The log cabin Democrat. [volume] (Conway, Ark.) 1908-current, 1916-02-29
CONWAY AS IT WAS.
IN THE EARLY DAYS.
TOLD BY MRS.P. IL. PRINCE
INTERESTING RECOLLECTIONS
OF PIONEER PERIOD IN
CITY'S HISTORY.

recent civic celebration held bv the
clubwomen of this city. Mrs. Prince
came as bride with Judge Prince te
Conway when the town was just be-
ing established, and her recollections
CT those days were SO entertaining
to those who heard the paper reaG
that the Log Cabin Democrat is glad
to publish it for the benefit of those
who did not attend the meeting:
BY an act of the legislature April
II, 1878, Faulkner county was organ
lied from portions of Pulaski and
Conway counties. By this same act
three commissioners, A. d. Thomas,
A. +. Livingston and j. F. Comstoek
were named~to locate the county seat
They selected what was then known
as Conway Station, the little place
that had been laid out as a town only
two years previous to the organiza-
ton of the county. The county was
named for Sandy Faulkner, the orig
lnal "Arkansas Traveller" and Con
way was named Tor Governor Con
way.
In 1871, when the Little Rock &
Fort Smith railway reached this
point, there was only one house with
IN what is now known as the corpor-
ate limits of Conway, a little log hut
that two Englishmen, Thomas Fran
els and James Parrin, had built about
1869 on the ground where Hendrix
College is now located. They had
homesteaded 100 acres of this land.
The east 80 acres of this land was
relinquished by Parrin to the govern
ment and taken up as homestead
in 1872 by Rev. J. H. McCulloch.
When the Little Rock 4 Fort Smith
railroad reached this point in 1871,
Col. A p Robinson, the civil engineer
who constructed the road, was struck
with the beauty of the lands lying at
the foothills of the OZarks, and with
rare prophetic vision purchased sec
tion of land from the railroad COM
pany with a view of locating a town
thereon.
On the first day of August, 1871,
d. Robinson laid out the town of
nway, and soon thereafter built a
b, utiful hon on the ground where
the home Of Mrs. Georgia Hendrick-
son now stands R. T. Harrison open
ed up the first store in the new town,
and Max Frauenthal the second. Peo-
pie began to come into the new settle
ment, and when the county was or
ganiZed in 1878 an increasing number
Of pioneers found their homes in this
western town. AS soon as the county
was organized, Governor Baxter APP
pointed NJ. R. Sewer, f. l.. Allen and
A. J. Horton as commissioners who
were to perform the duties of county
judge. He also appointed c. H. Ian
ders as county clerk, Benton Turner
as sheriff, E. M. Moore as treasurer,
&. w. Johnson as surveyor and A..
B. Henry as assessor. The first rep
resentative of the county was S. B.
Burns and the first senator was Hon.
Joseph w. House, then a resident of
White county.
On September 10, 1878, Col A. p.
Robinson donated the block of ground
upon which the courthouse now
stands. 1t is interesting to note that
at the first election, after the county
was formed, Elias Kuykendall, now
resident of Conway, cast the first
vote that was ever cast in Faulkner
county.
On October 5, 1875, the town was
incorporated under the name of Con-
way. Until that time it was called
Conway Station. DR.. l.. ID. Pearle
was elected the first mayor, who was
succeeded by Capt. E. M. Merriman,
one of the earliest settlers of Con-
way. The first postoffice was located
in the little store of R. T. Harrison,
In 1875 B. F. Jones, an uncle of our
present mayor, built the first brick
store in the town. You may see its
ruins just east of the depot. The
Frauenthal firm, that settled here the
very earliest days of the town, built
the second brick store, in 1880.
In the early 70's Harry Warner
published the first newspaper in Con-
way, called the Arkansas Traveller"
In 1878 he issued a daily edition of
this paper. Ten days only it lived
Whether a dearth of news or a lack
of subscribers caused its early death
is not known. Capt. Merriman has a
complete file of this daily edition, the
only one in existence Connected with
Harry Warner for a time on the CAR
kansas Traveller was the now cele-
hrated Opie Read.
By no stretch of the imagination
could Opie Read have been called dis
tinguished at that time, either in
looks, dress or culture. Neither did