| CANE HILL ARKANSAS |
| CANE HILL HISTORY |
Five miles south of Highway 62 between Prairie Grove and Lincoln, Arkansas sits the community of Cane Hill which has much
significance in the history of the State of Arkansas. Many of the original homes and buildings still stand today.
Cane Hill was known for its educational and cultural achievements during the territorial and pioneer era and most of the 19th
century. It was home to the first public school in the State of Arkansas, the first library and the first Sunday School. The earliest
factory-made furniture was from Cane Hill and the first steam mill of any importance in the state was constructed there.
The remains of the antebellum water mill is located just south of Cane Hill. Originally known as the Truesdale-Pyeatte and Moore
Mill, it was built by John Truesdale in 1840 and features a 36-foot overshot wheel. It was moved to its present location in 1866 and
operated by Pyeatte and Moore. It is hoped that eventually enough money can be raised to restore the mill to its original
magnificence. The mill was a three-story wooden structure on a 30' x 70' foundation of rock. On the north side, a lean-to housed an
engine room with a steam engine which supplied power when water from Jordan Creek failed. This was one of the few steam and
water powered mills in the country. The mill had a 36-foot diameter overshot wheel It was shipped in 1840 by wagon to Cane Hill for
John Truesdale. The waterwheel and a portion of the lower floor remain. It is owned by the Cane Hill Restoration Society.
significance in the history of the State of Arkansas. Many of the original homes and buildings still stand today.
Cane Hill was known for its educational and cultural achievements during the territorial and pioneer era and most of the 19th
century. It was home to the first public school in the State of Arkansas, the first library and the first Sunday School. The earliest
factory-made furniture was from Cane Hill and the first steam mill of any importance in the state was constructed there.
The remains of the antebellum water mill is located just south of Cane Hill. Originally known as the Truesdale-Pyeatte and Moore
Mill, it was built by John Truesdale in 1840 and features a 36-foot overshot wheel. It was moved to its present location in 1866 and
operated by Pyeatte and Moore. It is hoped that eventually enough money can be raised to restore the mill to its original
magnificence. The mill was a three-story wooden structure on a 30' x 70' foundation of rock. On the north side, a lean-to housed an
engine room with a steam engine which supplied power when water from Jordan Creek failed. This was one of the few steam and
water powered mills in the country. The mill had a 36-foot diameter overshot wheel It was shipped in 1840 by wagon to Cane Hill for
John Truesdale. The waterwheel and a portion of the lower floor remain. It is owned by the Cane Hill Restoration Society.
| TRUESDALE-PYEATTE-MOORE MILL |
Most of the people who settled Cane Hill were members of the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church. On August 30, 1828, a religious assembly, to be known by the name Cane Hill
Congregation of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, was founded with 38members.
They met in each other's homes until 1830, when they built a log meeting house located
on the site where the public cemetery stands now.
Listed below are names of some members of the early churches. These pioneer names
are found time after time in the early history of Cane Hill: Pyeatte, Gray, McCardy,
Buchanan, Story, Alexander, Billingsley, Garrison, Bell, Moore, Maxwell, Newton, Tiner,
Dugan, Dodson, Garvin, Woods, Monkress, Carnahan, Wilson, Gibbs, Reed, Landers,
Diven, West, Gilbreath, Pettigrew, Benge, Coulter, Russel, Blair, Harris, Walker, Woody,
Corley, Maloy, King, Crawford, Malcy, Haguewood, Martin, Marrs, Pittman, Campbell,
Morrow, Evans, Craig, Latta, Allen, Hagood, Brotherton, McClellan, Bradley, Bean, Cox,
Davidson, Simpson.
Church. On August 30, 1828, a religious assembly, to be known by the name Cane Hill
Congregation of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, was founded with 38members.
They met in each other's homes until 1830, when they built a log meeting house located
on the site where the public cemetery stands now.
Listed below are names of some members of the early churches. These pioneer names
are found time after time in the early history of Cane Hill: Pyeatte, Gray, McCardy,
Buchanan, Story, Alexander, Billingsley, Garrison, Bell, Moore, Maxwell, Newton, Tiner,
Dugan, Dodson, Garvin, Woods, Monkress, Carnahan, Wilson, Gibbs, Reed, Landers,
Diven, West, Gilbreath, Pettigrew, Benge, Coulter, Russel, Blair, Harris, Walker, Woody,
Corley, Maloy, King, Crawford, Malcy, Haguewood, Martin, Marrs, Pittman, Campbell,
Morrow, Evans, Craig, Latta, Allen, Hagood, Brotherton, McClellan, Bradley, Bean, Cox,
Davidson, Simpson.
THE BATTLE OF CANE HILL
As Told By Witnesses from "The Cane Hill Story 1825-1969" by Conrow R. Miller
On November 28, 1862, a group of girls living on the J. A. L. McColloch farm, heard firing in the
direction of Cane Hill. They went to a field high on the east side of the Cane Hill valley. From the
top of a hay stack, they could see the slope on the west of the valley from Cane Hill to Clyde,
then known as Boonsboro and Russellville. From that point they watched the battle. It must
have been like a great drama inacted on a huge stage. The view is perfect and not much more
than a quarter of a mile to the cane Hill cemetery where the battle started. General Blount's
army of possibly 5000 men with 30 cannon were on the hill where the cemetery is now.
General Marmaduke with 2000 dismounted cavalry attacked him there. Mary S. McColloch said
that they could see the Confederate soldiers advancing through the trees and along the bluff to
the south. The fire of muskets was heavy and constant. They tried several times to drive
Blount from his position but each time were driven back. The cannon fire seemed to tear the
trees apart. The firing of guns and cannon and the yells and screams of the men were
terrifying to the girls but they were fascinated by it all and would not leave their place on the
haystack.
Then Marmaduke started to draw away. The Federals pressing him every foot of the way. But
there was no panic and no hurry. Just a slow stubborn retreat. Casualties were heavy on both
sides. Most of the fighting from Boonsboro to Kidd's Hill was through woods. But they crossed
Jordan Creek about where the mill dam stands now. The Confederate army took position on
the high ground to the south and east and there was bloody fighting again around Kidd's Mill.
They again at Russellville they came into open ground and the fighting was fierce and bloody. A
lady who was a young girl at that time said that there were 6 dead soldiers on their porch at
one time. From there the fight continued south over the mountain (Reed's Mountain) to Cove
Creek. In a valley near John Morrow's they drew Blount's men into an ambush where many
were killed. There Blount stopped and returned to Cane Hill or Boonsboro which had almost
been destroyed. The College building was burned along with many homes. And the old female
Seminary at Russellville was also burned.
All the livestock was driven away and all food stuff that could be found was carried away.
Many old men were tortured and killed in an attempt by renegades, who followed the
destruction of battle, to make them tell of money or valuables that might be hidden. So it was
that the people of Cane Hill learned of war and of hate as they suffered from cold and hunger
through the long winter.
Pioneers set the standards for those who come after. Northwest Arkansas was settled
by men and women of character, courage and vision. They were home-seekers and were
well pleased with the new country. The soil was rich, the springs fine, there was good
timber for house building and sandstone for many uses, and wild fruit and nuts abounded.
The Cherokees were near neighbors and were friendly. There was very little friction
between the outgoing and the incoming peoples. These self-reliant pioneers knew how to
do so many things. They dressed the logs, cut the fine sandstone and built their own
homes. They made clothing and blankets as well as house linens from cotton and flax
that they grew. Home-raised meats were cured and they worked to provide their children
every opportunity for advancement.
Those who come after should honor their memory.
by men and women of character, courage and vision. They were home-seekers and were
well pleased with the new country. The soil was rich, the springs fine, there was good
timber for house building and sandstone for many uses, and wild fruit and nuts abounded.
The Cherokees were near neighbors and were friendly. There was very little friction
between the outgoing and the incoming peoples. These self-reliant pioneers knew how to
do so many things. They dressed the logs, cut the fine sandstone and built their own
homes. They made clothing and blankets as well as house linens from cotton and flax
that they grew. Home-raised meats were cured and they worked to provide their children
every opportunity for advancement.
Those who come after should honor their memory.
| HISTORY OF CANE HILL, ARKANSAS |
This building is still standing just south of Cane Hill on
Highway 45. During the war it served as Union Headquarters
and as a hospital for both the Union and Confederate soldiers.
Highway 45. During the war it served as Union Headquarters
and as a hospital for both the Union and Confederate soldiers.
| CLICK HERE TO GO TO PAGE 2 HISTORY OF BATTLE OF CANE HILL |
MURDER OF THE WRIGHT FAMILY—RECOLLECTIONS - By J. F. Bates
(Born May 4, 1831, in Washington County, Arkansas. Educated at Cane Hill College; teachers T. G. McCullough, S. Doak Lowry and Robert M.
King. Commenced teaching school in 1852 near the home of the Wicliffs on Spavinaw, Okla. Taught off and on in said State forty-eight terms.
Taught also twenty-two terms in my native State, making in all seventy terms in life. Spent two years sectionizing for the United States Government
in the State of Kansas in partnership with Col. James Mitchell of Little Rock. We sectionized the township in which John Brown lived. Quit teaching
in 1902 and at present own and run a hotel in Westville, Okla.)
On the 15th of June in the year 1839, William Wright, a prosperous and highly respected farmer, Mahla Wright, his daughter, and his infant child
were brutally murdered, and Jacob Wright, his son, was struck over the head with some heavy instrument which fractured his skull so as to cause
the loss of a portion of his brain. Mrs. Wright escaped through a back window and Mary Wright, a daughter, escaped through the door while they
were murdering her father. The murderers set fire to the house, thinking that all its inmates were slain, but two little boys, Willis Wright and
Maurice Wright, aged about ten and twelve, were sleeping in a trundle bed under a larger bed; they escaped the notice of the assassins. The
smoke from the burning building awakened them. The little boys first moved their wounded brother to a safe distance. (Jacob Wright, though
badly wounded, finally recovered.). They next moved their dead father and sister a short distance from the burning building. Mrs. Wright and Mary,
her daughter, hid in a nearby wheat field until next morning and then notified neighbors of the sad affair. It seemed that the murderers wanted to
make the impression on the public mind that it was Indians that committed the crime, but that idea, after a short time, prevailed only to a limited
extent. The amount of .money taken was perhaps between three and four hundred dollars and that belonged to Mr. James Shelley. William Wright
a few days previous took nearly all his money to his brother, Maurice Wright, a merchant on Cane Hill.
The writer was on the premises the following morning after the murder while the heavy timbers of the building were still burning. The bodies of
the slain were lying just as the murderers had left them, except their removal by the little boys the night before. William Wright and Mahala Wright,
his daughter, were lying a short distance from the building but close enough to cause the heat to color their faces dark brown.
The charred remains of the infant was still in the edge of the building. I remember some one took a plank and ran under the frame of the child and
moved it away from the fire. The crime caused intense excitement throughout the entire country. As the courts at that time had been exceedingly
slack in executing the laws, a mass meeting was held at Cane Hill and thirty-six men of the most reliable character were chosen as a committee
to take the law into their own hands and ferret out and punish the perpetrators of the crime. In a short time suspicion fell upon John Richmond,
James Barnes, Jack Turner and William Bailey, who were arrested. Bailey was flogged quite severely to compel him to make a confession, but he
persistently denied guilt. The others, together with Bailey, were turned loose, evidence at that time not deemed sufficient to hold them longer.
Bailey immediately left the country.
Not long after they were released John Richmond and Asbury Richmond, his brother, had a difficulty over some personal matters, John
Richmond accusing Asbury of some misdemeanor; Asbury replied by charging John with assisting in the murder of the Wright family. These
charges were overheard by Ambrose Harnage, who lived near by the home of the Richmonds, and he (Harnage) reported the affair to the
committee on Cane Hill. John Richmond was rearrested soon afterwards. He was not long in custody when he made an effort to escape but
failed; when caught he told his captors to take him back to the committee and he would make a clean breast of the whole affair. He gave the
names of James Barnes, Jack Turner, William Bailey, Jack Nicholson, himself and one other man whose name he did not know, as being the
parties who committed the murder. Barnes and Turner were rearrested soon after Richmond's confession. Nicholson never was arrested, having
left the country.
On the 31st day of July following the murder John Richmond, James Barnes and Jack Turner were hung, Barnes and Turner denying guilt.
Richmond admitted guilt and called upon Barnes and Turner to confess at the last moment but they refused to do so. The committee having
heard that William Bailey was down in southern Arkansas, sent Charles Spencer and a Mr. Poore after him, and when found he denied his
identity. Spencer and Poore insisted he was the man wanted, and, to prove that they were right, to examine his back and they would find marks on
same from effects of the flogging received a few months previously. Upon examination such was the case. He was taken back and hung about
five months after first hanging on same gallows. While a great majority of the people were satisfied as to the guilt of the parties executed, there
were a few who doubted the guilt of all; especially of Barnes. Prominent among those who had misgivings in regard to the matter were Rev.
Jacob Sexton, Rev. George Morrow, Rev. Thomas Tennant (a minister at that time) and Judge John Thompson Adair, all men of excellent
standing in the community in which they lived.
(Born May 4, 1831, in Washington County, Arkansas. Educated at Cane Hill College; teachers T. G. McCullough, S. Doak Lowry and Robert M.
King. Commenced teaching school in 1852 near the home of the Wicliffs on Spavinaw, Okla. Taught off and on in said State forty-eight terms.
Taught also twenty-two terms in my native State, making in all seventy terms in life. Spent two years sectionizing for the United States Government
in the State of Kansas in partnership with Col. James Mitchell of Little Rock. We sectionized the township in which John Brown lived. Quit teaching
in 1902 and at present own and run a hotel in Westville, Okla.)
On the 15th of June in the year 1839, William Wright, a prosperous and highly respected farmer, Mahla Wright, his daughter, and his infant child
were brutally murdered, and Jacob Wright, his son, was struck over the head with some heavy instrument which fractured his skull so as to cause
the loss of a portion of his brain. Mrs. Wright escaped through a back window and Mary Wright, a daughter, escaped through the door while they
were murdering her father. The murderers set fire to the house, thinking that all its inmates were slain, but two little boys, Willis Wright and
Maurice Wright, aged about ten and twelve, were sleeping in a trundle bed under a larger bed; they escaped the notice of the assassins. The
smoke from the burning building awakened them. The little boys first moved their wounded brother to a safe distance. (Jacob Wright, though
badly wounded, finally recovered.). They next moved their dead father and sister a short distance from the burning building. Mrs. Wright and Mary,
her daughter, hid in a nearby wheat field until next morning and then notified neighbors of the sad affair. It seemed that the murderers wanted to
make the impression on the public mind that it was Indians that committed the crime, but that idea, after a short time, prevailed only to a limited
extent. The amount of .money taken was perhaps between three and four hundred dollars and that belonged to Mr. James Shelley. William Wright
a few days previous took nearly all his money to his brother, Maurice Wright, a merchant on Cane Hill.
The writer was on the premises the following morning after the murder while the heavy timbers of the building were still burning. The bodies of
the slain were lying just as the murderers had left them, except their removal by the little boys the night before. William Wright and Mahala Wright,
his daughter, were lying a short distance from the building but close enough to cause the heat to color their faces dark brown.
The charred remains of the infant was still in the edge of the building. I remember some one took a plank and ran under the frame of the child and
moved it away from the fire. The crime caused intense excitement throughout the entire country. As the courts at that time had been exceedingly
slack in executing the laws, a mass meeting was held at Cane Hill and thirty-six men of the most reliable character were chosen as a committee
to take the law into their own hands and ferret out and punish the perpetrators of the crime. In a short time suspicion fell upon John Richmond,
James Barnes, Jack Turner and William Bailey, who were arrested. Bailey was flogged quite severely to compel him to make a confession, but he
persistently denied guilt. The others, together with Bailey, were turned loose, evidence at that time not deemed sufficient to hold them longer.
Bailey immediately left the country.
Not long after they were released John Richmond and Asbury Richmond, his brother, had a difficulty over some personal matters, John
Richmond accusing Asbury of some misdemeanor; Asbury replied by charging John with assisting in the murder of the Wright family. These
charges were overheard by Ambrose Harnage, who lived near by the home of the Richmonds, and he (Harnage) reported the affair to the
committee on Cane Hill. John Richmond was rearrested soon afterwards. He was not long in custody when he made an effort to escape but
failed; when caught he told his captors to take him back to the committee and he would make a clean breast of the whole affair. He gave the
names of James Barnes, Jack Turner, William Bailey, Jack Nicholson, himself and one other man whose name he did not know, as being the
parties who committed the murder. Barnes and Turner were rearrested soon after Richmond's confession. Nicholson never was arrested, having
left the country.
On the 31st day of July following the murder John Richmond, James Barnes and Jack Turner were hung, Barnes and Turner denying guilt.
Richmond admitted guilt and called upon Barnes and Turner to confess at the last moment but they refused to do so. The committee having
heard that William Bailey was down in southern Arkansas, sent Charles Spencer and a Mr. Poore after him, and when found he denied his
identity. Spencer and Poore insisted he was the man wanted, and, to prove that they were right, to examine his back and they would find marks on
same from effects of the flogging received a few months previously. Upon examination such was the case. He was taken back and hung about
five months after first hanging on same gallows. While a great majority of the people were satisfied as to the guilt of the parties executed, there
were a few who doubted the guilt of all; especially of Barnes. Prominent among those who had misgivings in regard to the matter were Rev.
Jacob Sexton, Rev. George Morrow, Rev. Thomas Tennant (a minister at that time) and Judge John Thompson Adair, all men of excellent
standing in the community in which they lived.
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