Where the Jones's Grew Up
On a Straight Line, Three and Half Miles From
The Town Square
The rectangle is estimated to be about 2000 x 2600 ft. covering approximately 120 acres.
"She said that from Rock Springs Rd. you should turn right on Crow Lane and it is all the property to the south along the hedge row which is the original land."
The above statement is taken from an e-mail received from the Genealogy room of the Harrison, Arkansas Library. It helped to finally confirm what had been suspected during an earlier visit to Harrison in 2006.
The following picture copied from Google Earth shows the Jones property as best as can be determined from applying clues that are presented here. It's really a description of a process that results in a near positive conclusion that I truly had literally "stumbled" across the farm where Dad grew up while on a return trip home to Savannah from a visit with Nancy and her husband in Tulsa in November of 2006.
Several years ago after bringing home the old suitcase full of family photos I found a small clue to Dad's Arkansas home where he was born and raised. In a small box in the suitcase there were some mementos and a few newspaper clippings. One clipping aroused my curiosity for it gives the only hint I have ever found or recall hearing about the place where Dad was raised in Harrison, Arkansas.
The clipped article was obviously from a Harrison Newspaper probably sometime in the 1950’s or 1960’s during the construction of the Boone County Airport in Harrison and it mentions our grandfather specifically.
What follows is my transcription of the newspaper article:
"Gone is an old familiar sight along the Rock Springs road. An old hedge fence which almost surrounded the old Hines Jones farm of 120 acres and planted there some 75 or more years ago. The airport construction company has bulldozed it away. It was the only hedge fence in the county or anywhere in the country as far as we know. The origin of the hedge or Bois’darc is very interesting. It is native of Arkansas. Some Frenchmen found it here and gave it the name of Bois'darc. Indians used it to make bows. It is a valuable wood and is a hard yellow. It’s also used to make aniline dye. It is grown now over the U.S. The passing of these landmarks remind those who remember of the earliest settlers of this community. To name a few: Pat Mitchell, Hines Jones, Newt Jones, Heaton, Payne, Raynor, Mysinger, Hawkins, Forney, Tye, Rush, Boone, Brown, Denning, McCormack and others. Some of their descendants live here, others are scattered in many states. A history of these early settlers, their habits and struggles and -----(?) spirit would be ? ? ? ?"
From that small clipping came the questions I wonder if any trace of this special sort of hedge and tree might still survive? Also coming to mind was did the hedge line the entire property of A.H. Jones? If all were removed might they have re-grown from old seeds or roots? If they might be found they just might help to locate the farm that Dad grew up on? As has happened before, just following small hints has led to surprising discoveries. Just wondering about it and knowing someday I would be going through Harrison I started making small inquiries and putting a small plan together for my next visit to the small town.
Rock Spring Road would be the place to begin. The road meanders through the countryside to the west of Harrison and eventually leads to the Denning Cemetery where our grandmother, Martha Moulder, is buried. Having located the cemetery on maps and it’s proximity to Rock Springs it all began to make sense and that just maybe something else of interest might surface while wandering around the area.
A mile or so after leaving the cemetery I turned a sharp right turn on Rock Springs Road and then continued south up a small rise. Immediately on my left I noticed the strangest sort of tree, many of them aligned in a straight line parallel to the road. They had already lost their leaves and presented an odd array of bare branches. A sort of tree I had never seen before. Immediately the mention of a hedge formed with a special sort of tree as mentioned in the news clipping came to mind.
There were no other such trees like them in the area. They were really unusual to my eye. They seemed purposely placed in a straight line, and they were old, but somewhat stunted in growth. Just the presence of the trees was not enough to prove anything at all. But I felt I was on to something so I stopped and took pictures as a reference for future use.
Later Internet searches revealed what this special Bois-d Arc tree looked like and in my mind, this is the very tree that makes up the fence line row that I photographed in 2006.
My First Views of the Bois'darc Trees
The Trees Have an Almost Helter-Skelter Branch Pattern
Searching the web to see what a Bodoc tree might look like took me to a knowledgeable web site, http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/98151
The following picture was taken from that web page and it and others on the site confirms that I had found a property line for the Jones farm. The newspaper clipping implied that all the hedges had been removed but obviously the article may have been referring to what might have been the property line along the old route into Harrison past the front or northern edge of the original property.
You can see the trees along the very road I visited by using Google Earth and search for 4638 Rock Springs Road, Harrison, Boone County, Arkansas. It should provide the following view. The direction of the view is opposite of what is shown above.
Both of the photos above were copied from Google Earth on the Internet. The Rock Springs Road runs between the two yellow push-pins inserted in the above Google Earth view. The pin at the left is where I believe the Denning Cemetery is and the pin to the right is on current airport property and is the area of the farm. The town of Harrison is immediately to the right of the airport runway. By looking over current city maps it’s easy to see that the original road continued directly east into Harrison. Now it turns south at the hedge line continuing past the end of the runway and then continues into the town. This north-south road had to have been made at the time of the airport construction and it follows the west boundary of the Jones place.
The following picture depicts what is behind the hedge row of Bodoc Trees. You might want to mentally add maybe ten feet of earth to the right of the tree row though. That might then begin to give an idea of the landscape. The hedge row is to the left, and the airport landing strip is to the right of the view. Just what the actual boundaries were is not known but it was certainly larger than just the patch of ground in the picture. The Northwest corner of the property is where the two tree lines meet.
Southwest Corner of the Boone County Airport
Site of the Jones family farm in Harrison
I was directed to the genealogy room of the local library to talk to a lady that was the local expert. She was busy and it was but a brief visit so we agreed to discuss the Jones family further by e-mail. When finally home I made contact with the lady and received the following immediate response-
----- Original Message -----
From: Kathleen@Boone County Library
To: ALLISON JONES
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 4:12 PM
Subject: Re: ATTENTION KATHLEEN, GENEALOGY ROOM
Good afternoon, Allison,
I think that I have found some further information that you can use. Just after reading your message a lady came into my room that was raised on Rock springs Rd. She knew about the old Jones homestead and said that there is a map of it online. I have been able to find this map and it is located at: http://www.thecolefamily.com/hobby/rocksprings1900.htm
When you look at it you will find your family's farm marked on it. She said that if it is the same one that she remembers there has been a log cabin on it, but it now has a flower nursery on it. She thinks that the current owners also own Wright Steel, a manufacturing plant here in town.
To get to the property today you would be on highway 397 and turn off of it behind the Wright Steel Manufacturing plant. This road would take you around behind the plant and then on the west side of the airport.
If you would like to contact this lady her name and address is:
LaMayne Moore
5583 Rock Springs, Rd.
Harrison, AR 727601
phone: 870-741-7819
Have a good afternoon. Kathleen
The web-page mentioned in the e-mail produced the following map. The actual creator is not known but just the detail of all the families of the area certainly establishes a decent level of credibility. A local family maintains the web-page and they have done an amazing job of collecting and disseminating their family information. Their level of thoroughness and obvious passion for history of the Harrison area indicates a high level of credibility is due their input.
Comparing this hand drawn map with the Google aerial view you can match the shape of the road. Notice that it did continue directly east into Harrison at one time. The right to left distance is about two miles and the Jones place is near the right edge of the map. Dad’s sister Pearl married Samuel Fillingham and most likely one of the sons of the Fillingham family at the far right of the sketch.
Two days later the following exchange with the library occurred-
Two days later the following exchange with the library occurred-
----- Original Message -----
From: ALLISON JONES
To: Kathleen@Boone County Library
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 10:45 AM
Subject: Re: ATTENTION KATHLEEN, GENEALOGY ROOM
Thank you again Kathleen,
I have been able to locate the property on a good topographical map I have of the area. Based on some logic and assumptions I can almost draw the property line based on the fact that the farm covered 120 acres. The map, USGS Batavia, Ark, is a 1967 edition and it reflects an outbuilding on the property that you have described for me. In all likelihood this is the barn as described by Mrs. Moore. This is far more than I had known previously, although I still hold out hope to find the legal description someday.
Your attention to my request has been most kind. I also thank LaMayne Moore once again. Please do keep me in mind if anything else might surface regarding my interest.
Have a wonderful day,
Allison Jones
Richmond Hill, Georgia
----- Original Message -----
From: Kathleen@Boone County Library
To: ALLISON JONES
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 2:18 PM
Subject: Re: ATTENTION KATHLEEN, GENEALOGY ROOM
Good afternoon, Allison,
I have heard from Mrs. Moore again today and she has located the property from the map that we found. She said that from Rock Springs Rd. you should turn right on Crow Lane and it all property to south along hedge row which is the original land. At this time it is airport property. The house has been gone many years, but the barn fell down about 3 years ago.
Maybe you can make another trip up here and see it sometime.
Have a good afternoon. Kathleen
The above map was taken from a topographical map of the area, dated 1967. It shows two buildings on what was the Jones property, the house being the dark square, the open square to the left of the house is probably the barn. Without visiting the location it is impossible to determine if these are old or new structures but based on the e-mail describing the farm and some of its history I suspect that they are the original structures. The small blue circle is a pond or a spring. This map was verified and compared against aerial photos taken specifically for mapping purposes in 1967 indicating they were both in place after the construction of the airport and had not been removed.
The school location that obviously was attended by all the Jones children was less than a half mile away and it is very doubtful that it still stands.
I cannot thank the genealogy librarian, Kathleen, enough. She and her contact have provided enough proof that makes all the above assumptions correct. In this hobby of family history, it’s amazing what can be found when one applies time and patience.
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