Excerpt
Chapter 1: Pioneers and Founding Fathers

No one knows for certain when man first inhabited Arkansas, but until Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto arrived within the state off the Mississippi River somewhere below the present site of Memphis on June 18, 1541, Indians were the lone occupants and they had never before seen a Caucasian in their homeland.

Other white explorers ventured into the state over the ensuing 145 years, but there was no white settlement until 1686, when Italian explorer Henry De Tonti built one at Arkansas Post along the Arkansas River in what would, in 1813, become Arkansas County, the state’s first county.

Thus, the history of the state as a whole is cradled within Southeast Arkansas.

Arkansas — first part of Louisiana and then, following the Louisiana Purchase, part of Missouri until 1819 — was largely an untamed wilderness well into the 1800s. Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Gerstaecker (1816-1872), a German-born author, wrote about his often savage experiences in Arkansas during the late 1830s and early 1840s in the 1845-published Wild Sports in the Far West, one of the first documentations of the ruggedness of life within the state.

Civilization did come to Arkansas, but not all at once.

Most Arkansans were directly dependent on land and nature for their daily existence and whatever income they could muster. It was good that game was plentiful, as its meat provided nourishment and its hides brought financial or trade rewards. There was little security beyond one’s own means, and folk had to be alert not only for animal attacks, but also for other persons who might be seeking unlawful gains.

Slavery in America dates back to 1619. The practice in Arkansas dates back to around 1719, when Scottish economist John Law brought in a boatload of slaves from Guinea to work at a Law-created colony near Arkansas Post. The settlement failed after a couple of years.

Only a few early Arkansans owned slaves. Those who did depended upon their slaves’ labor for dwellings and other necessities. Many of the first white settlers resided in primitive shelters until other settlers arrived, and they would then help each other in constructing better housing. But, as more affluent newcomers arrived and the number of businesses and large plantations increased, slavery became more and more common.

Most whites became sharecroppers and, depending upon the season or the exaction of overseers or the planters themselves, worked six or seven days a week, alongside the slaves. The sharecroppers were compensated with living quarters and, sometimes, their own livestock and a barn as well as a small section of land on which they could raise fruits and vegetables or cotton.

Life as a sharecropper was certainly better than that of a slave, but it was nevertheless drab, difficult and demanding. The command of the human spirit was evidenced, however, in the ways both slaves and sharecroppers managed to create measures of fun and enjoyment in their lives.

New counties were established as settlements of various sizes were shaped and named and then recognized as communities, towns and cities.

When Congress approved the creation of the Arkansas Territory in early 1819, there were a dozen or so other settlements around Arkansas Post.

Acting Governor Robert Crittenden soon appointed the first officers of Arkansas County, which was enacted in 1813.

Hewes Scull was named sheriff and soon summoned twenty-two men as grand jurors. Surely among the more prominent of the day, those called were Robert Allgore, Daniel H. Baldwin, Jacob Barkman, Peter H. Bennett, Patrick Cassidy, J. H. Cummins, James Curren, Bartley Harrington, John Harrington, Samuel Lemmons, John McCartney, Shiloh Mather, Frederic Notrebe, Richmond Peeler, James S. Polet, Samuel H. Rutherford, James Scull, Harold Stillwell, Joseph Stillwell, John Taylor, John Weane and James Young.

Arkansas County was then much larger, so its inhabitants were scattered across a wide area.

Jefferson County was constituted in 1829. Joseph Bonne, a French hunter and trapper who in 1819 built a wigwam along the Arkansas River, was the first white to permanently settle in the county. For some time, his only companion was his dog.

But others — including Antoine Barraque, Ambrose Bartholomew, John Derresseaux, Israel Dodge, Antoine Duchesson, Euclid Johnson, David Musick, Frances Villier and the Dardenne and Vaugine families — arrived over the next few years and, like Bonne, made their homes near the river.

The 1830 U.S. Census shows respective population counts of 1,426 and 772 for Arkansas and Jefferson Counties.

Desha County was instituted in 1838. The Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers meet within the county, which borders the Mississippi. Thus, the county encompassed a major port area.

Some of the county’s earliest settlers were the Cooper, Jamison, Morris and Watson families.

In the 1840 census, Arkansas County counted 1,346 residents, Jefferson County 2,566 and Desha County 1,598.

Among the first settlers of Bradley County, established in 1840, were Alexander Beard, Frank Berry, Capt. Hugh Bradley (for whom the county is named), Dr. John T. Carleen, Bryant Gardner, Aaron Johnston, Isaac Pennington, Jacob Pennington, Charles H. Seay and Henry Wise.

Dallas County was incorporated in 1845. Noted citizens of the time included P. S. Bethel, Hawes Coleman, Henry Gray, James Kennedy, Moses Overton, William Owen, Albert Phillips, Squire Ramsay and Presley Watts.

Drew County was created in 1846. Believed to be the county’s first permanent white residents were Reece Bowden and Stephen Gaster, who settled along Bayou Batholomew in 1832.

Among others who lived in the county before it was incorporated were Hugh Fannin, John S. Handly, Jesse Hunt, Benjamin Martin, Benjamin Nettles, Bynum Nichols, Ezekiel Owens, J. W. Ridgell and Jesse Whitaker.

Respective populations in the 1850 census for Arkansas, Jefferson, Desha, Bradley, Dallas and Drew Counties were 3,245; 5,834; 2,911; 3,829; 6,877; and 3,276. The 1860 counts, in the same order, were 8,844; 14,971; 6,459; 8,388; 8,283; and 9,078.

Grant County, in 1869, became the first county established after the Civil War. Only a few whites resided in the county prior to 1840, but it experienced a boon the following year when Merrill Alley, Seth Atchley, Hugh Berry, Jonas Black, Edward Calvert, James Hester, John B. Hester, Benjamin Hubbard, Francis Posey and James Rogers settled there, along with the Fenters, Porter, Tull and Williams families.

The 1870 census listed the following county populations: Arkansas 8,268; Jefferson 15,733; Desha 6,125; Bradley 8,646; Dallas 5,707; Drew 9,960; and Grant 3,943.

Lincoln County was formulated in 1871. Earliest residents included William Adkins, J.E. Cox, J.L. Hunter, Calvin Jones, Shelby Richardson, William Sanders, John Sweeney, Dr. C.M. Taylor, F.R. Smith, W.F. Varner and the Atkinson, Bachelor and Pendleton families.

Among the first settlers of Cleveland County, established in 1873, were Thomas Atkinson, W.T. Brewer, Joseph Gray, William Hall, M. J. Harrison, Stephen Johnson, William Moseley, John Powers, John Seymour, H. W. Rogers and the Barnett, Blankenship, Kennedy and Springer families.

The 1880 census had the following county populations: Arkansas 8,038; Jefferson 22,386; Desha 8,973; Bradley 6,285; Dallas 6,505; Drew 12,231; Grant 6,185; and Lincoln 9,255. Cleveland County wasn’t listed in the 1880 count.

Pine Bluff, the region’s primary city, was incorporated in 1839. It’s population more than tripled between 1880 and 1890, from 3,203 to 9,952.

In recent times, the City of Altheimer has found itself struggling to simply survive, but the generosity of its founding family continues to grow and serve.

Brothers Joseph and Louis Altheimer founded the city in 1884. A primary reason behind the town’s organization was an effort to gain railroad service.

Louis Altheimer proposed the matter to the Cotton Belt Railroad and surveyed a line from North Little Rock to Altheimer. He convinced Cotton Belt officials that a potential wealth of commerce awaited in the Altheimer area.

The Altheimer brothers donated land for a depot and switching tracks and, with the help of supporting neighbors, donated $1,200 for the depot’s construction. Within three years, work on the line was underway and the City of Altheimer would soon experience a boon.

The brothers, who purchased a number of large land tracts in Jefferson County, dissolved their partnership in 1892, but the family’s devotion to the city that bears its name has only strengthened over the years.

Ben J. Altheimer, a son of Joseph Altheimer, was born in 1877. He became an attorney and had a successful practice in Chicago. But he always maintained a love of Arkansas, especially its farming and natural areas. He also possessed a deep appreciation for and admiration of farm workers and actively sought to improve their financial and educational opportunities. In the early 1930s, he renovated an old plantation home near Altheimer. When he retired in 1939, he left Chicago and established residency at “The Elms” house. In 1942, he established the Ben J. Altheimer Foundation to benefit Arkansas churches, civic endeavors and education. Ben Altheimer’s Jefferson County friends and neighbors would and continue to enjoy the foundation’s devoted assistance. School buildings, annual scholarships, medical facilities and equipment, church donations and a $100,000 matching grant program are among the many benefits that have been provided by the trust.

Reflecting Ben Altheimer’s passion for farming, the charity also sponsors three chairs in the agriculture department of the University of Arkansas System. And illustrating his devotion to law, the organization established the Ben J. Altheimer Law Library in Pine Bluff, supported construction of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s School of Law and provided for the university system’s Ben J. Altheimer Distinguished Professorship and Ben J. Altheimer Lecture Series.

Ben Altheimer died in 1946, but his and the Altheimer family’s productive legacy is alive and thriving.

Antoine Barraque, born in France in 1773, was one of Jefferson County’s earliest settlers. After arriving here around 1816, he acquired land below Pine Bluff. His holdings gave birth to a community he named New Gascony in tribute to Gascony, France. New Gascony served as the Jefferson County seat for a brief time. Barraque died in Pine Bluff in 1858. The city’s Barraque Street was named as a tribute to him. It is the only such-named street in the entire United States.


Important dates in Pine Bluff’s history:

1814 — First settlements recorded in what is now Jefferson County.
1818 — First Quapaw Treaty signed.
1819 — Arkansas admitted to the U.S. as a territory.
1824 — Second Quapaw Treaty signed.
1829 — Jefferson County established.
1836 — Arkansas admitted to the U.S. as a state.
1839 — Pine Bluff first incorporated.
1863 — Battle of Pine Bluff.
1870 — First public school built.
1873 — Railroad service arrived.
1875 — Branch Normal College (University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) began classes.
1885 — Telephone service began.
1902 — First electric street cars.
1906 — Union Station Depot constructed.
1914 — First concrete road (the Dollarway Road) completed between Pine Bluff and Little Rock.
1927 — The Great Flood impacts the Pine Bluff area, as well as seven states.
1941 — Construction of the Pine Bluff Arsenal began.
1976 — Fire destroyed the Jefferson County Courthouse.