to reliable sources have grown more
numerous.
In response to these demands, and for our own convenience—in order that we might serve the public more acceptably—we
have evolved a plan of our own for assembling and organizing permanently into systematic whole, just as they come
to surface from time to time, various fragmentary bits of information about many subjects. As it stands today with
this special feature of our work, something like 10,000 different items—each having a certain historical value,
some more and some less valuable— have found their way into the body of this material. The whole lot of it is arranged
in logical order under about 500 separate topics. So that if one should want to know something in particular about
our common schools, our colleges, the State University, courts of law, our revenue laws or system of taxation,
banks and banking, farms and farming, roads and highways, the war and reconstruction and so on through a wide range
of subjects, by consulting a card catalogue any item of information in this division of the Commission's archives
may be extracted at pleasure.
The material for this department of the work is selected from many sources. In part the selections have been taken
from newspapers published in different parts of the State. The whole lot of the material is so disposed that its
mass or bulk occupies perhaps the smallest possible amount of space. The system of classification is such that
almost any amount and variety of new matter can be added at any time, just as books are added to a library or letters
to a letter file, without disturbing in the least what has already found its proper resting place.
Furthermore, we now have plans under way which will greatly enlarge and extend the service of this information
bureau.
A number of students are at present doing intensive research in the newspaper files of the Commission. In each
such instance, of course, the student is in search of information about some special topic or epoch of Arkansas
history, such as, for example, pioneer immigration, the early roads, the first railroads, early banking, public
lands, slavery, the Indians, and so on ad infinitum. Every student who engages to search out new facts about any
one or more of these and a hundred and one other questions is necessarily compelled to make for his own use copious
notes which indicate exactly the place or time and character of the sources drawn upon. It is planned to take advantage
of the work that is done by all such persons in the public archives in a way to make it unnecessary for those who
come after—those who wish to pursue the same subject further or to discover something of an allied subject—to repeat
labor that has already been performed acceptably.
In consideration of the services which the Commission stands ever ready to render all comers, it is assumed that
persons seeking such help will gladly turn back the results of their work in order that the information exploited
may become available for general use. By entering all such references in the card catalogue just mentioned we shall
in due course perfect and greatly extend our facilities for public service.
Reference has been made more than once in what has gone before to newspaper files and their use. In the variety
and scope of the files thus far confided to our safe-keeping we are peculiarly fortunate. It may seem idle or superfluous
to enlarge on what has been said heretofore and incidentally of the importance of these sources of information.
In a continuous file of any first rate newspaper one may glimpse and gauge the ebb and flow of public opinion as
it acts and reacts towards the issues that stir the emotions, fire the mind and move men to action. The facts and
the sweep of opinion which such records reveal are the flesh and blood of history, without which all historical
writing would at best be but a skeleton of dry bones.
Perhaps the most notable single achievement in all the varied experience of this Commission was only recently brought
to a successful issue. That was the acquisition of the Whittington files as a trust loan. In passing the collection
over to be held in trust the present owner said he was sensible of a certain inherent right which the people of
the State have in it—the right to share the benefits of the vast store of information hidden away in the musty,
weather-beaten pages of these old volumes. Such sentiments, be it said, are the sparks of a generous spirit and
should be counted an honor to any man who has that within him which enables him to rise to such an occasion.
In this connection it would seem only proper that special recognition be accorded the Chairman who thrust his hand
deftly into the business of negotiating this loan at the psychological moment. The good-will and understanding
which he was able to bring to bear on the case with a stroke of his good offices turned the scale by just the right
inclination to make a successful conclusion of the whole matter.
Altogether we now have in the archives more than five hundred volumes of files running the whole length of our
history from territorial times. Likewise, as well, these same files cover a broad sweep in the affairs of the State,
containing, as they do, the daily or weekly chronicle of a moving stream of events and doings in the life of no
less than a dozen different centers of early settlement and subsequent growth.
If time permitted it, we might set down here a long list of the names of patriotic, public-spirited citizens who
by acts of generosity have made it possible for these gleanings from the past to become a source of public benefit.
For the present it is, perhaps, enough to say that the whole lot of it has been acquired actually at remarkably
small expense. And the achievement is all the more impressive when viewed in the light of a little knowledge of
what some other States have expended for similar material of far less real value.
As narrated here once before on another occasion, matters had so adjusted themselves by the beginning of the biennial
period just now closed that it became the duty of the Commission to assume responsibility for the care and preservation
of certain public documents, which, up to two years ago, were still stored at the old State Capitol. As stated
in our last report, the whole lot of books and papers was gone over very carefully to make sure that everything
of any value at at all from an historical point of view should be saved. Many hundreds of volumes of this material
were brought away and stored as best they might be in rooms set aside permanently for the purpose.
Several hundred feet of rough book shelves have been built—some prior to our meeting a year ago and more since
then—with such lumber as was to be had by taking down shelves along with the books where they stood at the old
State Capitol. More shelving space is needed in our storage rooms. When that shall have been provided these thousands
of books can be set up and assorted and the work of classification completed.
Part of this material, by no means an inconsiderable part of it, comprises the journals of the General Assembly,
departmental reports and other printed matter of more or less public importance, which has gone on accumulating
from time to time during the last three quarters of a century and more. Naturally, there are in some instances
a goodly number of duplicate copies of these various documents. And, it goes without saying, there is no lack of
demand for whatever there is of this matter that will not be needed to furnish our own wants to perfect the State's
public archives.
As a single illustration of the practical value that can and ought, it seems, to be made of it, the following is
quoted from a recent interview or letter in which the author indicates that he has had occasion sorely to lament
the paucity of Arkansas public documents and history sources to be had even in the Library of Congress. "Students
of Arkansas history," says the writer, "who desire to consult original sources, such as State papers
and documents, will find scant material in the Library of Congress. Arkansas is one of the few States which has
been remiss in supplying the Congressional Library with copies of State papers and documents. Three shelves about
three feet wide containing about 70 volumes and possibly two dozen pamphlets is the sum total of Arkansas' contribution,
and this little collection is an odd miscellany of titles and dates.
"Of the 70 odd bound volumes in the Arkansas collection most are journals of the legislative assemblies, and
there are many breaks in this set. Only the journals for the first territorial assembly is found, and the thirteenth,
fifteenth, thirtieth, thirty-fourth and fortieth assemblies are missing. There is another lapse for the legislative
assemblies from 1871 to 1881. The biennial reports of the State departments and institutions are not as complete
as the journals. The documents unbound are principally the messages of the governors of the State and skips of
from 10 to 15 years together are found in these."
By dint of much rather disagreeable toil we have succeeded in bringing order out of chaos in the arrangement of
part of the Arkansas documents to which the Commission has fallen heir. It is now possible to determine, in part,
what there is in the pile. And besides it is practical to handle it with some degree of expedition. Having notified
the Librarian of Congress only lately of our progress along this line and advised him of the fact that we are in
position to supply much that is wanting in the national library, he replied very promptly that the Commission,
by so doing, would render a marked service to the State and no less the Nation. Two years ago the Legislature gave
the Commission an appropriation which would have enabled us to secure photographic copies of the greater part of
the State's Confederate records in the archives of the Federal Government. The appropriation was vetoed. In that
circumstance there was nothing left to be done but continue as best we might the work of preparing a roster of
our Confederate soldiers from such scant, meager records as have been put at our disposal by numerous private individuals.
We now have a roll of some 20,000 names. These are arranged in alphabetical order. The name of each soldier was
first recorded on a specially prepared card, with whatever else was to be known about his service. All the cards
were later assembled in card cabinets in a-b-c order. But until we have the means with which to get copies of the
forty-five hundred original rolls—perhaps a little more or less—in Washington this particular feature of our work
must remain sadly defective in many ways.
For one thing, thousands of names, of which we now have no record at all, appear on the more complete rolls in
the War Department. To illustrate precisely what would be gained besides that point, if only we might sift the
officers' rolls and reports of the different commands, let us follow a little the career of a private who served
in the ranks of company "E," Sixth Arkansas Infantry, tracing his movements as revealed in the fuller
reports in possession of the United States Government. From all the sources that we have succeeded in laying hands
on up to now outside of the War Department we glean the following meager facts concerning Henry M. Stanley, the
late world-renowned English explorer.
He appears as a private in the volunteer company raised in Arkansas County by Samuel 6. Smith. It also appears
from the roll of muster that this company, called the "Dixie Grays" was accepted and sworn into the service
of the State of Arkansas at Little Rock about the first of June, 1861, as "Company No. 7" of the regiment
commanded by Col. Richard Lyons. Stanley was reported present for duty on the day of muster and also as having
taken the oath of allegiance to serve the State for a period of twelve months. From this point forward, however,
the record lapses into silence, so far as Private Stanley is concerned.
From the War Department records, which are in the nature of some half-dozen muster or inspection rolls made out
from time to time during the four years of war, we learn that Private Stanley was transferred to the Confederate
service with his regiment by his own consent on the 26th day of July, 1861, at Pocahontas, Arkansas. The officer
receiving the regiment into Confederate service was Col. Thomas H. Hindman. Stanley and the rest, those who consented
to the transfer, agreed thereby to serve out what remained of the term of their enlistment under the State, that
is to say ten months and five days.
By another roll, made out Feb. 8, 1862, at Shelbyville, Kentucky, we learn that Private Stanley was in camp with
his regiment on the date mentioned. Up to that time he had reported regularly for duty. A third muster, made out
on the 30th of April, 1862, gives the following explanation opposite his name: "Missing since the battle of
Shiloh." It appears from the various inspection rolls which were made out on subsequent occasions until the
last day of August, 1864, when the last roll now of record was made up, that Private Stanley never rejoined his
company and regiment after the memorable battle of Shiloh. What happened to him there on the 8th of April, 1862,
and of his later career, he himself has told us in his autobiography, all of which is here beside the mark.
The point to be emphasized is just this: By the expenditure of a small sum of money we shall be able to secure
the records of very many of the Arkansas troops who saw service in the Confederate Army—records that are reliable
and of a character such as to enable the Commission to complete the roster, now a part of the public archives of
the State, in a manner that will make it a very simple matter to trace the movements of thousands and tens of thousands
of private soldiers, of whom posterity knows little or nothing definite as touching the part they took in the war.
Is it not worth while to spend such a sum to make it possible for the present generation, and as well those unborn,
to know something definite concerning the conduct of the brave men who made up the rank and file of the armies
that followed the fortunes of the Confederacy?
And now, despite anything that may be said, perhaps there will always be those in our midst who think that the
results of all such labor lead only to naught; that all our efforts, be they ever so successful, still are as "Love's
Labors Lost" because put forth, forsooth, in unproductive, non-creative employment.
But how about the problem of saving something of what we produce while the processes of production go merrily on?
Whether or not we are qualified to give a satisfactory answer to that question—and act accordingly—will depend,
after all, half the battle of life. Many a man has made a fortune only to die a pauper and a failure. To create
just for the satisfaction of consuming is the very essence of selfishness. The last estate of those who produce
for no other, higher purpose may be even worse than the first.
Each generation owes a duty to itself, to say nothing of the future, to add something to the common store of wealth
and wisdom so essential to sustained progress in the universal struggle for fuller and freer and better ways of
living.
The finer things of life that are wrought out by the slow and painful process of experience do not get themselves
saved by chance. Those who are called to the task of preserving the fruits of our collective experience ought,
it would seem, to consecrate themselves to that work as a service to the divine spark that is in us.
pg 284
JOHN POPE—AN UNFINISHED SKETCH - By U. M. Rose
Explanatory. — This account of the life of Governor Pope (Governor of the Territory
of Arkansas, 1829-1834) was done by the late Judge U. M. Rose in the time of his last illness. One day, not many
before his death, a messenger put into my hand a note which requested me, if and when convenient, to call at his
house. The manner of the summons, since it left no doubt in me of its being at bottom a matter of business pertinent
to my station, stirred in me a lively sense of curiosity. Upon going to his house a few days later I was received
by an attendant in the uniform attire of a professional nurse, who informed me in all courtesy, though with firm
and impressive mien, that I must on no account prolong my visit beyond thirty minutes. Once in his presence I took
in at a glance how matters stood —how it fell out that such precautions came to be taken. The mere physical force
of the man was, as unmistakably appeared, far gone in infirmity. But withal, despite the enfeebled state of his
body under the weight of his many years, there shone in the light of his eye and revealed itself at every word
the luster of an intellect of whom it was never more truly said: "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force
abated." I shall never forget the one, to me, most valued impression I brought away—of the winsomeness of
this truly great man's supreme modesty, even simplicity.
The business he wanted of me had to be drawn to a close all too soon. A more inspiring half hour I never hope to
experience. In the course of it I learned of his purpose to write something of what he knew by actual experience
of the life and work of Gov. John Pope, relating perhaps more especially to Pope's services rendered the State
of Arkansas while it was yet only a Territory. One point made by Mr. Rose I remember very distinctly. It was this.
The bitter political rancor raging at the time while Pope was governor had prevented his being properly appreciated
even to this day. Since that memorable interview I have had occasion more than once to satisfy myself somewhat
of the truth of this matter to which my attention was there called for the first time. What a pity it seems that
such a work as I gathered from Mr. Rose he had it in mind to write was suddenly cut short. (Signed) Dallas T.
Herndon.
Some years ago in reading a sketch of early days in Arkansas I came to a passage relating to the second territorial
governor, John Pope, in which the writer spoke of him in terms of praise, adding, however, that but little seemed
to be known of his life, a circumstance on which I had often reflected myself, wondering how such a thing could
be. It was well known in a general way that Pope had held many high official positions, both State and Federal,
in all of which he acquitted himself creditably; that he was always unusually popular; and so must have been much
beloved; and that he died without any stain on his escutcheon. But details were sadly and strangely lacking. No
one seemed to know even when and where he was born or died.
My attention was riveted on Governor Pope very early in life from the fact that he was the first person that I
ever heard make a political speech. That was long ago; not far from seventy years ago, during the presidential
campaign of 1844. The occasion was a democratic rally, or a Jacksonian demonstration, most probably in the month
of June, when Jackson had just a year to live, passing his last days quietly at the Hermitage. I beheld the multitude
assembled, largely made up of farmers from the surrounding country with their neighing steeds that seemed to proclaim
some coming event of worldwide importance. And then I saw for the first time the man that was to be the center
and the oracle of the occasion. He was sitting in an old-fashioned splint-bottom chair at the foot of an immense
tree, receiving his friends with a grave, friendly and polished courtesy that was characteristic of the period,
quite naturally, and in a manner equally free from restraint and any kind of affectation.
It was a splendid day in early summer. The grass was green, and the sky, seen through the tops of the trees that
seemed to breathe a benediction on the scene, was blue, serene and cloudless. That was the man of the hour sitting
there in the old-fashioned chair; the man that had had a large influence in building up what is the present State
of Arkansas, and whose services are commemorated by one of our counties named in his honor. As I remember him thus
appearing in more than limelight to my youthful vision, he was neatly and elegantly dressed in light colored garments
appropriate to the season. He had the appearance of being still quite young, he was of medium statue, and quite
erect; his features were regular and classical in outline; his manners easy and unconstrained. What riveted my
attention was that this striking-looking person had only one arm, and I had never before seen any one who had been
thus mutilated. It was afterwards told me that when a boy he had lost his arm in some kind of agricultural machinery.
One could easily see that the orator of the day was among his friends, as everyone treated him with the most marked
deference and respect.
In that period of our history political excitement ran high. There was no neutrals; and every one must be either
Geulph or Ghibeline; every one was eager to hear what the speaker had to say on the weighty questions that deeply
agitated the public mind. The audience were mostly seated on long benches and chairs provided for the occasion,
though there was a pretty large contingent leaning against the trees, or seated on the lawn. Then there were two
or three benches occupied wholly by women, the darlings of the period. "The loving and the loved of yore"
dressed in Quaker style in dresses extremely narrow and skimp, coming clear down to the ground according to the
fashion of the day. It was formerly a part of Spanish dogma that the Queen of Spain had no legs; and at the time
of which I speak it was considered that modesty required that in polite estimation women had no feet, though such
pedal extremities by reason of obvious utility were their own excuse for being. The head-dresses, on the other
hand were conspicuously visible, consisting of poke bonnets ornamented with a profusion of wide ribbons of many
hues. At present such a display of costume would be deemed irrelevant and impossible; but we cannot doubt that
these specimens of the fair sex were much admired and flattered in their time. Poor unsophisticated beings! Not
one of them aspired to the right of suffrage, or had ever smashed a window, "Their time!" Where are they
now? Where are the snows of last year?
I have no recollection of anything that was said on that day by Governor Pope. I only remember that I regarded
him as the triumphant champion of the great patriot and warrior—Andrew Jackson, who had disconcerted and put to
flight the Whig cohorts, who were bent on the overthrow and destruction of free government. I recall also that
the speaker was frequently interrupted by enthusiastic and vociferous applause.
Though Governor Pope was born, lived and died in a county adjoining that in which I was born and spent my youth,
I never saw him afterwards; and I strongly suspect that I am the last survivor of the not inconsiderable audience
in 1844. They are probably as dead as the political principles that were then discussed. Well might Burke exclaim,
"What shadows we are, what shadows we pursue!"
Mrs. Pope was a lady of cultivation and refinement, and was highly esteemed for her many virtues, for her accomplishments
and for her social qualities. She was the sister of the wife of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United
States. Her father, Joshua Johnson, was for some years consul at London. Governor Thomas Johnson of Maryland was
her maternal uncle. Later he became a judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, and while holding that position
declined an appointment as chief justice of that court.
These two estimable ladies always moved in the best society in Washington and elsewhere. It was in that city and
in London that much of her life was spent. It was in Washington that she was married to Governor Pope, then a member
of Congress from Kentucky.
December 9th, 1912. Judge U. M. Rose, Little Rock, Ark.
My Dear Judge:
I desire to begin this letter with the confession of my dereliction of duty in not having acknowledged the receipt
of your favor of recent date, asking me to give you such information as I could obtain in regard to ex-Governor
Pope of your State, because I know that I should have acknowledged the receipt of your letter at once. I beg to
assure you, however, that I have not overlooked the matter and have not intentionally delayed writing you. Immediately
after the receipt of your letter I undertook to learn what I could with reference to the life and career of Governor
Pope, but as I had access to nothing further than the standard histories of Kentucky, I soon found that their references
to him were very meager, and I suppose that you probably had full opportunity to examine these for yourself. It
then occurred to me that as Dr. Curran Pope, of Louisville, was known to me to be one of the nearest living relatives
of Governor Pope, he would likely be able to give me more information than any other person, so I wrote him immediately
to give me all the information which he could furnish in reference to Governor Pope, and in a few days thereafter
I received a letter from him, saying that he would write me in a short time fully in answer to my letter, and it
was because of his delay in furnishing me this information that I have delayed writing you. I have today received
from him an answer to my letter, enclosing the attached memoranda with reference to Governor Pope, which I hope
will reach you in time for your purpose. Also I enclose herewith the letter from Dr. Pope written to me with the
desired enclosure. I infer from his letter that he understood that I was investigating this matter upon my own
account, but he misunderstood me, as I merely asked him to furnish me the information. I did not disclose your
name to him because I did not know that this would meet your entire approval, but as I have stated, merely asked
him to furnish me this information. This will explain to you the cause of my delay and my apparent discourtesy,
which I beg to assure you was in nowise intentional, and while I should have acknowledged the receipt of your letter
promptly, I delayed, hoping each day that I would be able to receive this information from Dr. Pope, and fully
expecting to forward it to you promptly. I know Dr. Pope well by reputation, and know that he is a very accomplished
and high-class gentleman and in every way trustworthy, and I felt that such information as he would give me would
be entirely reliable. I hope this may reach you in time to serve your purpose, and if there is anything further
that I can do, or if I receive any information from Judge Humphrey, who is referred to in the letter of Dr. Pope,
I shall take pleasure in forwarding the same to you without delay. With kindest regards to Mrs. Rose and yourself,
and hoping to have the pleasure of seeing you in person during the Christmas holidays, I remain, Your friend,
Emmett M. Dickson.
December 7, 1912. Mr. Emmett M. Dickson, Paris, Ky.
Dear Sir:
I take pleasure in sending you herein an account of the life of Gov. John Pope. I obtained the information enclosed
through the courtesy of my friend and cousin, Mr. Rogers Ballard Thruston, who has gathered this data during the
course of a somewhat extended investigation. I trust that it will give you the facts you desire, and enable you
to prepare the paper you propose writing. I am trying to get some further data from my cousin, Judge Alexander
P. Humphrey, who I hope will be able to furnish same, which I will forward to you at once. Regretting the delay,
which was due to an unusual pressure of professional work, I beg to remain, Very truly yours, Curran Pope.
John Pope - Eldest son of Col. William Pope was born in Prince William County, Virginia, in the year 1770. He emigrated
to Kentucky in 1779, attended Dr. Priestley's school at Bardstown, Ky., about 1785-6, and lost his right arm by
an accident in a cornstalk mill when still a youth. He engaged in the practice of the law and had a strong leaning
towards politics; soon became a power in the Federal party and was presidential elector in 1801. Represented Shelby
county in Kentucky Legislature in 1802 and Fayette county in 1806-7. In 1806 he was elected a United States Senator
from Kentucky and served from 1807 to 1813 and was president pro tern of that body in 1810-11. His colleague in
the Senate was Henry Clay, a Democrat and on practically every point the two were opposed to each other and by
the time 1816 came around, they seemed to have swapped horses. It was in this year that George Madison died, and
was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Gabriel Slaughter, who appointed John Pope his Secretary of State in 1819.
President Monroe paid a visit to Louisville, accompanied by Gen. Jackson. They were warmly received and entertained
at a public dinner at Washington Hall, then the principal hotel, on the south side of Main street near 2nd. They
were entertained at the home of Alexander Pope, a brother of John Pope, then residing on the south side of Jefferson
between 6th and 7th. It was here that Gen. Jackson was first put forward as a Democratic candidate for president.
In 1821 he was one of the legislative committee of four appointed to thoroughly consider the educational condition
in the State and to prepare a common school bill. This was done in a thorough and most complete manner and though
recommended by the governor to several legislatures, it was never acted upon. He was a State Senator from Washington
county, Ky., from 1825 to 1829, when he was appointed territorial governor of Arkansas by Gen. Jackson, and being
reappointed, held the position for six years until 1835. It was during this period that he had a bitter quarrel
with Mr. Noland that would have resulted in a duel had it not been that his opponent was not willing to fight a
one-armed man. His nephew, Fontaine Pope, son of Alexander, who was his secretary, espoused his uncle's quarrel,
fought the duel and was killed in 1831. For this Gov. John Pope was very severely censured by practically everyone,
including his own family. The feeling was so intense that upon one of his visits home, he was almost ostracized
by his former friends and associates. At the expiration of his second term as governor, he returned to Kentucky
and settled in Washington county, ran for Congress and was defeated by Ben Hardin. He again became a candidate
and was elected for three successive terms and served from 1837 to 1843. He was a Freemason, at one time being
the Grand Orator, and died at his home in Washington county, July 12th, 1845, in the 74th year of his age. Governor
Pope was a brother-in-law of President John Quincy Adams, but voted for General Jackson in 1824, and actively canvassed
Kentucky and Virginia in Jackson's behalf in the campaign of 1828. After the election, it was strongly intimated
from high sources that he would be appointed to the portfolio of Attorney General in President Jackson's cabinet,
but that honor went to John M. Berrien of Georgia. He was married three times, first to Miss Christian, second
to Miss Elizabeth Johnson, and third to Mrs. Walton, widow of Gen. Matt. Walton of Springfield, Ky., who was a
member of Congress from 1803 to 1807. By his first and third marriages he had no children. His second wife was
Miss Elizabeth Johnson, daughter of Hon. Joshua Johnson, who was American Consul General at London in 1794-5, at
which time John Quincy Adams, afterwards president of the United States, met her sister, Miss Louisa Katherine
Johnson, whom he subsequently married July 26, 1797. Their father's brother, Thomas Johnson, was one of the signers
of the Declaration of Independence, first governor of Maryland and afterwards one of the Justices of the Supreme
Court of the United States. By this marriage, Gov. Pope had two children, Florida and Elizabeth. Florida died young
and unmarried. Elizabeth married John Cocke, a prominent lawyer of Arkansas,* by whom she had two children, John
and Mary.
John Cocke, whose name was afterwards changed to John Pope, married Theresa Smith, first cousin of Mrs. Isaac Caldwell
of Louisville, Ky., and his daughter, Mary Elizabeth, married E. P. McAdams, son of a wealthy tobacconist in Western
Kentucky.
Mary Elizabeth Pope and E. P. McAdams' children are as follows: Louise, who married Ike C. Adair, banker of Fordsville,
Ky. They have one child, a daughter, Marion. John Pope is a first lieutenant in the United States army. He married
Miss Francis Hennen of Hawesville, Ky., and has one daughter, Martha Hall. Lena B. married W. C. Kelly, merchant
of Hawesville, Ky. She has four children, Wm. Carroll, Margaret Elizabeth, Eugene and James Pope. Samuel L. married
Miss Pearl Lawson, of Hawesville, Ky. They have three children, Milton, Mary Elizabeth and George Newman. Robert
Pope is an assistant paymaster in the United States navy. Edward Pope is cashier of the National Bank of Beattyville
in Eastern Kentucky. Eugenia is in school at Nazareth, Ky. Carroll, Eugene and George died young and unmarried.
John Pope (son of John Cocke and Elizabeth Pope), was a major in the Confederate army. He died at Owensboro, Ky.,
age 38.
Mary Cocke (daughter of John Cocke and Elizabeth Pope), married Jas. B. Johnson, a brother of United States Senator
Robert W. Johnson, who was killed in the Civil War. After his death, his widow married Major Nicholas Hill and
removed with him to Maryland, where at last accounts, she was still living, and has four children, two Johnson
and two Hill children.
Gov. John Pope's third wife was the widow of General Walton of Springfield, Ky., by whom he had no children.
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