The following was published in the Montgomery County News in Mount Ida, Arkansas, 17 January, 1963:
"THE LIGHT OF DAY IS DIM"
by
Mrs. Mary D. McDonald
920 NW 95th Street
Oklahoma City, OK
There has been a lot of water passed down the old Ouachita River since September 28th, 1879, at which date I first saw the light of a beautiful world. I was the first daughter and the third child born to William G. and Nancy Elizabeth Brewer Gibbs, in a little log house on the north side of the Ouachita River, eight miles north of Mt. Ida, Arkansas.
I have lived in hopes that Uncle Lige, or someone else would come out with a story in the Montgomery County News, of the early day life of the original pioneer settlers and family life of those noble people who, with their bare hands, a trust in the all might God, their love for each other, welded and put together a community and way of life as independent and free from the outside world as it was possible for mankind to do, but for lack of proper record it has been passed up.
This community, to which I refer was known as the Rocky community, and was about as isolated from the outside world as any place could possibly be, and its seclusion seemed to be the attraction of those noble civil war veterans who had seen their families and their homes in the Eastern States ravished and destroyed, by the scourge of war and wished to get away from it all. They were veterans of both North and South, yet that seemed to have little effect in their relations with each other. There was however, something in common with all those who cast their lot to build a home and raise a family in such an out of way place and that was that they were all of Protestant faith, and of Caucasian nationality extraction and of course, without money, this was their stock in trade and it seemed to work as we shall see.
The custom in establishing a home was to select a suitable site near a spring on Government land, cut and assemble logs with borrowed oxen, and then invite all the neighbors to a house-raising. The men would bring their axes, saws and broad-axes, the women with their pots, pans, and food, and before the sun went down there would be a complete house, with a splendid dinner thrown in. It was a struggle for the first year, of course, as land had to be cleared and oxen obtained to till the soil as well as the other things which went to making a home but he had good neighbors who were ever ready to lend a helping hand. So how could a fellow fail with such a good set up? This was Social Security in its original form.
So it was in this manner that homes were established, children were born, and society established, churches were organized and meetings held under brush arbors. Then there must be schools, which were first instituted on a subscription basis, i.e., each family could subscribe to send at least a part of the oldest children. Teachers were selected for a term of two or three months during the summer and paid with Bacon, hams, molasses, corn, and the like. It was during the year of 1885, I think, that this community came under the Free School Act so the Dads of the country threw in and built a small cabin-like house for the Free School which was a three-month session during the summer months. Teachers were paid ($30.00) per month, who in turn roomed and boarded with one of the community families at six dollars per month. Hospitals and undertakers were unknown, and doctors with only a smattering of the art of modern medical knowledge were few and far between.
Childbirth was one of the major problems, but with the splendid knowledge of a number of the elder women this was also taken care of and in good shape, with out a cost. This was a ‘Duty” and they seldom lost a baby. The death rate of the community was very low, because the people were all young. My grandmother, Mrs. Leonard Danley, was the first to be buried in the Rocky Cemetery, sometime during the year 1878. Coffins were shaped and fashioned by the community men. They were then lined with cotton padding and lined with white satin and covered on the outside with black satin. They were nice coffins.
Misdemeanor or felony was unknown among those who established this part of the land of Arkansas. There were many years elapsed before a sheriff had occasion to visit that community on official business. The people were thoroughly self- supporting in nearly every detail; even to the making of the cloth that went into their wearing apparel, and the parents often made the children’s shoes. Hot Springs was the nearest Railroad market and the people had little occasion to go there except in the autumn to sell their cotton, animal hides, and tobacco. I had been to Hot Springs only twice before the year 1900, and once to Mena in that year. We younger people were not without our fun, as we began to get grown-up. We had our dances and candy breaking’s during the winter at the homes of the various neighbors, and the picnics in the various communities during the summer. By that time, most families had good wagons and teams of good-spirited horses with an occasional buggy or surrey, which enable us to extend our acquaintance into other communities.
Scandals, illegitimate babies and divorces were unknown among them, because the environment was good and the Home-teaching was properly administered; and besides to indulge in any kind of underworld practices would forever ostracize one, boy or girl, from the rest of the world.
Yes, we had our fun, and funny things happened. We used the McGuffey readers in school. So it was that one and Blue-back Spellers in day, when our class was reciting, each had to stand and read certain stanzas from the reader, when one of my friends who was very droll (and drawled out her words in long syllabic tones) came to the word interminable, and pronounced it: “Enter-my-nable”. This she could hardly live down, and I never could forget it.
Timepieces were scarce in the earlier days, and many had sundial markings set up on porches. That was markings at certain minutes and hours of the day on the various days of the year. They did this using transit levels that the surveyors use in measuring land and running lines.
My friend, Judy, was sitting out on her Grandpa’s log porch one day in the old rocking chair when a stranger passing by stopped his ‘nag; and said to Judy who was about 17, “Young Lady, can you tell me what time it is?” Judy got up and went to the edge of the porch, looked carefully for a moment, then turned to the stranger and said: “Mr., it just lacks two puncheons being twelve.”
We children were taught to address our elder neighbors with the familiar “Uncle” and “Aunt” instead of Mr. And Mrs. I shall refer to them in just that manner.
Rocky Community covered an area about six miles in length and about four miles in width. The main road was curved around Uncle Berry Gibbs place, which was on the main road about one-half mile west of the school. He was blinded in the Civil War, and drew a sizeable pension. He was a good businessman and his blindness seemed to make little difference in his business activity. Of course, he had to depend on his sons-in-law to do the physical work, but he did the thinking and did a splendid job of it. He established a sawmill, a gristmill for both corn meal and for flour. He had a cotton gin, and a blacksmith shop as well as a store with limited stock of merchandise. He soon became a sort of a Banker. He helped many out of financial difficulties, and everyone liked and respected him. He was a veteran of the Union Army and on the Fourth of July would have a dancing platform built, set the women folk to preparing huge copper kettles on outside furnaces preparing food and invite all the whole community to a big two-day celebration. There was some liquor mixed into it, but he did not approve of it. But, he appointed certain ones to see that everything went off proper, and seldom did anyone get out of line. By the time all this took place his family, as well as most of other families, were getting grown and several of his were married and had their own families. His immediate family consisted of and was made up as follows:
Uncle Berry and Aunt Sarah
The children: Luany, Martha, Green, Roland, Sally, Talitha.
Of the other families in the community of the originals were Uncle Elijah, and Aunt Martha McDonald: Children Oscar, James, and Frank
Uncle Jake Lacky and Aunt Nancy Jane:
The children: Harvey, Concie, Ruey, Bob, Zeldie, Mollie, Porter and Bell
Daddy Billie Gibbs and Mother Nancy Elizabeth
The children: Harvey, George (Dutch) Mary, Ison, Jacob, Sallie Bell, and Hezekiah.
Uncle Wade Tucker and Aunt Rip:
The children: Robert, Jim, Luther, Minnie, Oscar, Marvin, Virgie, Neeley, and Bunny.
Uncle Monroe Tucker and Aunt Bell:
The children: Hattie, Walter, Willie, Mentie, Alford, Mollie, Eliza, Claud, and Betha.
Uncle Doc Crowell and Aunt Dorah,
The children: Mollie, Jossie, Ona, Reed, Lulla, Ola, Lonnie, and Dorah.
Uncle Dan Summit and Aunt Mattie:
The children: Lulla, Mahaley, Henry, Willie, Walter, Mollie, Jessie and Grover
Uncle Ballard Summit and Aunt Ruth:
The children: Ada, Grank, Oscar, Daniel, Ollie, Savanna, Bryant and Steeley (twins).
Uncle Joseph Summitt and Aunt Rossie:
The children: Thomas, John, Jeff, Anna, Fred, Edwin, Hattie and Hatty
Uncle Den Carter and Aunt Tenny:
The children: Mollie, Bill, Jim, John, Lee, Rean Ann, Mattie Bell, Berry, Burt, Luck and Otto.
Uncle Bill Dillard and Aunt Marth:
The children: Elizabeth, Angedyn, Nettie, Lon, Fayette, Alice and Roland
Uncle George Fulton and Aunt Arkadelphia;
The children: Jeff, Jim, Roy, Julia, Ada and George
Uncle Noble Tedford and Aunt Mary:
The children: Amanda, Dovie, Sam, Lucy, George Davis, Millie, Ada.
Uncle Dave Plyler and Aunt Fannie:
The children: Lillie, Luther, Blake, Sam.
Uncle William West and Aunt Lulla:
The children: Granville, Guilford, Margie, Graden, Nezzie, and Thurman.
Aunt Sally:
The children: Ada, Bobbie, Frank, Donna, Ida, Lexter, George Virgil, Mon.
Uncle Jim McKinney
Uncle William Warren and Aunt Mollie:
The children: Thomas, Weslie, Ira, Jemima, Martha, and William Townsen (step-son).
Uncle Bonnar Maddox and Aunt Elliza:
The children; William, Jessie, John, Wash, Dimps, Martha, Lee, Malt and Ollie.
Uncle Wash Maddox and Aunt Mary:
The children: Hattie, Donna, Betty, Bryce, Fannie, Jennie and Jonnah.
Uncle Sude Barber and Aunt Dollie:
The children: Ran, Docie, Ransom, Newton, Weslie, Dessie
Uncle Hiram West and Aunt Dott:
The children: Ransom, Sally, Marylou, and Lemmie.
Uncle Bret Beggs and Aunt Ella:
The children: Richard, John, Riley, Savanna, Jess R. and Mary.
This is not intended to be a genealogical record of these noble people who added so much to populating the earth, but since we are now into the fifth generation from those brave souls who settled in the Rocky Community during the sixties and seventies, with nothing but their bare hands to work with and who asked no odds but looked up to the blue-sky and down to the glad Earth, and with a prayer in their hearts, and brought forth a people, endowed in a spirit second to none. These are the ones I hope will be able to read this humble account of their beginning."
Presented by Jerry McDonald, grandson of Mary Desmoines Gibbs McDonald