NOTABLE ARKANSAS

He was born in 1834, in Burkes Garden, Va.; his grandfather served under Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812. Today, there is a monument with his name, although misspelled, in a Kansas state historic site.

While a boy, his family moved to Johnson County, Tenn., then to Sullivan County, Tenn. In the early 1850s, he moved to Ewington Settlement, Ill., a town of less than savory reputation established by workmen building the National Road and, later, construction of the Illinois Central Railroad. At 25, he met and married Matilda Osteen, age 19. The couple would have 10 children, with eight surviving to adulthood.

Cheap farmland was offered to homesteaders in Kansas Territory, so, in 1858 — looking for a new start — he went to visit a friend in Linn County, Kan., near the river Marais des Cygnes, where he discovered he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Kansas was in the midst of a violent dispute — known as “Bleeding Kansas” — deciding whether Kansas would enter the Union as a free or a slave state. On May 18, a local proponent of slavery named “Captain” Charles Hamilton led 30 men he recruited in Alabama into the settlement and took 11 men, free state supporters, prisoner — including our Notable Arkansan — and marched them into a ravine, where they opened fire, killing five and wounding five others. He was severely wounded in the arm. His wife, Matilda, placed him in the back of their wagon and began the long journey back to Illinois. In 1974, the Marais des Cygnes Massacre site was designated a National Historic Landmark.

In 1875, he loaded his family into wagons and traveled to St. Louis, and then by steamboat to Memphis. They arrived in Prairie County, Ark., by train and settled on a farm. Matilda soon died and he married Mallie Gales. He and Matilda are buried in Center Point Cemetery, near Hazen. Over seven generations of his family have called Arkansas home, including the writer of today’s Notable Arkansans.

Who was this man, who, when asked why he had a weakened arm would answer, “Because I voted the wrong way”?

Who was this man, who, when asked why he had a weakened arm would answer “Because I voted the wrong way”?