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35 Degrees 24 Minutes North - 91 Degrees West: A town called Hickory Ridge

by Don Evans, Isaac Bratcher, James Jeffers and Johnny Wilson

561 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #04-0126; ISBN 1-4120-2298-3; US$40.00, C$51.00, EUR33.15, £22.97

A "must read" for anyone interested in the regional history of eastern Arkansas and especially the area between the White and St. Francis Rivers including the watersheds of Bayou Deview and the Spice Swamps, Brushy Lake, and L'Anguille River.

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About the Book

Book Review

About the Authors

Table of Contents

Catalogue Information

About the Book

A history of the settlement and development of the townships of Brushy Lake and Hickory Ridge and of the emergence of the town of Hickory ridge, all located within the state of Arkansas. The time span covered begins with the discovery of America and comes forth to about the year 2000. It includes such events as DeSoto's trek through the area, transfer of ownership via the Louisiana Purchase, regional exploration and surveying, territorial politics and gaining the status of statehood. Following the time of the Civil War, the narrative focuses more on the development of Cross County, the two townships of Brushy Lake and Hickory Ridge and, finally, on the town of hickory Ridge. A history of some of the region's schools, churches, and cemeteries is included as well as several maps, some as early as 1819, a full record of Cross County post offices, Peace Court Records from the early part of the 20th century, and many random photographs.

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Book Review

Four years of historical research focusing primarily on the Hickory Ridge area and Brushy Lake Township now is in print.

Authors Johnny H. Wilson, Don Evans, James O. Jeffers and Isaac Bratcher all worked together to co-author 35 Degrees 24 Minutes North - 91 Degrees West: A Town Called Hickory Ridge. The book chronicles early American history in the region, including the Louisiana Purchase, the beginnings of the state of Arkansas, then focuses on the settlement and history of northwestern Cross County.

"We all got to talking about it and we sat down to write a pamphlet and 561 pages later we were finished," joked Johnny H. Wilson, who still lives and farms in Hickory Ridge.

Wilson, Evans, Bratcher and Jeffers all grew up together and were classmates at Hickory Ridge High School in the early 1950s. Evans now lives in Germantown, Tenn.; Bratcher lives in Sugar Tree, Tenn.; and Jeffers lives in Maryville, Tenn.

The men gathered information for four years to get the book finished.

"There's a lot of history in this book, but not nearly as much genealogy as some books," Wilson said. "There are census records here, so if people want to do some chasing, there's some information."

The book contains 1,300 family names.

One section of the book focuses on the Tyler Tap Railroad that was the original track laid through Hickory Ridge in the late 1800s.

In 1879, the rail became the Texas and St. Louis Railway Co. The railroad came through Hickory Ridge because a rail line was needed to move Texas cotton to eastern U.S. markets through St. Louis.

"But people were here long before the railroad came," Wilson said.

Other facts noted in the book include:

• The first post office in Hickory Ridge was established in 1875. A complete list of all the post masters in the town also is included.
• A list of Cross County elected officials is detailed in the book.
• Several maps from several different time periods are included in the book.
• Census figures for Cross County and the Hickory Ridge and Brushy Lake Township are noted.
• A history of schools, including many photographs of students, teachers and facilities are included.
• Church histories for many of Hickory Ridge's congregations are included.
• Complete histories of cemeteries in the region, including Union Grove, Slocum, Lewis and Johnson Cemeteries are included in the book.

"We have information in a lot of different categories that goes up through the year 2000," Evans said.

Other featured items of interest in the book include the history of the rice drier in Hickory Ridge, a history of the banks located in the town, and businesses that called the city home over the years, including Proctor Welding, Shaw and House Manufacturing and a listing of several grocery stores and mercantiles.

There are photos and written accounts of the 1996 Hickory Ridge tornado.

"We had a lot of the photos, but there were so many people that cooperated with this project and came to us to lend photos," Wilson said. "We really appreciate it."

The men said the book does not have an official ending. The final paragraph challenges the next eneration to continue the documentation of Hickory Ridge history.

By Todd Wilson, East Arkansas News Leader
April 7, 2004

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About the Authors

Don Evans attended school at Hickory Ridge for eleven years then graduated in 1953 at Whitehaven, Tennessee, where he won a 4-year football scholarship to Memphis State. After graduation from Memphis State, he married his wife, Eleanor, whom he had met in college, then took a job with the Kellogg Company. He retired after 38 years. He and his wife live in Germantown, Tennessee.

Jim Jeffers graduated from Hickory Ridge High School in 1953 then married Glenda, his high school sweetheart. After 4 years in the U. S. Navy's SeaBees, he worked many years in management in the grain industry before switching to the heavy construction fi eld where he spent 28 years in planning, scheduling and executing projects. He retired in 2000 and he and his wife live at Maryville, Tennessee.

Isaac Bratcher graduated from Hickory Ridge High School in 1953 and, in 1954, enlisted in the U. S. Air Force where he remained until his retirement in 1976 as a Senior Master Sgt. He bought a small farm in west Tennessee and began his second career on the management staff of a healthcare company from which he retired in 1998. Isaac and his wife, Louise, live on their farm at Sugar Tree, Tennessee.

Johnny Wilson also graduated in the class of 1953 at Hickory Ridge then turned his full attention to farming. He served many years on the Boards of Directors of the Cross County Farmers Assn., Cross County Farm Bureau, SFA, the Eastern Arkansas Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and was a Scoutmaster for 13 years. His family was chosen County and State Farm Family of the year in 1987. He and his wife, Vivian, live near Hickory Ridge, Arkansas.

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Table of Contents

Prelude
Early Expansion South and West
Watauga to French Lick
The Cross County Area's First White Settler
Westward Ho!
Routes into the Arkansas District
The Takeover
Townships and Ranges, Arkansas County
From District to Territory
Arkansas Territory - 1819
Phillips County - 1820
Land, Politics, and Greed
Territorial Politicians and Violence
Census Index - 1830, Franklin and Mitchell Townships
Land Divisions and Continued Growth
Area Post Offices
From Territory to Statehood
St. Francis County prior to 1838
Gerstacker in Arkansas... 1838-1842
Gerstacker's East Arkansas, 1838-1840
Census Index - 1840, Mitchell and L'Anguille Townships
The Early, Middle Eighteen Hundreds
1848 Arkansas Map Extraction
Census - 1850, Mitchell Township, Poinsett County
Mid-Century Growth
Massacre at Mountain Meadows
Census - 1860, Breshelake, Mitchell & Searcy Townships
Secession
The Civil War Period
Cross County - 1862
Reconstruction
Census - 1870, Brushy Lake Township
After the Aftermath
Developing Communities
Cross County - 1876
Cemeteries of the Area
Civil War Veterans of the Area
Census - 1880, Brushy Lake Township
The Cotton Belt Railroad
Cross County - after 1880
Old man Time is passing on...
Schools of the Area
Census - 1900, Brushy Lake Township
Growth of the Townships, 1900-1910
Cross County - 1904
Churches of the Townships
Census - 1910, Brushy Lake & Hickory Ridge Townships
Growth of the Townships, 1910-1920
Census - 1920, Brushy Lake & Hickory Ridge Townships
The Nineteen Twenties
The Killing of Jim and Oby Barnett
The Nineteen Twenties, continued
Census - 1930, Brushy Lake & Hickory Ridge Townships
The Nineteen Thirties
Cross County - 1933
The World Wars
Area Businesses and Events
Hickory Ridge Volunteer Fire Department
A New Bank & A New Industry
More Businesses and the Rural Water System
Epilogue
Index

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Catalogue Information

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