The Mena weekly star., 1922-01-12
SOME PAST AND PRESENT
 RUMBLES FROM ROCKY

vicinity live m kvVu HoihS7+ AhN|
 two good churches and high school bailding. They also have daily mall service and a rural telephone system And two stores-that of c. B. Con uallv and Frank Luttrell--in which they are always made safe rom pc ing in want for the necessities ol ile, Yes, and they have easy access ,, to sawmills, cotton gins and grist miils' But back in the old days tnings were different. And to get a briei 6rst-hand sketch of these old days the writer made a special trip to ROCKY Friday in order to see Uncle. John Barber, who is the oldest settler nv
 SWe only killed deer when we need cd meat in the old days" Uncle John said about the first thing, "and when we wanted something from the store ar had a letter to mail we either weni to Fort Smith or Little Rock: lIncle John lives on Powell creek near the famous baptizing hole about a half mile west of town. He still appears sturdy and clear-eyed and talks with the frankness of a child He gave me brief sketch of his wife and of other old settlers he had known before their death.
 He came to Polk county from Georgia with his parents in 1859 His fathers name was Elisha, and they located three miles west of Mena. on place where his father and mother are buried near the house--a great custom in those days. Uncle John married the daughter of Thomas Con- nalIv and lived with her until death 56 wears One child was born that soon died They adopted an orphan girl by the name of Joe Beck. Miss Joe married Kit Addison and they continued to live with Uncle John Kit didn't live but very few years, But some children were born and Warren Addison was one of them, Miss Joe, as people still call his mother, then married John Strawn and moved out. Then Warren Addi- son got married, has three children, and still makes Uncle Johns place a home of his own. They were fixing to cut some fire wood when l got there and in this way my interview was cut short. Losing his first wife he married widow Landrum.
 But of the old settlers Uncle John spoke tenderly, and said people m those days were far more accommo- dating and friendly towards each other than they are now. Among the earlier settlers he could think of were Richard Powell, George Winton, Elias Hays, the three Quinton brothers, Will, James and Sam, and Thomas l..~ fotLo,s t,, Ioxu
 The past record of most of these old settlers is obscure and difficult to get at. The record of the Connallys tho, seems to be preserved with much accuracy. Thomas Connally, whose name has been mentioned, came from Georgia to Polk county with his wife Clementine, in the year of 1846. And the late Dr. R. T. (Tone) Connally and father of Dr. D. w. Connally of Hatfield, was his son. And 1t runs in the family to be Democrats and Meth odists Only one case is recorded otherwise that of Dr. R. T. Connally was elected to the state legislature on the populist ticket Thomas Con- naliy fought in the Florida Black Hawk war and, bought the place his grandson, c, B., now owns with U. S warrants he was paid off with.
 Richard Powell, after which Powell creek is named, and George Winton 1 father of Jack, Don, Bag and Dink seems to have settled around Rocky in the early sos. All the old settlers | lived from one to eight miles from
 each other and they would take theii | turn in going to sit up with the sick more often than we moderns do whc live in speaking distance of eacf other.
 Rocky Has Religious History. Rocky seems to have one distinction quite different from any other town
 in Polk county, in that it has been | the home of several ministers. The
 Reverends Tom Edom, Shade Moore | John Eads, Dr. Tone Connally and
 Uncle Frank Beavers all started out at Rocky. And the work continues tc
 go on. Only recently Doyle Rowe, sor of Mir. and Mrs. Emmett Rowe, was ordained as a minister and is now fill.
 ing the pulpit at Egger.
 This religious fervor seems to have
 originally sprung from one man i Thomas Connally, who was a church
 member in Georgia before he came
 here, and soon began preaching after
 he arrived. Soon long series of re
 vivals was held, which gave the place
 the name of Camp Grounds, as it i:
 still called by all old settlers.
 Some time along the 70's or S0'i
 a large tabernacle was built here ana
 people came from miles around, camp ! ed nearby and remained until tn.
 meeting ended. And to camp here il
 a treat, for good pure water abound,
 in abundance.
 | Uncle Buck" Williams of HatfielC was converted in one of these meet | ings over 40 years ago, and he say he remembers seeing his father brinl the family to these meetings, leave il and go back home and get the cool stove, a load of corn and tie two O
 three yearlings to the back of tn
 wagon Other men did the same am when one fellow camper run out O
 and some one killed beef every da,
 and divided it. Sometimes tw
 beeves were killed. Uncle "Bucls
 says he has seen as many as 75 happ
 and all shout at once.
 And the meetings have brough
 good results, for wherever you go an
 find persons living there who cam
 from Rocky the chances are you wi | find them to be good citizens. To il
 lnstrate, take Hatfield for instance
 as it has four or five families living i
 it's midst that made Rocky thei
 home for years. We refer to tn
 families of ]. O. Gates, L. A. Gun mings, Dr. D W. Connallv. J. \
 Goodwin. E. II Butler And we migf