Tulip, Dallas
County, Arkansas
Tulip Community Building
Tulip is about 25 miles north of Fordyce on
Highway 9. William Dunbar and an exploring party crossed
Tulip Ridge in 1804. During the eighteenth century, a French
trapper Tulipe had hidden some goods in the area. It was
called "Cache
La Tulipe." In 1828, Moses Overton, the first pioneer
settler, built his home and later a store. He was followed
in 1833 by Tyre Brown, a wealthy Tennessee planter who
built a plank home from logs held in a slanting position
by two Negroes and cut by two others using a whip saw.
He farmed on a grand style and for a while the area was
called "Brownsville" in
his honor. He was the first Postmaster in Tulip from 1845-47.
He received mail that was brought in by stagecoach once
a week. Other prominent planters from Tennessee and the
Carolinas settled in the area. The area was also known
as "Smithville," Col.
Maurice Smith, Samuel H. Smith, Samuel W. Smith, Alexander
Smith and Richard Smith built their homes close together.
Later, another unrelated Smith, Gen. Nathaniel G. Smith,
led the effort to change the name to Tulip. Surveyor Joseph
Gray laid out the town of Tulip on March 13, 1845. Those
present were Col. William Bayless, Col. Maurice Smith,
T. H. Brown, Peyton S. Bethel and Dr. William Pinckney
Bethel. Bayless built the first store in Tulip and Dr.
Bethel built the first school. Dr. Lewis D. Cooper was
the first doctor in Tulip. Besides Cooper and Bethel, Dr.
James K. Cooksey had an office in Tulip. The town consisted
of the usual shops, lawyers offices, livery stables, blacksmith
shop owned and operated by George Doty, tailor L. D. Lipscomb,
and merchants James A. Pattille, The Carpenter Bros., A.
G. and Drury Neville, Boza's Saddlery, James Pryor (shoemaker
and carriage maker) and Major Borden, who ran a boarding
house. The family names were Eaton. Lea, McNail Pryor,
Reid, Wilson, Patille, Butler, Green, Mat lock, Bayless,
Thrasher, Grant, Barbee, Jones, Hughes, Hunter, Cheatham,
Boyd, Cooper, Doty, Reamey and Bethel. Presley Watts, James
Kennedy, Moses Overton and Henry Gray once lived in Tulip.
Tulip was not situated on water, but was a stage stop for
the Chidester Stage between Camden and Little Rock. The Concord
Coach line also had a stop in Tulip. The Tulip, believed to
be the first monthly news magazine published in Arkansas was
founded 1850 by William E. Smith, publisher and proprietor
with George D. Alexander, John S. Garvin and Benjamin J. Borden
as editors. D. J. Borden had for a while been Publisher and
Editor of the Arkansas Gazette. A French woman named Madame
Estimarille opened a school early in the 1840's. In the mid
1840's, Rev. John Pryor, Presbyterian, opened a Female Academy,
in 1849 G. D. Alexander began the Alexander Institute
Tulip also had the first Arkansas military academy, chartered
by the state Legislature in 1850 and called the Arkansas Military
Institute The 1851 graduating class included Cadet Angus F.
McNeill, Salutatory address; Cadet William N. Smith; Cadet
George J. Byrd, Cadet James E. Caldwell, Cadet N. D. Flourney,
Cadet Robert Bethel and Cadet William G. Daniel. At the May
Day festivities at the academy in 1854, Arkansas Gov. Roane
was the guest speaker. He met and later married Mary Kimbrough
Smith, the daughter of Gen. Nathaniel G. Smith, in July, 1855.
Among the wedding guest, were Albert Pike, Judge Elbert English,
Chester Ashley, William Woodruff (founder of the Arkansas Gazette)
and the Dauleys. The ceremony was performed by Judge Somerville.
At the outbreak of the War, Cap. Albert Pike returned to the
community to teach the young men the art of war.
 The
Methodist congregation at Tulip was first called Smith's Chapel.
Rev. William Mason helped establish the Methodist congregation
in 1844. The Arkansas Methodist Convention met in Tulip in
1853. During the War, in 1863, Smith's Chapel became a field
hospital for many wounded soldiers. Many were buried in the
Tulip Cemetery. The Presbyterian congregation was organized
by Rev. A. R. Banks about 1840. The Rev. M. W. Bayless led
the Baptists in Tulip. The Arkansas Baptist State Convention
was organized at Tulip in 1848 under the leadership of Arkansas
Gov. James P. Eagle. The choir from Ouachita Baptist College
sang at the centennial anniversary of the Arkansas Baptist
State convention, also in Tulip.
In Tulip, the Masonic Lodge record of Proceedings lists several
names: W. L. Somerville, N. G. Smith G. C. Eaton, B. J. Borden,
William Bethel, R. L. Duff, James W. Eaton, William H. Hunter,
D. A. Neville, L. D. Lipscomb, Peyton Bethel, J. S. Williams,
A. H. Phillips, G. M. Russell, M. Baugh, T. C. Hudson, John
S. Garven, L. Jacobs, G. D. Alexander, A. G. Neville, J. Abbott,
W. A. Lea, A. Yates and E. S. Smith.
Source: Merritt, Richard (1976) Review of Dallas County, AR
History gleaned from the Bicentennial Edition of the FORDYCE-NEWS
ADVOCATE.
Resources
- Cemeteries,these
are the Cemeteries located within 10 miles of Tulip, Arkansas.
If I have missed any, please let me know. Only cemeteries
in blue have been canvessed.
- Hunter's
Chapel Cemetery, on Hwy 9, 13 miles south of Malvern,
between the towns of Lono (Hot Springs County) and Tulip.
- Toone's Chapel (African-American)
Cemetery, located east
off Hwy 9, down a gravel road, on the left, next to Toone's
Chapel A.M. E. Church. Headstone
Photos.
- Tulip Cemetery, located in Tulip, west
of Hwy 9, behind the Methodist Church.
- Churches
- Census
- Maps
- Other links
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