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Eureka Springs Confederates

John Carroll was a prominent Eureka Springs citizen and the first mayor in the town’s history, he was born on August 30, 1828, in Claiborne Tennessee.  John Carroll in the 1850s moved to the Indian territory with his father and dealt regularly with Native Americans in the Cherokee Nation. He would marry Susan Ward who was a part of the Cherokee nation but she would pass away in 1856. John would move to McDonald County, Missouri in 1857 and would meet his second wife Huldah Holcomb, they would own a large farm until the war between the states. John would help to raise three companies of Confederate troops and was made captain of company H 8th Missouri Confederate infantry. He would serve under General Price during the war. When the reorganization of Confederate troops took place, many men were at the end of their signed service date. They had a choice to re-enlist or return home many men would re-enlist or be conscripted into service. Carroll continued to command a company of men until 1863 when he received a promotion to the rank of colonel. He would survive the war practically unscathed moving to Huntsville Arkansas to start over. He worked as a farmer and dealt with the land. He was a member of the first Legislature that convened after the war, and in 1874 was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. In 1879 Mr. Carroll moved to Eureka Springs, Arkansas where he owned a general merchandising business. John Carroll was chosen to be the first mayor of Eureka in his time as mayor he worked with citizens to figure out how to begin the layout of the town. John Gaskins an old Union Veteran always believed that the town would never survive on the mountain bluffs and rugged terrain. As time went on the town began to grow and more people began coming. In 1884 John Carroll would be admitted to a bar, and practiced law as a member of the firm of Carroll, Glitsch & Vandeventer for only a short time. By 1885 Mr. Carroll was appointed as United States Marshal of the Western District of Arkansas.  He was highly favored and respected by the people who served with him. The Western District of Arkansas includes eighteen counties of Arkansas, besides the five civilized tribes of the Indian Territory, the Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, Cherokees, and Seminoles, and it did the largest legal business of any district of the United States at the time. During Mr. Carroll's service as marshal, seventeen deputy marshals were killed upholding law and order.

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John Carroll seated with his wife Huldah and seven of their children. Circa 1885  

General Samuel Bell Maxey, a well-distinguished West Point graduate, Confederate General, and United States senator passed away in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. After struggling with gastrointestinal disease. He would die at the Crescent Hotel at 12:30 in the afternoon. In a last-ditch effort to help his condition, he came to Eureka Springs to take advantage of the healing waters. Two weeks prior he arrived from his home in Paris, Texas. Upon his arrival, he went and stayed at the Crescent Hotel, and on the 14th of August, His state of beginning to decline further as his health failed. Papers across the United States reported of his failing health with doom and gloom as only a few hours remained in his life. General Maxey’s life was well lived originally from Kentucky he was raised by Gen. Rice and Lucy Maxey. Sam Maxey went to attend West Point and graduated in 1846 he was second to last in his class only in front of George Pickett who lead Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg, PA. He attended with many notable men such as Thomas Jackson (Stonewall) and George McClellan.  Soon after his graduation he went and served the 7th infantry during the Mexican-American war being involved in some of the largest battles of the war. In 1857 Maxey moved to Paris, Texas and at the outbreak of the Civil War raised a regiment of Texas troops to fight in defense of the South.  Maxey participated in the battles of Vicksburg and Port Hudson but managed to avoid capture. He would be sent to Chattanooga where he would work on the siege. Soon after his arrival, he would receive a promotion to take command of the Indian Territory. He would head to the territory and work to recruit and train Native Americans from the Cherokee, Creek, and Choctaw tribes to serve in the Confederate Army. After the war, Maxey returned home and practiced law until he was elected as a state senator of Texas in 1874. He served until 1887 he worked during his time in office with the railroad and tried to improve postal speeds as well as advocating for Indian rights. But as time precedes and age becomes a factor his health faded. His loss was mourned across the nation even in Northern states as Texas had lost another one of its Southern Hero’s.

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William Evander PennA Baptist Evangelist, and Confederate Veteran was born to George Douglas and Telitha (Patterson) Penn in Rutherford County, Tennessee, on August 11, 1832. He began his education at age ten and joined the Beachgrove Baptist Church on October 3, 1847. He attended one term each at the Male Academy in Trenton, Tennessee, and at Union University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He read law at the firm of Williams and Wright and was admitted to the bar. Penn opened his law office in Lexington, Tennessee, about 1852. He married Corrilla Frances Sayle on April 30, 1856. They adopted two girls and a boy. One of the girls died as a child. Captain Penn was originally with the 4th Tennessee Cavalry. Later he was assigned to Andrew N. Wilson's Regiment, Sixteenth Tennessee Cavalry, in the Confederate Army, and was captured on February 18, 1864, in Hardiman County, Tennessee. As a POW he suffered from a severe fever sending him to the Irving military prison hospital in Memphis, Tennessee to recover. Regaining his strength, he was exchanged for captured Union soldiers on April 7, 1865, after he was assigned to a regiment and promoted to major. After the Confederate surrender, Penn signed his parole at Shreveport, Louisiana, on June 21, 1865. He and his family moved in January of 1866 to Jefferson, Texas, where he opened a law office. The Penns joined the Baptist Church at Jefferson, and later Penn was an ordained deacon. In January 1872 he was elected Sunday school superintendent of Jefferson Church. He attended the Texas Baptist Sunday School and Colportage Convention and was elected president in 1873 and 1874. At a Sunday school institute in July 1875 Rev. James H. Stribling, pastor at the Baptist church at Tyler, Texas, asked Penn to preach a revival there. He was later licensed to preach by the Baptist church at Jefferson. On December 4, 1880, at Broadway Baptist Church, Galveston, Reverend W. W. Keep, J. M. C. Breaker, C. C. Pope, and W. O. Bailey ordained him. Penn wrote hymns and published Harvest Bells, a hymnal with J. M. Hunt in 1881. A second edition was published in 1886, and H. M. Lincoln and Penn published a third in 1887. Penn has been called the "Texas Evangelist," but he also led revivals in other states and in Scotland and England. The Penns moved to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, about 1887. Where Penn Castle was built in 1888 as the retirement home of Southern Baptist evangelist, Major William Evander Penn, who was known as the “Texas Evangelist”. Penn traveled the country and world to preach, and his converts numbered in the thousands. Penn Castle had a design based on European castles Penn had visited. He first built four back rooms as a simple cottage, then “as the Lord provided”, he was able to add the impressive three-story front part of the house, along with the Tiffany-style stained glass windows designed to show his call from God to the ministry. He and his wife, Corilla, eventually bought the entire mountain top from Penn Castle all the way from what is today the Gavioli Chapel and down Mountain Street to Penn Memorial Baptist Church. Rev. Penn in 1889 would be elected president at the Arkansas Baptist Convention. Penn traveled all over the United States preaching to massive crowds spreading the word of God. He was known for his deep singing voice and tall masculine stature. Evander Penn was so inspirational to so many people in 1895 there was a movement to erect a 40,000-dollar monument in his memory that’s equivalent to 1.25 Million dollars in today’s time. William Evander Penn would pass on April 29th, 1895 at his home in Eureka Springs. He crossed over Jordan to the promised land he had preached about for most of his life. It is said during Maj. Penn’s life he converted over 50,000 people all over the world to be followers of Christ. Penn’s funeral was attended by around three thousand people and it is said a thousand stood in the rain to pay their respects to Maj. Penn before being buried in the I.O.O.F Cemetery in Eureka Springs.  His 40,000-dollar monument was not one of his physical stature but one of his faith in the house of God. On February 4, 1912, members renamed the First Baptist Church to First Baptist Penn Memorial Church Construction Cost was around 15,000 dollars and the building was complete on October 12, 1913.

"That Beautiful Gate" was the last song written and sang by William E. Penn Before his passing in 1895. This video is shows his home in Eureka Springs, Arkansas and photo's of him and his wife in later years.
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