LITTLE ROCK IN 1832

HISTORY OF LITTLE ROCK AND PULASKI COUNTY

Pulaski County Arkansas Genealogy Trails

LITTLE ROCK IN 1832

Contributed by Kim Torp

Source: Excerpt from Early days in Arkansas : being for the most part the personal recollections of an old settler by William F. Pope, Little Rock, Ark.: F.W. Allsopp, 1895, Chapter VII.

But little of the capital could be seen from the north side of the river when I first saw the town in 1832, on account of the high and irregular bluffs on the south bank, which time and the march of improvement have greatly lowered and depressed.
In the first geography I ever studied, when a boy, the author located the capital of Arkansas on the north side of the river, and called it Arkapolis. This glaring error was continued subsequently in Morse's Geography. I am informed that this misnomer grew abroad as the result of a meeting of a few citizens of Little Rock, held February 10, 1821, at which a resolution was adopted, changing the name of the town to Arkapolis. The resolution had few friends outside of the meeting, and the proposition fell stillborn at home, although the publication of its adoption abroad found favor with the geographers.
The name Little Rock is the anglicization of the ancient and well known French name, Petit Roche, little submerged rock ; and was first used to distinguish the site from the Grand Rochelle, or Big Rock, a mile or more above on the river.
The incorporated portion of the town lay west of the Quapaw line, which line has already been described in these pages. The steamboat landing was not inside the corporate limits, but was then, as now, at the foot of what was called First street (now Commerce street). At that period, First street extended from the landing to Markham street and no further. This eastern extension of Markham street was, however, not inside the corporation. A narrow street, scarcely more than an alley, called Elm street, extended from Rock street to Gaines street, then the extreme western limits of the town. Elm street was also extended eastward to what is now Sherman street.
On the east side of First, or Commerce street, and near the river, stood two large log warehouses, owned and used by Enezy Wilson & Son for storing freight brought by steamboats to this port.
On the north side of Elm street, near First street, there was a group of small log houses occupied as dwellings and owned by Richard C. Byrd. Scattered about in this vicinity were a number of small log houses and shanties extending along the river bank to Cumberland street.
Still viewing Little Rock from the north side of the river, no other buildings came in sight until a point opposite Spring street was reached.    Here a steam saw mill came in view, and on the bluff immediately west two or three neat cottages which were owned and occupied by Dr. John H. Cocke and Dr. Bushead W. Lee. At the foot of and on the east side of Arch street was the residence of Samuel Hall, Esq., a prominent lawyer of the town.
The buildings here mentioned were the only ones in Little Rock that could be seen from the North Side. In the town proper, the streets extending south from the river did not run due south, but had a variation of eight degrees west. At that time Rock was the only street that ran entirely through to the southern limits of the town. The names of the streets were as follows : Those running south were, in the order given, Rock, Cumberland and Scott, each sixty feet wide; Main, then called East Main, eighty feet wide, Louisiana, Center and Spring, each sixty feet wide; West Main, now Broadway, eighty feet wide; Arch and Gaines, each sixty feet wide.
The streets running east and west were in the following order : Elm, a very narrow street; Markham, Cherry (Second), Mulberry (Third) and Walnut (Fourth), each sixty feet wide; Orange (Fifth), eighty feet wide; Elizabeth (Sixth), Chesnut (Seventh), Hazel (Eighth), Holly (Ninth), Caroline each sixty feet wide. North and Water two short streets west of Arch and north of Markham. This constituted the entire corporate limits of Little Rock in 1832.
The built up portion of the town lay, chiefly, between Cumberland and West Main (Broadway) streets, and the river and Mulberry (Third) street. There were, however, a few houses on Scott street, as far south as Holly (Ninth). Among the latter was the fine brick residence and office of Robert Crittenden, Esq., occupying a whole block of ground, with its beautiful lawn and gardens. This property afterwards passed into the possession of Judge Benjamin Johnson, who greatly improved and added to the building. The old mansion is now the family residence of ex-Governor Eagle, its interior modernized and beautified, I am told.
Old buildings, especially if they have the flavor of romance or tragedy surrounding them, are always interesting. Of such, Little Rock had not a few, particularly the tragic.
In the early days of any country, no matter how intelligent, refined and honorable the better class of the people were, there were to be found men of lawless and desperate characters, who had to be met with force and swift justice. Besides, the want of action and constant occupation, and the great interest taken in local politics; or quarrels growing out of some real or fancied wrong, or disputes over a piece of land or other property, often led to bloody encounters. Sometimes they were decided on the field of honor, falsely so called, and at others resulted in a rough and tumble fight or a shooting or cutting scrape. Arkansas was no worse in this respect than any other new State. Nor was she any better than her neighbors. It is a fact worthy of mention that it was rare, exceedingly so, that anyone was ever assassinated in cold blood, or killed for the purpose of robbery. The crimes of robbery and burglary were hardly known in the community. Lynchings were almost unknown, and the mob had no place in our early history. These things came with a more advanced civilization. There was, however, a disposition on the part of juries to punish the crime of killing by imprisonment only. This practice became so notorious that Governor Pope in a message to the legislative assembly in 1831, said:
"It is confidently believed that nothing has conduced more to disturb the public peace and impair the security of human life than the mitigation of murder to manslaughter in cases of ordinary provocation, or sudden heat and passion. Men should be brought to bridle their passions when life is at stake, and no excuse for shedding blood should be received but that of absolute necessity. The distinction between murder and manslaughter should be abolished in all cases where a dirk, pistol or other deadly weapon is used, except in cases of self defense."
These words, read in the light of passing events, sixty-three years after they were uttered, seem almost prophetic.
With this digression, I hasten to give my readers a description of some historic buildings and the events connected with their history. The building in which the Arkansas Gazette was published was a two-story brick structure on the northeast corner of Markham and Scott streets, standing flush with both streets. On the south side of Markham street, fronting the Gazette office, and standing back some distance from the street, was a very large two-story brick mansion, built after the Greek style of architecture, with high brick columns, stuccoed in imitation of stone, supporting the long portico which extended the full length of the building from east to west. This splendid residence, with its trimly kept gardens and orchards; its conservatories and hothouses ; its servants' quarters, stables, carriage houses and other buildings, which occupied the entire block between Markham and Cherry (Second) streets, and Scott and Cumberland streets, at once marked its owner, Col. Chester Ashley, as a man of wealth and elegance. This old time seat of refinement and hospitality has witnessed the evolution from village to town, and from town to city. During the occupation of the town by the Federal forces in 1863, it became the headquarters of the commanding general, and was in turn used for real estate offices, telegraph offices and various other purposes. At the present writing, the old mansion is used for a hotel, and the balance of the block is occupied by mercantile houses, cotton warehouses and factories. There it stands, "somewhat back from the (city) street," a venerable relic of the past, with the noise and turmoil and bustle of our modern civilization all about it. During Territorial times, and the early days of the State, this old manor house was the political mecca of pilgrims of the Democratic faith, who sought wisdom and guidance at the feet of the owner of the house.
While Col. Ashley was looked up to as a leader, and one of the chief sources of inspiration in his party, he never sought high political preferment until 1844, when he was elected to the United States Senate.
The hotel of that day was kept by Major Nicholas Peay, and was situated on the southwest corner of Markham and Scott streets. The hotel building was far from imposing, and consisted of a row of one-story frame buildings connected together, and which were built at different times as the need for more room demanded. These buildings extended west to a small brick structure on the alley dividing the block. This brick building was used for the hotel bar. This house of entertainment was called "Peay's Hotel. In after years the well known Anthony House occupied a part of the ground upon which this ancient hostelry stood.
By far the largest and finest mercantile establishment in the town was that of McLane & Badgett.    Their building was a two-story brick, and was considered at that time a very imposing affair. It stood on the west side of Main street, about midway of the block, between Markham and Cherry (Second) streets, and covered an entire lot. This building had already gained considerable notoriety as having been the scene of the killing of Major Isaac Watkins by a desperado named Smith.
The facts of this deplorable tragedy are about as follows: Sometime in the year 1826, Major Isaac Watkins, a prominent and highly respected citizen of Little Rock, visited his farm, some three miles above town, on the south side of the river. Major Watkins had been greatly harrassed by having his cattle and hogs stolen and determined to ferret out the culprit. On this trip to his farm, he discovered the heads of two of his hogs recently killed lying in a cane-brake near the road. Near the farm was the cabin of the man Smith, whom the Major suspected of the crime of hog-stealing. On his return to town, he met Smith on the street, and charged him with the offense. Smith indignantly denied the charge and applied some vile epithets to Major Watkins, who struck him with a small stick which he was carrying. Smith attempted to retaliate, but the interference of bystanders prevented any further hostilities at the time. The next day, however, Smith rode into town carrying his rifle across his saddle. About the same time Major Watkins walked into McLane & Badgett's store and took a seat, tilting the chair back against the counter, presenting his left side to the front door. Smith, observing the Major enter the store, reined his horse up to the sidewalk, and, without dismounting, took deliberate aim and fired upon his victim, the ball striking a vital spot; Major Watkins fell from the chair mortally wounded, and died in a few hours in great agony. Amidst the excitement that followed, the assassin made his escape to the dense woods, a few hundred yards distant, and was never heard of afterwards, although diligent search was made and large rewards offered for his capture. Smith was indicted for murder, and long after I came to the Territory, the case of "The People of Arkansas versus John Smith" was regularly called at the terms of the court, and the sheriff as regularly responded, "Not in custody." The case was finally strickened from the docket.
Directly opposite the last mentioned building, and standing back some distance from the street, was a two-story brick building, occupied as a tavern and kept by Theran Brownfield. This building was erected in the very early settlement of the town, and was the scene of many bloody affrays among the lawless characters of those days.
About the year 1825, three distinguished gentlemen from the State were sent by the general government as commissioners to negotiate the purchase of lands belonging to the Cherokee Indians. Upon their return journey these gentlemen stopped in Little Rock and were tendered a banquet by the citizens. The banquet was spread in the tavern above referred to. After the banquet was over and the guests and more respectable portion of the company had retired from the hall, the tables were taken possession of by a lot of rowdies who were soon in a state of drunkenness bordering on frenzy, and made the hall resound with their oaths and yells. In the midst of this pandemonium, one Smith Johnson, a young man, mounted one of the tables, and walked from one end of it to the other, kicking dishes, plates, glasses and other articles of table ware in all directions. When he reached the far end of the table, he was seized by one of the more orderly persons present and dragged from the table. Johnson drew a knife and stabbed his assailant, killing him instantly. In the "confusion, worse confounded" by the addition of this tragedy, the murderer escaped and was never apprehended. This building became very unsafe and fell down in 1834, though unoccupied at the time.
Located on the southeast corner of Louisiana and Cherry (Second) streets there stood until recently a one-story, four room brick house, the property and residence of Governor John Pope during Territorial days. The property is now the site of the Turner and Moore office building.
Another of the old landmarks still stands near the southwest corner of Spring and Cherry (Second) and was until recently occupied as a residence by the family of the late S. H. Tucker.    When I first knew the place, it was a modest little brick cottage of not exceeding three rooms. Here lived and died in 1828, Governor George Izard, second Governor of Arkansas Territory.
Another old house which has withstood the march of improvement, and which has had a varied experience, stood and is still standing, at the northwest corner of Cumberland and Mulberry (Third) streets. When I first knew this old house, now sixty-two years ago, it was a two-story log building, but the addition of weatherboarding has given it the appearance of a frame structure. This old house was built and owned by one Jesse Henderliter, a German, who kept a small grocery store in the west end of the building, occupying the balance as a family residence. The property afterward passed into the possession of Thomas Thorn, who was one of the contractors for building the new State House, as it was afterwards called, and gained notoriety as having been the place of meeting of the last Territorial Legislature, in October, 1835. Also, as having been the place of temporary confinement, under guard, of Hon. John Wilson, Speaker of the House of Representatives at the extraordinary session of the Legislature in 1837, and who killed J. J. Anthony, a Represenative from Lawrence county in the hall of the House of Representatives at that session.
Little Rock had many handsome private residences, the abodes of an elegance and refinement not surpassed by any community in the United States.
As far back as the days of which I write Little Rock was noted for its abundance of flowers and shrubbery, especially the rose, a notoriety it still retains, being now often denominated the "City of Roses."

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