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Note: BIOGRAPHY: To Strawberry Township in 1811. On 1829 Tax List for Lawrence Co, AR.
BIOGRAPHY: Lawrence County Historical Quarterly, Winter 1983 - Volume 6 - #1
Early Settlers of Strawberry River Valley And The First Watermill In The Area
By Joseph G. Taylor -1956
The earliest settlers of which this writer has any knowledge were the Nathan McCarroll family of Kentucky in 1808 who settled one mile south of the present town of Smithville. (Now known as the Hillhouse farm. Lawrence county descendants are a great granddaughter Othell McCarroll Wigton and son Tommie of Eaton). Another was the Andrew Richardson family, thought to be from Tennessee, settled in 1811 one and one half miles northeast of Smithville. (Now known as the Luther Jones farm. Mr. Richardson has descendants living a short distance from the homestead almost a century and three quarters later. (A granddaughter Lottie Matthews Hoggard, 92, great grandchildren, Hattie Justus Helm, W. W. Justus, Heston Matthews, and Dennis and Alvin Guthrie of Smithville. C.C. Guthrie and Ancel Matthews of Imboden and Ray Justus of Walnut Ridge).
MILITARY: On June 28, 1836, 13 days after the state was admitted to the Union, General Edmund P. Gains (U.S. Army) called upon the Governor to furnish one regiment for the defense of the western frontier. Governor Fulton responded by revising his call for volunteers. The Governor's call specified that the volunteer companies raised North of the Arkansas River would rendezvous at Little Rock, while those raised South of the river would rendezvous at Washington in Hempstead County. The organization of the Volunteer Companies played out against the backdrop of the first political race for the office of Governor of Arkansas. Absalom Fowler, a Whig candidate, ran against James S. Conway, a Jacksonian Democrat. Conway won the hotly contested race in the election conducted on August 1, 1836. By August 18, 1836, Volunteer Companies from Conway, Pope and Pulaski counties had gathered in Little Rock. These three companies marched south for the rendezvous at Washington, Arkansas and were joined en route by a company from Saline County. These four companies made the rendezvous at Washington with the company raised from Hempstead County, bringing the total to five companies. Being short of the number of companies needed to form a Regiment, the unit was formed initially into a battalion, to be commanded by a lieutenant colonel. An election was held at Washington, Arkansas and Absalom Fowler, the former candidate for Governor, was elected lieutenant colonel of the battalion.
MILITARY: On the march from Washington, Arkansas to Fort Towson, the battalion was joined by an additional company from Sevier County, bringing the total to six.[9] The battalion reached Fort Towson on the Red River on September 14, 1836.
MILITARY: An additional Volunteer Company, raised in Randolph County, commanded by Captain John Kavanaught, stopped in Little Rock long enough to participate in the inauguration of the new state's first elected Governor, James S. Conway. Conway dispatched the company to join the volunteers at Fort Towson with an order directing that since the battalion would now have seven companies, in should be formed into a regiment and an election held for Colonel Commandant. . . Two additional companies joined the regiment, one from Lawrence County commanded by Captain Willis Phillips in late October and one from Independence County commanded by Captain Marcus W. Reinhardt in late November, bringing the regiment to its final strength of nine companies. The regiment was ordered into winter quarters at Fort Gibson.
MILITARY: Co I, Enrolled October 31, 1836, Lawrence County
MILITARY: The removal of Indian Tribes from eastern states to the Indian Territory begun under President Andrew Jackson in the 1830s continued in the 1840s. Tribal groups would be organized in their home area and would begin the journey up the Arkansas River, usually by steamer, as far as water conditions would allow and would then continue overland through the state until they reached Indian Territory. The job of escorting these bands of refugees along the "Trail of Tears" would often fall to the Arkansas Militia. Governor Conway signed a proclamation on 22 October 1836 which stated that there were numerous Indians "roving about the state.... without any fixed place of abode and committing depredations upon the property of the citizens contrary to the laws..." he ordered the Indians to leave and directed that "The Commandant of Regiments of the Militia in the several counties in the state and all subordinate officers are required to give their aid in carrying this order into effect." A similar proclamation was signed again on July 18, 1840.
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Drewry (sic) Richardson received 80 acres of bounty land in Lawrence County (now Sharp County) in 1856 for his military service and assigned it to Addison H Nunn, a wealthy slave owner.
MILITARY: He had already established a farm of 40 acres in section 23 of Lawrence County in 1839, buying 40 more acres in section 27 in 1859.
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