The Homes of the Arkansas Gazette at Little Rock, 1821-1866

The Homes of the Arkansas Gazette at Little Rock, 1821-1866Author(s): Margaret RossSource: The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Summer, 1966), pp. 128-144Published by: Arkansas Historical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40023262 .

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The Homes of the Arkansas

Gazette at Little Rock, 18214866

By MARGARET ROSS Little Rock

X EN DAYS AFTER GOVERNOR JAMES MILLER SIGNED THE ACT

of the General Assembly moving Arkansas Territory's seat of government from the village of Arkansas to Little Rock, William E. Woodruff announced that he would move the Arkansas Gazette office to the new capital as soon as a suit- able building could be erected for it.1 Probably Wood- ruff expected to move no later than June 1, 1821, the date set by law for the move of the capital,2 but 14 months

passed before the first issue of the paper was published at Little Rock.

A controversy over title to the townsite undoubtedly was the reason for the delay of the Gazette's move, and appears also to have caused the move of the seat of government to be a little later than the law allowed. A group headed by James Bryan and Stephen F. Austin held possession of the land by virtue of the location of New Madrid certificates. A rival set of claimants headed by William Rus- sell, the great land speculator, was trying to gain possession on the strength of a pre-emption claim.3

Joseph Thornhill, a British immigrant who made his living in construction work and was at Little Rock as an

employee of the New Madrid proprietors, was the builder and owner of the first Gazette office at Little Rock. On March 28, 1821, for the magnificent sum of $10, Elias

^Gazette, October 28, 1820. 2Lazvs of the Territory of Arkansas .... (Arkansas: Printed by William

E. Woodruff, Printer to the Territory, 1821) 104-105. 8For a full discussion of this dispute see Dallas T. Herndon, Why Little

Rock Was Born (Little Rock; Central Printing Co., 1933).



THE HOMES OF THE ARKANSAS GAZETTE 129

Austin Elliott as agent for Henry Elliott, one of the New Madrid proprietors, deeded to Thornhill lot 12 in block 82,4 located at the southwest corner of Cherry (now Second) and Louisiana streets, directly across Louisiana street from the parking lot adjoining the present Gazette office.

Then as now, purchasers of lots took possession at the time of the purchase agreement. But the prevailing custom of the pioneer period differed from modern pro- cedure in that the purchaser received only a bond for title at the time of the purchase agreement, and the warranty deed was withheld until the purchase price was paid in full.5 Since the date of the contemplated move was only two months away, it is most unlikely that he started work on the building much later than the date of the deed.

But William Russell was yet to be reckoned with. The New Madrid proprietors had spurned his efforts to effect a compromise, and in 1819 he had started forcible entry and detainer proceedings against them. The case reached the Territorial Superior Court in the June, 1821 term, and a decision was rendered in favor of Russell.6 This meant that the New Madrid proprietors would have to surrender the townsite to Russell and his associates, although they did not yet consider themselves finally defeated. When word came of the court's decision, it was the cue for the New Madrid proprietors to remove the few buildings they had put up, because improvements strengthened pre-emption claims but had no bearing on New Madrid claims. En- listing the help of every able-bodied man for miles around, they moved most of the buildings to the Quapaw lands just

*Ms. deed in the John E. Knight Collection, Arkansas History Commis- sion. This deed was never filed for record.

*This is clearly reflected in the early deed records of Pulaski County. Because the bonds for title only promised but did not deliver title, they were rarely filed for record, but they were often mentioned in the deeds.

6Samuel H. Hempstead, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the United States Superior Court for the Territory of Arkansas from 1820 to 1836; and in the United States District Court for the District of Arkansas, from 1836 to 1849; and in the United States Circuit Court for the District of Arkansas, in the Ninth Circuit, from 1839 to 1856 (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1856), 3-8.



130 ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

east of the townsite, and destroyed those that could not be moved.7 Assuming that the Gazette office was already in

existence, it was moved eastward approximately four blocks, and was returned to its original site during the summer or fall

The territorial government had no legal alternative but to proceed with the move of the capital, and it was done before the legislature convened on October 1, but Woodruff evidently perferred to wait for further assur- ance that the new location would be permanent. This was

accomplished by the adjournment of the legislature on Oc- tober 24 without relocating the seat of government, and by a compromise agreement that made the rival claimants joint owners of the townsite. The compromise agreement was

signed at Batesville on November 22, 1821 by Chester Ash-

ley, acting for the New Madrid claimants, and William Russell, acting for the pre-emption claimants.8 Two days later Woodruff published the last issue of the Gazette at the town of Arkansas, and announced that the move to Little Rock was at hand.

The arrival of the press and materials at Little Rock attracted a small crowd of curiosity seekers, some of whom

helped the young editor move into his new quarters.9 After a suspension of four weeks, publication was resumed at Little Rock on December 29, 1821.

The new office was a typical log cabin, unlovely to behold, but sturdy enough to remain in constant use for more than 66 years. The logs that formed the walls probably had been hewed, but those that did not show had not been.10 The streets existed only on paper for the most part, and

7Walter B. Douglas (ed.), Thomas James, Three Years Among the Indians and Mexicans (St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society, 1916), 101-102.

8Pulaski County Record of Deeds, Book C, p. 145; Clarence Edwin Carter (ed.), The Territorial Papers of the United States, Vol. XIX, The

Territory of Arkansas 1 81 9-1 825 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1958), 365-871.

•Robert J. Brown, The Romance of the City of Roses (Little Rock: Mitchell and Bettis, Printers, 1886), 11-12.

10Gazette, April 20, 1888; Fay Hempstead, A Pictorial History of Arkan- sas (St. Louis and New York: N. D. Thompson Publishing Co., 1890), 716.



Courtesy Arkansas History Commission

William E. Woodruff. Portrait in Arkansas History Commission of the founder of the Arkansas Gazette.




Woodruff had a long hike through the woods to all the

places he needed to go- to the post office on lower Mark- ham street with heavy bundles of papers, to the capitol building at Fifth and Scott, and to Ashley's log cabin on Second and Cumberland where he took his meals.11 It was no particular disadvantage to be so remotely situated so far as news coverage was concerned, but the inconvenience to potential advertisers and subscribers and those who wanted to pay their bills was more important. But it was only temporary anyhow, for Woodruff was never one to remain in a rented building very long.

There was a brickmaker at Little Rock as early as the spring of 1821, when Lewis Rouse and Allen Mars leased a site on the river bank about 40 or 50 yards east of the townsite and promised, among other things, to keep a brickyard in constant operation for three years.12 Rouse died late in August13 but Mars announced in the Gazette on February 19, 1822 that he was preparing a brickyard and would do bricklaying, stone masonry and plastering. Woodruff had been printing the Gazette in Thornhill's building two months, and undoubtedly was anxious to make arrangements for a permanent office as soon as possible. Allen Mars & Company must be mentioned in order to cover all possi- bilities in identification of the builders, but it is more likely that Woodruff waited another year and contracted with the firm of Brumback and Clements to build his new office.

In the spring of 1823, Christian Brumback and Ben- jamin Clements settled at Little Rock and entered into a partnership in making bricks. The partnership was dissolved sometime in 1824,14 but Brumback continued in the busi-

"Jane Georgine Woodruff, "William E. Woodruff," Arkansas Pioneers, October, 1913, p. 3.

12Ms. contract between Francis Imbeau and Lewis Rouse and Allen Mars, April 24, 1821, John E. Knight Collection, Arkansas History Com- mission.

lsGazette, September 22, 1821. ^Memorial of Roswell Beebe, addressed to the General Assembly of

the State of Arkansas: With an Appendix (Little Rock: Printed by G. IT. Burnett, 1840), 59.




ness,15 along with several other enterprises. The new Gazette office was finished in January of 1824, which coincides with the period in which Brumback and Clements were in business together.

To return briefly to the first office, Thornhill's deed to the lot needed confirmation after the compromise, and

Ashley and wife made him a new deed on June 8, 1822.16 After the Gazette vacated the building, Thornhill lived in it. He bought the two lots that adjoined it on the south,11 but he died soon afterwards, before he had time to build an addition to the house.18 His bride of six weeks (Mrs. Catherine Elliott Bates,19 a widowed relative of Mrs. Ashley) and her daughter by her first marriage continued to live in the old Gazette building.20 She later married David G. Eller.21 He put this building and another log house just north of it under a common roof, and weatherboarded it, which made it look like a frame house.22 We have an oc- casional glimpse of it in later years as a family residence.28 It was torn down on April 19, 1888, to clear the site for the two-story brick Turner and Gans building, and was the city's second oldest house at that time.24

The Gazette left this building on January 6, 1824 to move into its new two-story brick building25 on the southwest corner of Cherry (now Second) and Cumberland, on lots 10, 11, and 12 in block 32, which Ashley and wife conveyed to Woodruff two days after the move.26 The building was small, with two rooms on the first floor for office

^Gazette, October 26, 1824. 16Pulaski County Record of Deeds, Book B, p. 311. ™Ibid., Book E, p. 160. 18Gazette, November 1, 1825. 19Ibid., September 20, 1825. 20Ibid., September 18, 1827. 21Ibid., January 15, 1828. 22Wilham E. Woodruff, Jr., "A Chronicle of Little Rock," Gazette,

November 7, 1931. 2SIbid.; Gazette, October 6, 1841; William F. Pope, Early Days in Ar-

kansas (Little Rock: Frederick W. Allsopp, 1895), 79. 24Fay Hempstead, op at.; Gazette, April 20, 1888. ^Gazette, January 6, 1824. 26Pulaski County Record of Deeds, Book D? p. 21.




space and one long room on the second floor for the printing shop. It was set back from the street, and faced Cherry street.27

This is the only Gazette office still standing except the

present one. By some miracle it survived fire28 and several

generations of use and abuse, and is now a part of the Arkansas Territorial Restoration. It was generally known as the Field building, having been owned by Judge William Field and his heirs for many years.29

Robert C. Oden made a trip to Missouri in 1824. The day before he left town, he deeded to Robert Critten- den without consideration all the lots he owned at Little Rock, to keep Ashley from forcing a sale of the property in execution of a judgment he had obtained against Oden. After Oden's return, Woodruff bought three of the lots, with Ashley negotiating the purchase. Woodruff accepted a deed from Crittenden without protest, although both he and Ashley were fully informed of the questionable title Crittenden held, the deed to him having been made for fraudulent purposes and without consideration.30 By a general warranty deed dated July 9, 1825, Crittenden conveyed to Woodruff lots 7, 8, and 9 in block 34,31 located at the northeast corner of Markham and Scott streets, across Mark- ham from the block on which the Ashley Mansion was about to be built. On these lots Woodruff built a two- story brick building with an attic, a combination home and printing office. The Gazette office was moved to this building on March 27, 1827.82

By that time the bitter political controversy of 1827 was under way and was rapidly gaining momentum, with Woodruff and Ashley on one side and Crittenden and Oden on the other.33 A few weeks after Woodruff moved into

27William E. Woodruff, Jr., "Gazette's Career in Little Rock," undated Gazette clipping.

28Gazette, November 17, 1881. ™Ibid., February 20, March 17, 1870. •°Ibid., June 12, 19, 1827. 81PuIaski County Record of Deeds, Book E, p. Ill; 14 Ark. 465. "Gazette, March 27, 1827. asFor a full discussion of this, see Lonnie J. White, Politics on the




the new building he heard that Oden was boasting that he had Woodruff's property in his power. Prior to the deed to Crittenden, Oden had authorized his brother-in-law in Kentucky, by a power of attorney, to sell the lots, and he said that some of his lots had been sold. Woodruff hastened to the courthouse to check the county deed records, and found that neither the power of attorney nor the deed to the rumored purchaser had been filed for record, and therefore he considered them no threat to his title, the documents of which were properly recorded. Nevertheless, it suited his purposes to make an issue of this episode, to show the public that Oden was basically dishonest and to reflect unfavorably on Crittenden. Woodruff was sly enough to imply that his lots were the ones that had been sold by Oden's brother-in-law without making a direct statement to that effect. Strangely enough, he made much of the fact that Crittenden's title to the lots was fraudulent and therefore was no good,84 although his experience as a land agent surely must have taught him that his own title, being derived from Crittenden, could be no better than Critten- den's.

The rather ludicrous end of this dispute came almost four years after Crittenden's death. With three of the territory's most able lawyers and its leading land agent involved in the sale of the lots, they neglected to get Mrs. Crittenden to relinquish her dower rights. And although Crittenden had made a public statement to the effect that he had never had a valid title to the lots, his widow filed a petition in the Pulaski Circuit Court to recover dower rights. The case strung out for several years, went four times to the Arkansas Supreme Court, and for a while seemed to go in Mrs. Crittenden's favor, but was finally decided in Wood- ruff's favor.85

This building was built New York style, flush with Southwestern Frontier: Arkansas Territory, 1819-1836 (Memphis, Tenn.: Memphis State University Press, 1964), 66-87.

^Supplement to the Gazette, July 24, 1827, signed hy Wm. E. Woodruff. 853 Ark, 585; 10 Ark. 333; II Ark. 82; 14 Ark, 465.




the brick sidewalks on both Markham and Scott streets. The Markham street entrance was a narrow stoop of about four feet, with steps on each end. There were four rooms on the ground floor, one of which was quite long and was used as the editorial office and counting room. Here Wood- ruff also conducted his land agency and his book store, and sold a variety of merchandise ranging from garden seeds to patent medicines. There was a long, wide hall with a staircase to the second floor. The second floor also had four rooms, the largest of which was the printing office. The attic was a storage room and lumber room. The rooms not occupied by the Gazette were used as living quarters for the Woodruff family and the employees and apprentices who lived with the Woodruffs from time to time.86

Woodruff acquired the beginnings of his family on November 14, 1827, when he married Jane Eliza Mills.87 All of their 11 children were born in this house between 1828 and 1850, and two of them died here.38 Besides the usual joys and sorrows of domestic life, this building was the scene of much political intrigue, violence and threats of violence, and the excitement of many important visitors.

On the east side of the building were the flower and vegetable gardens and the stable and horse lot, with double gates opening on the sidewalk.39 This part of the property was enlarged in 1831, when Woodruff bought the adjoining lot (lot 10) from Ashley. Here we have another example of slipshod handling of personal business that seems out of character for Woodruff, who was proud of his reputation for "correct business habits." There were running accounts between Woodruff and Ashley all the time, and they were not finally settled during Ashley's lifetime. When Wood- ruff and Mrs. Ashley cleared their books on September 25,

36Jane Georgine Woodruff, "A Pioneer Childhood in Little Rock," Gazette, November 7, 1931; Margaret Smith Ross (ed.), Letters of Hiram Abiff Whittington 1827-1834 (Little Rock: Pulaski County Historical Society, 1956), 1, 8.

^Gazette, November 20, 1827. 38FamiIy Bible of Jane Eliza Woodruff, Arkansas History Commission. 89Jane Georgine Woodruff, op cit.




1849, he paid her for the lot. The purchase price was $300, but 18 years of interest brought the price to $840. Even

then he neglected to get her to deed the lot to him, and it

remained for the administrator of her estate to get authority from the Pulaski Probate Court to make the deed in July, 1869.40 Thus for 37 years after the purchase, Woodruff had

no title to the lot. The Gazette occupied this building until 1840, and the

Woodruff family lived in it until March of 1853.41 In 1860 it was the first Little Rock telegraph office. It was torn down

shortly after the Civil War,42 and a later Gazette office was built on a part of the land.43

Woodruff sold the Gazette to Edward Cole on Decem- ber 1, 1838.44 On the same day Cole bought the equivalent of a little less than one lot in block 2 from Major Jacob Brown of the United States army. The lots in this block run east and west with the short end fronting on Main street. To build a building fronting on Markham street, Cole

bought the east 40 feet of lots 1 and 2 and part of the same end of lot 3. This gave him a front of 40 feet on the south side of Markham street and a lot that ran back 130 feet parallel to the alley45 that separated this property from that of Peay's and Pope's Hotel, where the famous Anthony House was built soon afterwards.

On this lot Cole built a three-story brick building with a cellar and a garret. The ground floor had two rooms suit- able for stores, separated by a hall that gave access to the

upper stories. There was a two-story brick wing at the rear, and behind that a frame stable.46 The Gazette announced

40Petition of Thomas R. Welch, administrator de bonis non of the Chester Ashley estate, probate file box A- 1, Pulaski Probate Court.

41 Jane Georgine Woodruff, op at. 42William E. Woodruff, Jr., op cit. 43 Gazette, October 30, 1866. ^Gazette, December 12, 1838. i5Pulaski County Record of Deeds, Book K, p. 350. 46Wilham E. Woodruff as agent for Jacob Brown's estate to Q. A. and

A. J. Gilkey, January 1, 1858, altered to apply to Leonard M. Filkins, April 1, 1860, Ms. lease in William E. Woodruff Papers, Arkansas History Com- mission.




its move to this building on April 22, 1840. The Gazette's

counting room was in the store room on the ground floor next to the alley, and the other store and the cellar were offered for rent.47 The printing office was in the two-story brick wing at the rear.48 No information is found about the use made of the second and third floors of the main

building, but these rooms could have been living quarters for the employees and apprentices.

Cole left Arkansas 5% months after he moved into this

building, and George H. Burnett bought the Gazette** He assumed Cole's obligations so far as the purchase of the paper was concerned, but did not purchase the real estate, which the Gazette continued to occupy as a rent-paying tenant. Cole had not paid any part of the purchase price of the Gazette or of the lot. He had mortgaged the lot to Wood- ruff in the beginning, to secure the debt for the purchase of the Gazette, and since he had not paid for the lot at the time of his departure, he executed the necessary documents to allow Woodruff to apply the rent to the purchase price of the lot and take title when the full amount was paid.50 It did not work out that way, for Woodruff paid only part of the purchase price, and title to the lot remained in Jacob Brown and his heirs for many years.51

The men who built the building were never paid in full. Lawsuits based on mechanics' liens were filed by Dar- win Lindsley, a carpenter,52 William Morrison and C. L. Sullivan, painters and glaziers,53 John Robins and Thomas Thorn, brick masons and general contractors,54 but they were unable to get judgments.

Burnett was seriously ill most of the time he was pro- i7Gazette, August 5, December 16, 1840; August 18, November 10, 1841;

March 23, April 13, December 7, 1842. "Ibid., September 21, 1875. i9Ibid., October 7, 1840. 505 Ark. 217. "Jacob Brown Estate Papers, J. N. Heiskell Collection, Arkansas Gazette

Foundation. ^Gazette, November 24, 1841. 535 Ark. 217. ^Gazette, November 8, 1843; 5 Ark. 55.




prietor of the Gazette, and he died on December 17, 1841.85 He had not paid for the Gazette either, so it reverted to Woodruff.56 Woodruff sold it to Benjamin J. Borden, who assumed control with the issue of January 11, 1843. Borden made the paper a Whig organ. This political switch and

general hard times had an adverse effect on the Gazette's

prosperity, and one suspects it became difficult to pay the rent on this large office in a choice location. Whatever the reason, the Gazette announced on June 2, 1845 its move to the old Recess building. In 1858 all of the old building built by Cole was leased to the proprietors of the Anthony House except the two stores on the ground floor and the cellar. The main building was connected with the hotel by a bridge or walkway that extended across the alley at the second floor level.57 In 1875 a fire that originated in this building burned it and the Anthony House to the

ground.58 The Gazette's announcement of its move to the Recess

building said the building had been used as a coffee house and billiard roam ever since its erection many years earlier, and located it on "Elm Street, nearly opposite the Anthony House." Since Elm Street is half a block north of the An- thony House, this requires explanation. William F. Pope described Elm street as "a narrow street, scarcely more than an alley/'59 As a matter of fact, it was only an alley, platted 20 feet wide and without a name on any of the plats of Original City of Little Rock. Its proximity to the river made a street more desirable here than an alley, and at least two buildings were built to front on both Markham and Elm. At the time of the Gazette's move to the Recess building, the three lots directly in front of the Anthony House were vacant, and it was this open space that justi- fied the description "nearly opposite the Anthony House."

55Gazette, December 22, 1841. ™Ibid. 57 Woodruff to Gilkey and Gilkey, op cit. 'oSGazettef September 21, 1875.

59Pope, op cit., p. 100.



Map showing the location of the homes of the Arkansas Gazette in Little Rock, numbered in sequence.




The Recess building was on lot 4, block 1, on the north side of Elm, and therefore faced the Anthony House across the vacant space.

A study of numerous deeds pertaining to this property indicates that lot 4 was part of the site of one of Little Rock's first hotels, built very soon after the town was settled. The deeds do not identify and locate the improvements, but

by inference we know that the hotel was on lot 6 and the saloon attached to it was on lot 4. It was a popular spot for loafers during the 1820's and 1830's, and some of the

proprietors had rather unsavory reputations. Justus P. Stevens and Edward R. Woods, who leased the old saloon on January 12, 1839,60 were the first to call it the Recess. At the time of the Gazette's occupancy, the property was owned first by Noah H. Badgett and the heirs of John Mo

Lain, and later by William B. Wait.61

George B. Hayden bought the Gazette from Borden, and assumed control with the issue of February 10, 1848. On October 26, 1848 Hayden announced that the Gazette office was being moved to another building, and indicated that the move was already in progress, but it appears that the move was not actually accomplished at that time. Seven weeks later, in the issue of December 14, 1848, the announcement was made that the office had been moved during the

previous week to the lower story of the brick building known as the residence of the late Dr. Alden Sprague, on the southeast corner of Cherry and Main. This was the first time the Gazette failed to publish an issue because of a moves since it came to Little Rock.

The Sprague building stood on lot 1, block 3,62 next door to the old Presbyterian Church. It was a large two-

story brick house with two large stores and a hall on the first floor, six or eight rooms and a hall on the second floor, and a large room in the garret which was occupied by the Masonic Lodge. A two-story brick kitchen, other out-

60Pulaski County Record of Deeds, Book K, p. 252. nIbid., Book T, p. 381. 62 Gazette, January 23, 1858.




buildings, and a well were at the rear.63 The Gazette office was only one room, the store room on the south side of the ground floor.64

The fortunes of the Gazette went from bad to worse under Hayden's management, and he finally gave it up when it was almost too far gone to be saved. William E. Woodruff took it over again with the issue of February 8, 1850, merging it with the Arkansas State Democrat, a paper he had established in 1846, and moving the office to the Democrat office. The location was described under the mast- head as "up-stairs, in Beebe's buildings, on Markham and Elm Streets."

This building occupied an L-shaped plot on parts of lots 7 and 8, block 1, with a frontage of 77 feet and 9 inches on Markham Street and 25 feet and 9 inches on Elm. It was sometimes called the Byrd building, because Richard C. Byrd had bought a plot fronting 52 feet and 9 inches on Markham and 80 feet on Main Street in 1833,65 and had built a store building that apparently covered all the

plot. It was also called the Alhambra building, the name of a general merchandise firm that had briefly occupied the building.

It was also called the DeBaun building, because Byrd had sold the property to James DeBaun and Thomas Thorn in January of 1836,66 and in November of 1836, they had

bought from Ashley an adjoining plot, part of lot 8, front-

ing 25 feet on Markham and running the entire length of the lot, 140 feet from Markham to Elm.67 They evidently built an addition to the Byrd building, giving it a front on Markham of square standstone columns, and also a front on Elm.68 DeBaun later was the sole owner, and on No- vember 2, 1839, he bought from Ashley a strip of land 60

™Ibid., April 25, 1851; October 7, 1853. "Ibid., February 15, 1850. 05Pulaski County Record of Deeds, Book G, p. 325. fl6/foU/Book I, p. 115. "Ibid., 421. 68William E. Woodruff Jr., "A Chronicle of Little Rock," Gazette,

November 7, 1931.



THE HOMES OF THE ARKANSAS GAZETTE \H

feet long and 9 inches wide running along the western boun-

dary of the north end of the part on lot 8.69 This seems to

imply that the building was built right on what DeBaun

thought was the property line but actually was nine inches over it.

During the period of the Gazette's occupancy, title to the property was disputed by Roswell Beebe, who had sheriffs deeds to it, and tenants of A. Beirne, Jr. and J. Burnside of New Orleans, who held an unsatisfied mort-

gage from DeBaun.70 On March 18, 1853 the Gazette announced the sale of

the paper to Capt. Christopher C. Danley. About one o'clock on the morning of February 21, 1854, a fire broke out in an outbuilding at the rear of the Arkansas True Democrat office on the southeast corner of Main and Elm. It quickly spread to the adjoining building on Main Street, and to the Alhambra building on the corner of Markham and Main, and to the old Rapley building next door, fronting on Markham. All these buildings were totally destroyed. Besides the Gazette, the tenants of the Alhambra building were David Bender and Company, dry goods merchants;

John E. Reardon, bookseller and stationer; Dr. W. W.

Adams, druggist; and J. Brisbin and Company, tinners. The Gazette had no insurance, and salvaged very little from the fire, but did manage to save the books and files and the next issue of the paper, the outside pages of which had been printed. The inside pages of this issue were printed at the office of the Arkansas Whig and distributed to sub-

scribers, and after that the Gazette suspended publication until Danley could get a new office, press, and materials.71

While he waited for the arrival of his new equipment, Danley built an office for the Gazette on lots 1 and 2, block 32, at the southeast corner of Cherry and Scott, adjoining the property on which the second Gazette office stood. Dan- ley borrowed $1,000 from his brother, James M. Danley,

69Pulaski County Record of Deeds, Book L, p. 278. 707 Ark, 305; 8 Ark. 510. ^Gazette, February 24, 1854.




and $500 from William E. Woodruff to build the new printing office, and went in debt to A. S. Barnes and Company of New York for the new equipment. He conveyed all these assets to his brother by a deed of trust to secure payment of these debts.72

Publication was resumed on May 5, 1854. The new

building was of frame construction, and the editorial office was in the front room. Its furnishings consisted only of a table piled high with exchange newspapers, two chairs, a book shelf, and a box filled with sawdust for a spittoon.73 Office space in the south end of the building was rented to others.74

When the Federal army occupied Little Rock on Sep- tember 10, 1863, the Gazette suspended publication. Ac-

cording to rumor, Danley declined to publish the paper as a Union organ. On September 12, Brig. Gen. John W. David-

son, the Federal cavalry commander, authorized J, W.

Demby to take possession of the Gazette office, and a few

days later Demby published the first issue of the National Union.75 Probably only one issue was ever published as no further reference is found to this paper. It was a strongly radical paper, which coincided with Davidson's own political philosophy. It disappeared without public explanation, and about September 29 Dr. C. V. Meador issued the first num- ber of the National Democrat from the old True Democrat office.76 This paper was said to be authorized by Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele, and was conservative politically, or "cop- perhead" according to the radicals. The radicals insisted

upon having their own organ, and on January 23, 1864 Wil- liam Meade Fishback and T. D. W. Yonley began the pub-

72Pulaski County Record of Deeds, Book X, p. 429. 73Dickison Brugman, "The Life Story of a Newspaper Veteran,"

Gazette, November 7, 1931. ^Gazette, October 13, 1854; June 10, 1865. ^Washington Telegraph, September 30, 1863. ^National Democrat, October 20, 1863. This is Vol. I, No. 4. Assuming

regular publication every Tuesday, the first issue would fall on September 29.




lication of the Unconditional Union from the Gazette office.77

On February 27, the Treasury Department's special agent formally seized the interest owned by Confederate

sympathizers in both newspaper offices and offered them for sale under the Confiscation Act, the sale advertised to take place on April 4. The confiscation applied to Danley's two-thirds interest in the Gazette and Richard H. Johnson's one-half interest in the True Democrat.78 It was taken for granted that Danley's partner, William F. Holtzman, and Tohnson's partner, R. S. Yerkes, had taken the amnesty oath, thereby saving their interest in the papers.79 Danley held out until the last possible moment, but finally took the oath about the first of April. When he received an order

giving him possession of the Gazette office, he promptly evicted the Unconditional Union. Calvin C. Bliss, who

bought the Unconditional Union at this time, purchased Yerkes' half interest in the True Democrat office and leased

Johnson's half interest from the Treasury agent,80 and on

April 9, with the help of a squad of soldiers, he took possession of the office without notification to the editor of the National Democrat, who was absent from the office at the time. Meador then moved to the Gazette office, fuming splut- tering and still hoping to regain possession of the better

equipped True Democrat office.81 This he was never able to do, and he continued to rent the Gazette office until May 9, 1865, when he published the last issue of the Daily National Democrat and announced his candidacy for Congress, the last weekly edition having been published on May 6.

By that time it was obvious that peace was only a few

days away. Danley and Holtzman began publication of the

77 Unconditional Union, January 23, 1864. 78National Democrat, February 27, 1864. ^Washington Telegraph, March 16, 1864. This is supported by Holtz-

man 's name on a list of members of the Union Club at Little Rock, dated November 9, 1863. C. C. Andrews, Early Steps in Reconstruction (Washing- ton, D. C: Union Republican Congressional Committee, undated), 4.

^Unconditional Union, April 16, 1864. 81National Democrat, April 16, 1864.




Daily Arkansas Gazette on May 10, and resumed the weekly edition on May 13. Both men had been ill for a long time and were now slowly dying. Danley died on October 3, 186582 and Holtzman made arrangements with his heirs to continue to occupy the office.83 He sold the Gazette to Wil- liam E. Woodruff, Jr., who assumed control on July 1, 1866.84 The office remained in this building until its move to a new building erected on a part of the site of the paper's third office at Little Rock, on the northeast corner of Markham and Scott. This move was announced in the Gazette on October 30, 1866.

^Gazette (daily edition), October 5, 1865. 83Pulaski County Record of Deeds, Book G-2, pp. 364, 365. "Gazette (weekly edition), June 30, 1866.



The Homes of the Arkansas Gazette at Little Rock, 1821-1866

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Transcript of The Homes of the Arkansas Gazette at Little Rock, 1821-1866