Tulip in the spring

The great Mississippi writer Willie Morris once used a term that I think about on days like this: “the last of the desultory Southern drivers.”

My grandfather in Des Arc, who died in the hot summer of 1980 at age 96, was a firm believer in Sunday afternoon drives. He was a former Prairie County judge and could tell you who had owned almost every piece of land in the county since the 1920s. I cherish the memories of those drives across the Grand Prairie, when we had no set schedule or destination.

My best days as I travel across Arkansas in search of columns are days with no schedule. I take the rural highways and get a feel for what’s happening out in the state. On this Thursday, I’m headed through the pine woods of south Arkansas on Highway 9. There aren’t many people left in Tulip or Princeton, but as someone who loves Arkansas history, I’m aware of the past importance of this area.

When Arkansans think of cotton plantations, they think of the Delta. They don’t realize that most of the Delta prior to the Civil War consisted of impenetrable swamps and bottomland hardwood forests. The establishment of drainage districts and conversion of the land into the vast row-crop operations we see today didn’t occur until the early 1900s.

Many of the profitable cotton operations prior to the Civil War were here on the Gulf Coastal Plain. Long before Arkadelphia in neighboring Clark County became the home of two colleges that still exist. Tulip in what’s now Dallas County was the center of higher education in south Arkansas. It was home of the Arkansas Military Institute and Tulip Female Collegiate Seminary, educating sons and daughters of planters. It flourished from 1842-62.

“Destruction of property during the Civil War and the changed economy of Reconstruction brought a halt to the community, which today consists of a few houses, churches, abandoned commercial buildings and the ruins of a plantation,”

Dixie Covington Howard writes for the Central Arkansas Library System’s Encyclopedia of Arkansas. “After Arkansas became a state in 1836, people came from the eastern United States—especially Tennessee and North Carolina—to settle the area.

“For a time, the settlement was called Brownsville, after Tyre Harris Brown. It was then known as Smithville, after Col. Maurice Smith. The colonel reportedly said the town should be called Tulip rather than Smithville because ‘there are more tulip trees growing here than Smiths.’ Others say the name represents an initialism for the five points of Calvinism: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace and perseverance of the saints.

The town was described as a cultured and wealthy community. The Bird brothers—Joseph, Nathaniel and William—established a pottery business beginning in 1843, using native clay. Their business was purchased by John Welch in 1861.

Tulip was part of Clark County until the formation of Dallas County in 1845. It was a stop on the Chidester stagecoach route that ran from Camden to Little Rock. Mail was delivered several times a week. The 1850 census for Smith Township shows “381 white males, 319 white females, 538 male Negroes and 458 female Negroes.” All of the Black residents were slaves. At least 11 area plantation owners had more than 20 slaves.

“The first effort to establish a school was undertaken in 1845 by Madame d’Estimauville de Beau Mouchel,” Howard writes. “Community leaders planned to name the town d’Estimauville in her honor, but she left town that same year. Residents considered her to be ‘of poor moral fiber’ after Solon Borland, the father of her child, married a different woman in Little Rock.

“Four years later, George Douglass Alexander opened Alexander Institute in Tulip. The following year, he brought in more teachers and divided the institute into two schools, Arkansas Military Institute and Tulip Female Collegiate Seminary. These schools attracted students from as far away as Little Rock and Camden and also drew attention from state leaders. Albert Pike delivered the commencement address at the two schools in 1852 and was invited to be an instructor at the military institute in 1861.”

The state’s first monthly magazine, The Tulip, began publication in 1850. Editor Benjamin

Borden earlier had worked at newspapers in Little Rock. Tulip leaders proclaimed their town to be the “Athens of Arkansas,” a term that later would be used on the masthead of the Southern Standard newspaper at Arkadelphia. Alexander persuaded Thomas Benton, a graduate of Virginia Military Institute, to come to Tulip and establish Arkansas Military Institute.

“The school instructed male students in the subjects of the day as well as in military history, tactics and procedures — skills some would employ as Confederate soldiers during the Civil War, an event that would signal the demise of the institution as well as the community that supported it,” Michael Hodge writes in a history of the school. “Community leaders in Tulip, many of whom were known by their military rank, had gathered in August 1850 to discuss dividing Alexander Institute into two schools.

“Among those leaders was the state representative, Maj. George Clark Eaton, who became the legislative spokesman for the endeavor. On Dec. 17, 1850, a legislative charter in the state House of Representatives established Arkansas Military Institute in Tulip, ‘providing for its superintendent, professors, examination procedures and use of firearms.’ Alexander was appointed superintendent.”

Borden, the magazine editor, was hired to teach math and military tactics. A frame structure on what was known as Chapel Ridge was built at Tulip. A field for marching was nearby. Borden owned the land, which he sold for $500 to school trustees on Sept. 2, 1852.

“Students at Arkansas Military Institute, known as cadets, wore uniforms that were modeled after those worn at West Point,” Hodge writes. “Students were older than 14 and couldn’t be less than 4’9” in height at the time of admission. Subjects taught included Latin, Greek, surveying, engineering, math, military tactics, chemistry and science.”

In his June 4, 1852, commencement address, Pike said: “Here, on this beautiful ridge, among these green trees, hereafter, we hope to become as illustrious as those of the academy of Plato.” Pike’s speeech was published as a small volume by Arkansas Gazette founder William Woodruff in Little Rock.

The results of the first geological survey of the state, along with information collected by the Antiquarian Society, were housed at Arkansas Military Institute. By 1856, the academic emphasis had shifted from military to literary.

At the adjoining Tulip Female Collegiate Seminary, students were instructed in English, music, drawing, needlework and domestic subjects. Georgia native John Garven was the seminary’s first principal. He was replaced a year later by Methodist minister Benjamin Watson. Borden housed students at a boarding house.

An 1852 visitor noted that final exams began on a Tuesday with tests in natural science, mathematics and the classics. On Wednesday, there were prose and poetry recitations, including essays written by students. Needlework and embroidery produced by students were on display. There was also a Wednesday night concert.

The school was renamed Ouachita Conference Female College in December 1856. A department was added to train teachers. A degree known as the MEL was awarded to students who completed studies in English and algebra. An MA was given for completion of classics courses. More than 100 women attended the college from 1856-58.

Arkansas seceded from the Union in 1861. The military academy was the first to close as students and instructors joined the Confederacy. The seminary soon followed.

“The Civil War marked the end of Tulip as a vibrant community,” Hodge writes. “Most of the remaining population fled to Texas or Louisiana, where they remained through the end of the war and beyond.”