industry, and gaining the respect and friendship of their recent "Rebel" enemies within a short time even though originally they were from the north. They called themselves "The Emmigrants" and "The Colony". No one in Judsonia ever referred to them as "the carpetbaggers." They were energetic and loyal Judsonians, and their influence can still be felt within the adopted town.

The migration continued through the 1870's, well into the 80's. It was just beginning to add to Prospect Bluff's population in 1871, and that was the year that 13 year old Bert Briggs and his nine year old brother, Flavel made the trip with their parents and two sisters from Michigan. Perhaps I am writing this article in partial payment for the many interesting conversations I had with the brothers Briggs when they were both quite old. Flavel lived to be 86 and died on July 27, 1948. Bert passed away June 22, 1950 at 89. Both were remarkable men and contributed a great deal to the development of Judsonia and Judsonians from the frontier village they found in their boyhood.

Their father had been interested in the reports on Prospect Bluff from friends who had moved to Arkansas a year or two before the Briggs made their decision to join them. Particularly impressive were letters from Dr. Amos Walker, who had been the Briggs family physician, and who had joined the northern colony in its Arkansas experiment. Dr. Walker had built a house in Prospect Bluff which lasted until the 1952 tornado.

So in October 1871 the big trip began. The Briggs traveled from Kalamazoo to St. Louis by train. They didn't go through Chicago but they passed close enough to see the lights of that city. That same month those lights blazed higher than at any other time in the city's history, and History books still call it the great Chicago fire.

At St. Louis the travelers were able to take advantage of the excursion rates being offered for water transport down the mighty Mississippi by the promoters of the colony idea. The Briggs brothers, kept one of the rate cards used at that time which gives an idea of the cost of river travel in those days. It read as follows: rate of fare and freight Arkansas College Colony of Judsonia Arkansas. From East Louis to Judsonia (Those presenting this card will be carried at these rates, if the card be signed by the President of the colony). Passengers, 1st class, including state room and board, $15; children (under 6, free), from 6 to 14 $7.50; passengers second class, on deck without board $5. Horses $9.00; mules $8.00, 2 horses $9.00; buggies $5.00; household goods 75 cents per 100 pounds; furniture per card; castings 70 cents; machinery special; agricultural implements see card; provisions 65 cents per hundred pounds; flour 90 cents per bll; stock per head $8 and $9; sheep and hogs $2 and $3, during good water navigation. Jas. J. Sylvester, S'ecy. (two trunks allowed each passenger).

When it is remembered that these prices were not based on the time required for the journey and that it took the Briggs family two weeks to complete the trip they seem very low.

Another card listed the boat landings in this section on Little Red River. Between West Point and Judsonia, 10 1/2 miles, the river stops were as follows: Kelley's, Mosier's, Kinder and Hutchins, Mark Young, John Cook, Kim Harris, Alex Crawford, Wm. Lowery, and Van Meter. Between the mouth of the Little Red and West Point the landings were Esquire Lindsay's, Philip Crises, Goslin's, Knight's, Mat Bowden's, Granny Akens, Judge McDaniels, Joseph Wright's, Mrs. Akens and John Terry's.

The Briggs family were passengers on the Des Arc, with John D. Elliot as its captain. They had changed boats at Memphis, but were only able to travel by water up the White and the Little Red rivers as far as West Point. Because the river was low in the fall of that year the last part of the trip to Judsonia was completed by wagon. After the family was settled the father returned to Michigan. He made the round trip 16-17 times during his residence in Judsonia.

Bert and Flay were as different in personality as two brothers could possibly be. Bert liked sports, and was still active as the town scoutmaster until he was well along in his 70's. (WRF- As I began scouting, Bert had recruited Rev. Ted Masters to take over, but continued to make himself readily available to the scouts for the many tests including merit badges. Those of us who were becoming active at the time benefitted not only from his availability but from his wise and skilled teachings. We found him outgoing and "on our frequency" as well as accessible for passing the various requirements: he never seemed too busy for us and his enthusiasm, for scouting and life in general was genuinely contagious. His automatic answer to "How are you?" was "Bully", causing us to wonder whether he had ridden with Teddy Roosevelt. (No, he hadn't). Flay was an accomplished musician and frequently appeared in home talent stage and musical productions, a role he continued throughout my boyhood years, and every Sunday morning he functioned actively as Superintendent of our Sunday School.)

Bert became a newspaperman and printer. He bought a half interest in the Judsonia Advance with E.C. Kinney in 1882 and became the sole owner in 1883. After editing the Advance for six years he sold it back to Kinney. Flavel was associated with the Briggs Funeral Service for 58 years, during which the firm was in charge of approximately 2,500 funerals. A former resident, writing of her experiences in Judsonia during the 1930's remembered him as one who could "lower a coffin in a grave, lead the last hymn, and dry a widow's tears all at the same time." He also used his business to identify and take as apprentices selected youngsters to follow in his footsteps. Notable were Jimmy Kinney who succeeded him, and my fellow classmate, Herbert Reed Holmes who eventually established himself as a mortician (around Hot Springs I believe).

Bert's wife, Lila, died in 1941 at age 72 and the old newspaperman found the right words at her death to reflect the love and devotion of their long married life in the tribute to her he wrote for the White County Record. "Miss Lila was usually busy with homemaking whenever we scouts were taking tests, and usually had a cookie or lemonade to offer us." Flavel never married.

In religion too, the brothers chose different paths. Bert became a non-rigid follower of Christian Science doctrines. Flay served the Baptist church of his boyhood throughout his long life in the aforementioned role as Superintendent of its Sunday school for more than 50 years. In a manner of speaking he became the town's conscience, and many were his battles over pool rooms, strong drink, cigarettes, carnivals, and other weaknesses of his fellow men. However, despite his eagerness to remove the pleasures of their sins, he managed to retain the respect and friendship of his neighboring Judsonians, principally through the examples he set.. The Briggs home was less than a block east of the Felts abode, and a short block south of Stover's home, highly convenient for we young scouts.

In their last years, after Lila was gone, both old gentlemen lived in an apartment on the second floor of the Culbertson building "(which I was destined to inherit from my father in such condition that I allowed the City Council to demolish it because it was judged to have become a fire hazard.) It seems somewhat ironic that years later my second wife also was named Lila. Miss Cora Hurlbutt, a foster sister of the Briggs brothers and in the 80's herself, kept house for "the Briggs boys" ("Miss Cora was a skilled seamstress and would come into local homes by appointment for a few days at a time to create new clothing for the women. This included our own, as mother liked her creations.)

"Skinny" recorded that he may have had a modicum of responsibility for one of "the brothers violent disagreements when he was interviewing them on the early history of Judsonia, citing an incident where there was consideration as to whether a man had died at his residence or in the Elliot Hotel. "I guess I should know where he died. I sat up with him", declared Bert.
"Well, I certainly think I should know, I buried him" yelled back Judsonia's long time mortician.

Bert wrote another touching obituary for Flavel when he died. When Bert's time came, two years later, it was discovered that he had also written his own last message. When read, Orr's reaction was pride rather than sorrow in having been a part of the life • "I liked the parts in particular where he said that he had had "a bully good time" and that he was "on his way to join the Colony".

Citizens of Judsonia prided themselves highly on its their talented musicians and their accomplishments, and its youngsters often dominated the county and district and occasionally state school contests.
(WRF- In conducting assemblies for Sunday School Flay led the singing of hymns, and my mother, Willie Felts accompanied on the piano and later the organ. Flay was good, articulate and his enthusiasm was contagious and monotone or tokenism singing by any member of the congregation was discouraged if tolerated at all. A frequent co-leader of the singing was Doctor W. W. Gill who persuaded me at an early age to join him in a duet of "The old Rugged Cross". I don't recall Flavel ever missing a service.. I found relating to Bert much easier, however, because he quickly established rapport with we boys via conversations about scouting and its lessons, while Flavel seemed somewhat more aloof to this growing lad. Undeniably, both were excellent role models.)

In 1927 Charles A. Lindberg made his famous non-stop NY to Paris flight in the Spirit of St. Louis. A pink "Extra" edition of the Arkansas Democrat, became a source of devoured reading by the townspeople. I recall this late afternoon paper being examined and read aloud by Mrs. Gill to mother and me in the living room of their home, directly across the street. In those days it was a "miracle achievement", and the nation -- indeed a large part of the world -- literally went wild celebrating the feat and "Lucky Lindy" became an instant international super hero. In the midst of the reading a bright lightning bolt traversed the sky just outside the front door, accompanied by a tremendous clap of thunder. Simultaneous with the blast I experienced a tingling down my right arm which both adults attributed to "electricity associated with the lightening".

A half-dozen or so years later one of the first declamations I memorized and recited on several occasions was "A Tribute to Col. Charles A. Lindberg" by Senator Thomas J.Heflin. My singing repertoire about the same time included "Oh, Miss Hannah" and "Shortin' Bread".

Around 1931 Dad decided to upgrade our house by hiring a skilled rock mason to utilize native Arkansasa fieldstone with white brick trim to veneer the house, a fairly major undertaking, preceded by some expansion and interior upgrades. The older frame front and east side porches were removed and the kitchen and breakfast room enlarged and modernized, and an indoor bathroom added. Most of the carpentry was performed by Henry Morris and Roy Knowlton. An east side white cement floor porch was added and balanced by a carport/garage on the west side and the resulting house and its gables were rather distinctive. Hardwood floors were installed throughout with oak flooring purchased from the Donaphen Lake sawmill and a second bathroom was roughed in on the east side, resulting in one of the few tangible points of argumentative contention I recall between my parents. Mother wanted the installation of a proposed second bathroom finished and not allowed to sit empty only to become a"junk room" (her worry proved well-founded for the work dragged on for several years. Meanwhile, upgrades in landscaping were completed by a sharecropper (Mr. Shelton) who was living on one of Dad's farm properties. He utilized his wagon and team to haul dirt from the Huntley woods area of town to our lot, a very slow process for it was hand shovel-dug and loaded. A distinctive structure and an improved lot finally resulted, but mother harbored her resentment over the uncompleted bathroom.

About 1950 only after I had finished high school, college and medical school was an architect consulted and another major renovation initiated. Previously unfinished areas were completed (including the by now "infamous bathroom") and the interior was completely upgraded and redecorated. My parents rented the vacant Roth house just north of this home to stay out of the way of the workmen while the work was in progress. I think it was some time in 1951 that they were able to reoccupy the home.

Then on March 21, 1952 around 6:12 p.m. a major storm system which spawned several tornados essentially destroyed the town, including the home. My parents were in the drug store on Judson Avenue when the storm system struck. The roof of the store fell in upon them, and I believe both would have perished had the roof structure not lodged some three or four feet above the concrete floor between a corner of the prescription counter and a large steel safe. Rescuers found them buried in the ruins within an hour and so-described the fortuitous wreckage protection, which I was able to visually verify two days thereafter. They were hospitalized in the Hawkins Clinic Hospital in Searcy and transferred the following day to the Baptist Hospital in Little Rock. Dad had a broken left forearm and wrist, and a neck soft tissue injury where fracture of the cervical spine was suspected but never demonstrated, although the degree of shock was substantial and resulting ileus and bladder dysfunction persisted for over at least two weeks. Mother also was shocky and found to have several fractured transverse processes at two levels of lumbar vertebrae. Although very painful injuries, Dad obviously was the more seriously affected.

Electrical power and telephone connections had been rendered all but non-existent by the storms. However, from the Hawkins Clinic hospital in Searcy the Red Cross managed to get a call through to me after midnight EST informing me of the catastrophe but with dad's verbal reassurance they were alive and "would be o.k." but also querying "how soon could I get there?", an unusual comment from him which I interpreted as "come home as soon as possible".

I phoned Mr. and Mrs North immediately, and with the telephone assistance the next morning of Mr. Leslie Biffle and his White House access managed to obtain a confirmed reservation on an AA flight from DCA to Adams field for late morning. Upon arrival in Little Rock I was met by Eura Jeanne Jones "Jonesy" and her husband Frank Smith who acquainted me with the interim transfers of parents to Baptist Hospital, and transported me to the Fredericka Hotel where I secured a room, before dropping me off at the hospital. The following morning they took me up to Searcy where Mr. Audrey Bolton (of the Pontiac Agency) equipped me with a car. I had some difficulty getting into Judsonia from Searcy because the town was in shambles and access roads were being patrolled by the National Guard in efforts to prevent/minimize looting, causing me to be stopped on several occasions. Judson Avenue had been sufficiently cleared to be passable, and the Arkansas Power & Light Co. was hard at work planting new poles and running new feeder lines into town. My initial efforts were directed toward assessing what was left of our home and drug store and determining the status of neighbors and friends. Unfortunately, several had been killed.

Dr. Gill and the Figley's were o.k, and Jimmy and Viva had been in Searcy when the storm struck. Billy Waller and a daughter had been in their grocery store adjacent to our drug store where mother and dad had been entrapped; both were instantly killed. Almost all of the stores on main street were demolished, as was sweet most of the town. The entire roof from the Kroger store just across the alley to the west had been detached and landed upside down on the west side of our home lot. It was suggestive of a war zone. Grandmother Lewis' two story house had totally vanished and the Baptist church and parsonage were a shambles. The two-story brick Judsonia High School, the gymnasium, community hall, and depot building were literally gone with the wind as were most of the fine old homes and other landmarks. Two huge oak trees in the Gill yard were shattered and down -- one had fallen across the street and knocked out the large picture window in our living room. Our home was almost totally destroyed; roof gone, a large tulip poplar tree on the east side was blown up by its roots. What had been the interior of our home was thoroughly soaked from the rain and wind. The insurance adjustors determined it "totaled" without coaxing or argument. The weather was unbelievably beautiful and cool (cold front overriding heat was what set off the storms.)

The second of the large oaks in the Gill yard had broken off and its top and trunk had fallen over a portion of their roof and walls ruining their home, also. Doc's bed was under the tree trunk which helped prevent total collapse. Doc related that following the storm he had made his way into his bed after dark and spent the night sleeping under the tree trunk. Weeks later Dad took great delight in relating how Doc had "o'possumed up under his tree" following the storm.

During the three weeks or so my parents were confined to the Little Rock hospital in Little Rock I went through the complexities of contacting the insurance companies and setting reconstruction in motion once I was convinced their injuries were unlikely to develop short term fatal complications. To my great chagrin we found that our family agent had failed to place comprehensive coverage on the drug store policy and we were "bare" for it other than for fire. I hired a contractor from Little Rock to whom I was introduced by Frank Smith to completely rebuild and help refurnish the home. But the store was a total loss.

So the history of the house is somewhat paralleled by and overlaps that of the town in mid-century. Eddie Roy Hampton ever-faithful black youngster and inseparable from my parents who felt they had helped raise him, had done his best to salvage items from the ruins of the store which we stacked and weather-protected as best we could under the driveway where the roof remained partially intact. However, little of value could be saved.

Dad's car was a late model four door Pontiac, and a roof or some other heavy object(s) had landed atop it totally crushing it. An Oklahoma salvage dealer bought it from Dad's insurance company with little ado and at far less than blue book value. The insurance adjusters were congenial, considerate, fair and leaned over backward to get funds into the hands of the insured locals expeditiously! The outpouring of sympathy, support and assistance was overwhelming and greatly appreciated. The Red Cross especially was helpful in assisting many of the poorer citizens in rebuilding and financing one, two and three room homes. The Salvation Army also assisted commendably, especially with clothing and food.

During this interval I drove between Little Rock and Judsonia daily, going by the hospital each evening to check with the parents. Dad required a bladder catheter which was very troublesome and he also appeared to hallucinate occasionally from pain medications disproportionate to total dosage or frequency of administration. On a couple of occasions he had a nurse call me during the night at the hotel requesting that I return to the hospital "and sit with him" and he appeared mildly disturbed. This was disconcerting as it, too, was completely out of character for him. I was pleased to be able to comply with his requests; one of my all too few lifetime opportunities to do so and partially acknowledge all he had done for me throughout my lifetime. During this troubled interval the local and national press coverage was sympathetic and reasonably accurate. After the month or so