Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1914-06-16

sistants entered upon the project of
construction OF a railroad that bid
fair to become great factor in the
development of the county. but the
war interviewed, and operations ceas-
ed for fifteen years. The state gov
eminent resumed the work, and the
Valley Route" marked the completion
of the first railroad in 1881. A little
later the Cotton Belt entered the
branch. Then the Iron Mountain
and its branch were secured.
Educational work in the county re-
ccived encouragement quite a while
before the population warranted an
elaborate system. ParoChial schools
We're maintained almost since the or
ganization of the county and public
schools were erected as early as
1910. 1t was customary, in many in
stances, for the youths of the county
to receive instruction from tutors, but
it was not long before the same edu
cational advantages were supplied to
all alike. whites and blacks. This
broadminded policy has beeen reflect
ed in the excellently maintained
schools that exist in Jefferson Coun-
ty today, and in the men of intellect
and culture which this great county
has sent forth throughout the state
and the nation to become a power and
an influence for good in the ranks of
their felloWmen. The schools of JEFF
ferson County are on a par with those
of any other county, and as to the
comprehensive and thorough training
afforded, are surpassed by none. There
are very few counties in Arkansas
where the value of education is bet
ter appreciated than here, where
about $4,000 students are in attend
ance at the public schools The coun-
ty is divided into about forty school
districts, in which are contained $50
schools, presided over by 100 school
directors and $50 teachers. Some
ed in permanent public school prop
erty in the last few years, and the
cost of maintaining the schools repre-
sents annual disbursements of from
$4,000 to 100000.
Although the county is, and has
been, so distinctly an agricultural
county, that did not preclude the es-
Establishments of manufacturing plants
comparatively early in it's history.
In 1850 a foundry was started by
Henry Cloyes, who was very much in
terested in the development of manu-
factories, and saw the advantages Of
fered here of cheap labor ana fuel,
and the proximity to the raw material
A couple of years after his foundry
had opened, he operated corn mill
and a planning mill, which foresEad-
owed the immense operations of the
lumber interests few decades later.
William Scull, a citizen Of marked
initiative during that period of initial
growth, built in 1857 a large sash and
door factory that was ruined by the
Northern army, when it was engaged
in despoiling the industries of this
section For several years after that.
the desire to erect large Industrial
plants was checked by the war, but
Immediately thereafter, brick and iron
works, gins and lumber mills started
operations. 1t was not until the SOS
that the manufactures received
real impetus towards that status that
they now occupy in the county. The
ice companies were then established
along with the foundry and machine
shop of Dilley & Son and certain
large lumber mills. OF course, with
the exception of the lumber mills,
! most of the important manufacturing
activities have taken place in Pine
bluff, but other towns in the county
have features that will in time appeal
to those DESTROYS of establishing fac
tories in this county.
Since the installation of the first
officers of the county, Jefferson has
been the arena for many tense pOliti-
cal campaigns. The county was laid
out in 1929, and the officials began
their service in $780, They were:
w. p. Hackett, Judge; Greed Taylor,
sheriff Peter German coroner; J. T.
Pullen, clerk; and N. Holland, survey
or. 1t required the services of cour-
ageous and resolute men to combat
the lawlessness that prevailed. par
ticularly among the marauding bands
of transients. The r:en who were
selected to suppress this were very
capable persons of sound judgment
and judicial minds, persistent and in
corruptible. The task of depressing
various elements, and retaining peace
and quiet in the county was a partic-
uiarly trying one during the recon-
struction regime, when the negroes
we're in control to such degree. Nat
urally, the most bitter factionalisnl
was apparent; but when JEFFERSON
emerged from the chaos, its citizens
had a deeper appreciation for the
democratic doctrines and harmony in
t*heI ranlfS % ~
The county has always ATTRACTED to
Eits the Sablest legal 6 ghtss and ! juEists
ofss the state and has ct D. 4 an Y.
sasi lawyers ofs emf men eex and distigc-
tipn .sswh1 chavei. Sc vedsin highs posi-
ti6ns Of sIsts ,with,sfde lily and digni,
ty.ssThe Opening. term sofF thes circuit
. courts.was in sJune, 1880, and innum.
~ " go, i: .syis,. 4s,sfw 80
2 = 49, -