Bits of Trivia

Lynchings In AR: From the July 1997 Issue of the Bramble Bush: "Between 1890 and 1899 there were 1,665 lynchings in Arkansas. Between 1900 and 1909 there were 921. Between 1910 and 1919 there were 840. Between 1920 and 1927 there were 304. During the decade beginning in 1910, well-organized efforts to curb lynchings were first begun on a national level. However, in 1915, the number of persons lynched jumped inexplicably to 145, nearly double that of the year before. As a state, Arkansas trailed only Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana and Alabama ."      

Most wealthy: 1850 Federal Census: Residents of Marion Co with the most dollar value in real estate were Jacob Nave with $5,000, Nancy Tutt with $3,500, Michael Yokum with $3,000 and William Coker with $3,000.      

Yellville Jail Burns: Many of the Mt. Echo issues contained complaints about the "stable" used as a jail in Yellville. This appeared in the Mt. Echo 20, Oct 1896 Issue. "Last Monday night the jail at Yellville was completely demolished by fire. It was a stone building lined on the inside with 2x4 oak skantling closely spiked together in both the lower and upper stories. John Bench and George Wadkins were occupying the ground floor. They attempted to burn out a hole around the flue so as to get into the upper story, from which they hoped to take out the brick flue and escape as "Rabbit" Tom Flippin had done some weeks ago. The fire got beyond their control and they had to call for help. They claim the fire originated from a defective flue, but as there was no fire in the stove when it was carried out, they were not believed. The walls are still standing but are ruined. The building was repaired about two weeks ago at a cost of about $2,200. The old wall was built in 1853 and was once before burned out. The prisoners have been taken to Harrison for safe keeping."        

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"This Page Was Last Updated 10/28/09

Linda Haas Davenport