Tracing Emma & Jesse: Randolph County

The next chapter in my journey to research the saga of my great-grandparents, Jesse and Emma McElyea, took us to Randolph County, Arkansas, where Emma spent her childhood, where her parents are buried, and where Emma and Jesse lived at least part of the time between 1892 (after their son, my grandfather, was born) and 1903 (when the last record of them in Pocahontas appears.) This picture shows the historic 1872 county courthouse, which now houses city offices.

We went to Pocahontas on the second day of our vacation, and spent the morning in the excellent Genealogy Room in the bowels of the county library. There we found various helpful indexes as well as abstracts of newspaper articles, including some from 1903 that told of Jesse's election to a secret society, Emma's week-long visit with her relatives in Walnut Hill, where she grew up, and rumors that Jesse might run for sheriff. Only a few years and months of the papers are indexed and of course I wanted more. We took a break for lunch at the Green Tomato Cafe, located in a great renovated space with inexpensive, fresh sandwiches and salads. It was Norm's birthday, so we treated him to a piece of excellent carrot cake. If you are ever in Pocahontas, this is the place for breakfast or lunch. They close at 2 p.m., though.


All along, I had been wondering where Jesse and Emma lived between 1901, when a newspaper clipping told of the death of a baby daughter in Pocahontas, and 1910, when they turned up in the census at Erick, OK. And why they moved West. We did find newspaper references to local floods in 1903, and also some newspaper ads enticing people to move to then Indian Territory or Oklahoma Territory. After lunch, we went to the "new" courthouse, which had deed records in an online data base. I found several references to Emma's father, who bought and sold a lot of land in a now-defunct settlement called Walnut Hill. He was a merchant, and he and his wife are buried in Janes Cemetery near Walnut HIll. Alas, we never could find any maps or anyone who could tell us exactly where it was, although we drove through the general area on two different days. We assume the cemetery is on somebody's farm, and might not be all that accessible, anyway.

In pegging my family history and memoir on the lives of my great grandmothers, I have noted that I know for a fact that three of them--the other three besides Emma--were quilters. I don't have any evidence that Emma quilted, but Pocahontas is a hotbed of quilt lore never the less. One nice surprise on this visit was a quilt trail through the historic town square. Buildings are decorated with weather proof images of 37 quilts that relate to the county's history and heritage. It is billed as "Arkansas' Only Quilt Trail" and is worth the trip if you are within shouting distance of Pocahontas. After seeing these quilts and reading the little booklet that gives the history of each pattern and each maker, I realize that Emma probably did at least learn to quilt as a girl in the 1880s in this area, and that her mother probably quilted. But of course, I'll never really know.


When we were poring over the various deeds in the courthouse vault, there were more surprises, and also more questions that will need follow up at some point. For example, we found detailed descriptions of land that Emma's father purchased in a town site, in partnership with a Presbyterian minister who was close to the family. But I forgot to ask for a plat book, and the library was closed when I tried to look there. I'll have to find one online somehow, or write to the library for a copy. I also learned that Jesse bought a town lot in Pocahontas in January 1901, not long after the birth of their little daughter who would die in June of that year. The big surprise was that he and Emma sold the property in May 1903. That after all the publicity in the paper suggesting how active they were in the town. So, did they move to Oklahoma then? Or did they go somewhere else first? The only other clue we have is a handwritten deed we found in the Fulton County courthouse in Salem, indicating they sold their interest in property that they inherited when one of Jesse's brothers died in 1907. The deed is dated January 1908 and the it notes that they are residents of Beckham County, OK, along with Jesse's remaining brother. So, now we have only a 5-year gap, where earlier there was a 9-year one. Where were Emma and Jesse, as well as my grandfather and his two sisters, between 1903 and 1908? From family records and oral history I can think of at least two other counties where I might look. So another trip may be in the offing, after I've done some more research online. Since this move took place between census years, deeds and newspaper references are my best clues, if they weren't burned in some courthouse fire! The deed book in the photo shows one of the deeds pertaining to the McElyeas that we found in the Fulton County courthouse in Salem on the next day's trip. The thumb holding the book upright belongs to Norm, who played a pivotal part in that search... Stay tuned....