Early Doddridge:The arrival of the Pools
In 1867, James David Pool of Georgia arrived by ox wagon train with his wife, Sarah, and their family of eight children in the vicinity that was later to be called Doddridge. The Pools prospered, the children married and had families, and throughout the years they were a strong element in the history of the Doddridge community. The following account of the Pools was related to LoRene Poole McCarty by Sarah Elizabeth Pool Bryant in 1923. Sarah Elizabeth was the daughter and fifth child of David and Sarah Moore Pool.
James David Pool was born in North Carolina in 1815, and his wife, Sarah Moore Pool, also from North Carolina, was born in 1819. They were married in 1838.
David was a farmer, and later he and Sarah moved to Baker County Georgia, near Newton. They had ten children as follows: Ruben Henry (b.1839), Martha Ann, (b. 1841), William E. (b. 1843), James L. (b. 1845), Sarah Elizabeth (b. 1849), Harriet (b. Cir. 1851), Ethe Mehulley (b. Cir. 1853), McGilbert (b. 1855), Ala V. (b. 1857), and Victoria (b. 1861).
Ruben Henry, David’s eldest son, was married to Martha Ann Bell, May 2, 1861. Shortly after the marriage, the entire David Pool family, including the newlyweds, set forth by ox wagon train to find a new life at Petit Jean Mountain, Arkansas, located on the edge of the fertile Arkansas Fiver Valley. There they built strong log houses, cribs, and sheds above the flood line, and farmed the fertile river valley. This establishment of a new life by the Pools would have been ideal except that the country was now in the middle of the Civil War. Fuben Henry volunteered to serve, and thus the family became burdened because of his absence. During Ruben’s military service he was captured at Arkansas Post and held prisoner at Camp Butler, Illinois. He was never harmed however, and so returned home safely at the end of hostilities.
Following the War the Pools did especially well with their farming in the Arkansas river Valley. Suddenly, however, they got news that Carpetbaggers were on a rampage of looting and burning on the opposite side of a mountain nearby. The Pools could see from the mountain top the devastation that was taking place, and so they made a sudden decision to leave. First, they retrieved gold coins, fine clothes and other valuable things which had been buried for safe keeping during the War. Then they loaded all the wagons and headed south. As they attempted to cross a mountain not far along the way, the oxen stalled. It is the nature of oxen not to budge if they are overloaded. Consequently, the family had to discard some of their treasured furniture which they had brought from Georgia.
The Pools finally arrived in the vicinity of Jefferson Texas. They had planned to go to the Marshall area, but all of the bayous were overflowed from excessive rain, and they were unable to continue. The Pools then turned back toward the northeast and eventually decided to settle in Lafayette County, Arkansas. This happened to be that portion of Lafayette County which was west of Red River and later became Miller County (1874). The Pools settled near the site that is now Doddridge, making their initial land purchases with the last of their gold. Land deeds show that between May 7, 1867, and December 15, 1879, David Pool acquired 940 acres of land, some of which was in the fertile bottoms across the Red River. His son, Ruben Henry, also bought land between 1868 and 1883. The deeds show that he acquired 760 acres, some of which was in the Red River bottoms.
The Pools proceeded to build fine homes near where Doddridge was to be, and they were successful farmers. They also engaged in other enterprises with success. For example, according to McCarty, the granddaughter of Ruben, he had a cotton gin on his place during the 1870s and 1880s. The location was about two miles north of Doddridge, and adjacent to what was once known as the Birdwell Taylor place.
Ruben was also a cobbler at the time, and so he ginned cotton during the cotton harvest, and worked as a cobbler during the rest of the year. Ruben also had a steamboat landing on Sulphur River a short distance from its entry into Red River. Cotton and commercial goods were shipped and received at this landing until the railroad came. With regard to this landing, it happened that on one occasion the Pools were expecting a steamboat to arrive, but night came and there was no boat. The family finally went to bed. Into the night, Jim (James Magee), Ruben’s young son, was awakened by a whistle. He was certain it was the boat and so he hurriedly dressed and rushed down to the landing to see the steamboat arrive. But there was no sign of a steamboat arriving. After a long wait he returned to the house and went back to bed. Shortly afterward, he again heard the shrill, mournful sound of what he thought to be a steamboat. Again, he dressed and ran to the landing only to find nothing. Puzzled, he again returned toward the house. The wind was blowing that night in strong gusts. Just as Jim started to enter the house, there came a strong gust of wind, and again the whistle; but this time Jim saw that the sound was coming from an open jug outside his bedroom window. The wind was blowing across the mouth of the jug and causing a sound exactly like that of a steamboat whistle.
Another McCarty story relates that near the Ruben Henry Pool property, just south of Sulphur River there was a Kennedy Lake (pronounced by everybody as “Canady” Lake). This lake was very much off limits to all boys of the community during alligator mating season because bull alligators were very ferocious at that time and were very likely to attack boys who got near. At other times, the boys were allowed to fish and swim in the lake.
Once on a hot Sunday noon (during ‘gator mating season), the Pools were having neighbors for Sunday dinner. Several boys were present along with the Pool boys, and after the meal had ended, Ruben and the other father told the boys in no uncertain terms that they were not to go near Kennedy Lake. So, what did the boys do? They sneaked off to Kennedy Lake.
The boys stripped off to go swimming but there were alligators scattered along the banks sunning themselves. The boys got long poles to chase the ‘gators away, but instead of retreating, the ‘gators hissed and bellowed. The adults at the house heard the “bellers” and knew immediately what was happening. The fathers ran toward the lake, gathering hickory limbs along the way, with full intention of making good use of them. The boys were so busy fighting the ‘gators with their poles that they didn’t realize that their pa’s were coming up from behind until the hickory limbs began to rain down on their naked backs. It didn’t matter to the men whose kids they flogged as long as each had his strong dose of “hickory tea.” Zeke, Jim, Ruben, and no doubt the other boys, never forgot the ‘gator fight,’ quickly followed by the crashing of hickory limbs on their bare backs.
Regarding these after-church Sunday dinners with invited neighbors, McCarty describes what happens in the preparation for these events: The women got up early, killed, cleaned, and fried big platters of chicken, made mashed potatoes and gravy, cooked fresh garden vegetables in season, and baked a huge pan of biscuits.
Sometimes in winter they cooked whole hams, turkey and dressing, venison roasts and other foods. The girls made blackberry cobbler and cakes. Enough food would be cooked for one’s own big family plus another big family who was to be invited after church. . . . [Before leaving for church] the women spread a big table cloth over all this food, glasses, knives, forks, and spoons. Thus, everything was left ready for the families to sit down and eat upon arrival back home.
As the years went by, the Ruben Henry Pool children matured and went their various ways, some remaining in the local area, and some going to other parts of the country.