Many pioneer families who
moved into the Ekron area had a significant influence on the formation
of the town of Dell early in the 1900's. The petition for the incorporation
of Dell, Mississippi County, Arkansas in 1905 was signed by thirty-two
men, many of whom had been a part of the Ekron community for many years.
Some moved to Dell to establish boarding houses for the logging crews.
Others set up general stores and eating establishments. Some began to buy
farmland as the forests were cleared. Some helped clear those forests.
Others just "moved into town".
Many current residents remember L. M. Moody, son of Green E. Moody, who lived in Dell for most of his adult life. Before moving to Dell, he was raised in Ekron, along with his sister May Belle, and his Golden step-sisters. Mr. Moody was considered Dell's historian. Unfortunately, his stories were never recorded except in a few short newspaper articles. His niece, Gwyndolyn Golden Smith, has carried on his unofficial title of historian. Her family records boast the surnames of such Dell families as Beavers, Bradberry, Bunch, Bryan, Golden, Moody, Winn.
Thanks go to Gwendolyn for sharing her family records with us.
Thanks also go to Annette Lee for the family photograph and comments on her family ancestors.
Many current residents remember L. M. Moody, son of Green E. Moody, who lived in Dell for most of his adult life. Before moving to Dell, he was raised in Ekron, along with his sister May Belle, and his Golden step-sisters. Mr. Moody was considered Dell's historian. Unfortunately, his stories were never recorded except in a few short newspaper articles. His niece, Gwyndolyn Golden Smith, has carried on his unofficial title of historian. Her family records boast the surnames of such Dell families as Beavers, Bradberry, Bunch, Bryan, Golden, Moody, Winn.
Thanks go to Gwendolyn for sharing her family records with us.
Thanks also go to Annette Lee for the family photograph and comments on her family ancestors.
The History of the
C. C. Golden/Moody Family
Compiled information from Gwyndolyn
Golden Smith, daughter of Myrtle Golden Smith;
Annette Lee, granddaughter of Margaret Golden;
and the files of Dru Duncan
Annette Lee, granddaughter of Margaret Golden;
and the files of Dru Duncan
L to R:
Mary (Kitty) Golden, Myrtle Golden,
Tempie Elizabeth Golden, Baby Girl
Golden,
Monta Golden, Luther Moody,
Monta Golden, Luther Moody,
Margaret Ettna Golden (Photo courtesy of Annette Lee)
By 1860,
the Goldens of were settled in the Ekron community of Mississippi
County, Arkansas, according to the U.S. census records of that year. Before
moving to this area, Christopher Columbus (Kit) Golden lived in St. Francis
County, Arkansas. He was the son of O. B. Golden and Martha E. Thompson
Golden.
C. C. Golden's first wife was Clorinda Dillingham, who died the year following the birth of their only child, George Fletcher Golden, in 1878. George would own and operate a boarding house in Dell with his wife ca. 1907. He may have also owned a sawmill there. He was the timber supervisor for Blytheville Cooperage and Chicago Mills for 30 years. When he died, he had been successful in a real estate business and operated a store and service station at the Herman Davis Park in Manila.
His second wife was Melissa Daugherty. Together they had two sons, Samuel Harrison Golden and Felix Golden, who died at age 3. Samuel Harrison Golden was known by his family as "Uncle Handsome".
C. C.'s third wife was Temperance Elizabeth Bunch, daughter of Hulda J. Walker and Andrew Bunch. The Bunches had settled close to Big Lake in 1843 when they arrived in Arkansas by way of Tennessee and Missouri, becoming neighbors to the Hectors who were the original pioneers of the Dell area. Andrew Bunch was in the Missouri Calvary during the Civil War. He was captured in Mississippi County, Arkansas and imprisoned at Grant prison in St. Louis. He died there of "inflammation of the lungs" and was buried in Missouri.
Tempie Elizabeth was married first to Green E. Moody, another early resident of Ekron. G. E. Moody was a leader in the community. In 1878 he donated land for a small Methodist church to be built. Called Moore Chapel after the pastor at that time, the church was the only one between Manila and Blytheville for many, many years. Located approximately three miles north of Dell, it was used by families in Ekron and Dell until it was torn down ca. 1900. Two stories circulate concerning the demolition of the chapel. The first relates that when the members decided to build a new church, the old one was torn down. They met in the school for many years afterwards. The second story reveals a more probable cause. An epidemic of meningitis broke out one year in this low, swampy country. So many people died that year it was necessary to tear down the church, board by board, in order to make numerous coffins quickly. (L.M. Moody)
It is uncertain how G. E. Moody died. The night of his death, the water was up, flooding the community. Tempie locked the children in the house and went in a boat for help. Assistance came too late. He died sometime that night at the age of 30 years old. He and Tempie had had two children together, May Belle and Luther Marion.
C. C. Golden and Tempie Elizabeth Bunch Moody married ca. 1885-86. They continued to live in the Ekron area until their deaths, raising Tempie's two children by Green Moody and their own eight girls: Martha Elizabeth, Minnie Ellen, Margaret Ettna, Mary Ellis Golden, Monta Evelyn, Myrtle Evins, Mirinda Ethel, and Myra Edna. C.C. and Tempie died within days of each other in 1907. According to newspaper obituaries, they died of "the fever". Gwyndolyn Smith relates that statement to be untrue. "C. C. Golden was not very sick. The doctor gave him medicine too strong for his heart, although he told the doctor it was too strong for him. The family never did say that he or his wife had any kind of fever. Tempie Elizabeth died from pneumonia on Monday, March 11, 1907. C.C. Golden died Thursday, March 14, 1907." They are buried at the Wilkins Cemetery at Ekron. The concrete markers read: Liz Golden 1-28-1862 3-16-1907 and C.C. Golden 10-28-1849 3-17-1907. These dates appear to be incorrect, according to G. Smith. During the 1970's Hansel Simmons made concrete grave marker for the Goldens. He wrote in the dates from his memory of those handed down by family members.
C. C. Golden's first wife was Clorinda Dillingham, who died the year following the birth of their only child, George Fletcher Golden, in 1878. George would own and operate a boarding house in Dell with his wife ca. 1907. He may have also owned a sawmill there. He was the timber supervisor for Blytheville Cooperage and Chicago Mills for 30 years. When he died, he had been successful in a real estate business and operated a store and service station at the Herman Davis Park in Manila.
His second wife was Melissa Daugherty. Together they had two sons, Samuel Harrison Golden and Felix Golden, who died at age 3. Samuel Harrison Golden was known by his family as "Uncle Handsome".
C. C.'s third wife was Temperance Elizabeth Bunch, daughter of Hulda J. Walker and Andrew Bunch. The Bunches had settled close to Big Lake in 1843 when they arrived in Arkansas by way of Tennessee and Missouri, becoming neighbors to the Hectors who were the original pioneers of the Dell area. Andrew Bunch was in the Missouri Calvary during the Civil War. He was captured in Mississippi County, Arkansas and imprisoned at Grant prison in St. Louis. He died there of "inflammation of the lungs" and was buried in Missouri.
Tempie Elizabeth was married first to Green E. Moody, another early resident of Ekron. G. E. Moody was a leader in the community. In 1878 he donated land for a small Methodist church to be built. Called Moore Chapel after the pastor at that time, the church was the only one between Manila and Blytheville for many, many years. Located approximately three miles north of Dell, it was used by families in Ekron and Dell until it was torn down ca. 1900. Two stories circulate concerning the demolition of the chapel. The first relates that when the members decided to build a new church, the old one was torn down. They met in the school for many years afterwards. The second story reveals a more probable cause. An epidemic of meningitis broke out one year in this low, swampy country. So many people died that year it was necessary to tear down the church, board by board, in order to make numerous coffins quickly. (L.M. Moody)
It is uncertain how G. E. Moody died. The night of his death, the water was up, flooding the community. Tempie locked the children in the house and went in a boat for help. Assistance came too late. He died sometime that night at the age of 30 years old. He and Tempie had had two children together, May Belle and Luther Marion.
C. C. Golden and Tempie Elizabeth Bunch Moody married ca. 1885-86. They continued to live in the Ekron area until their deaths, raising Tempie's two children by Green Moody and their own eight girls: Martha Elizabeth, Minnie Ellen, Margaret Ettna, Mary Ellis Golden, Monta Evelyn, Myrtle Evins, Mirinda Ethel, and Myra Edna. C.C. and Tempie died within days of each other in 1907. According to newspaper obituaries, they died of "the fever". Gwyndolyn Smith relates that statement to be untrue. "C. C. Golden was not very sick. The doctor gave him medicine too strong for his heart, although he told the doctor it was too strong for him. The family never did say that he or his wife had any kind of fever. Tempie Elizabeth died from pneumonia on Monday, March 11, 1907. C.C. Golden died Thursday, March 14, 1907." They are buried at the Wilkins Cemetery at Ekron. The concrete markers read: Liz Golden 1-28-1862 3-16-1907 and C.C. Golden 10-28-1849 3-17-1907. These dates appear to be incorrect, according to G. Smith. During the 1970's Hansel Simmons made concrete grave marker for the Goldens. He wrote in the dates from his memory of those handed down by family members.
After their parent's death, three of the Golden sisters-Margaret, Mary and Monta-were raised by their stepbrother Luther Moody and his new wife, Pearl Bryan, in Dell. Myrtle also lived with the Moodys for a short time. When Martha (Patsy) Golden and Ross Beavers married in 1907, Myrtle moved in with them.
A family story is told that the girls didn't like their new step-mother, Pearl. Among other things, she gave them Groves Chill Tonic. Margaret told her sisters their Mother never gave them that and for them to spit it out when she wasn't looking. So they did. "They already had the bad taste, so they might as well to have swallowed it, as it was not lethal." (G. Smith)
May Belle Moody, stepsister of the Golden children, married Timothy Frank Shultz of Ekron. Frank's family had lived there since 1899. His mother was a Wilkins.
Luther Moody remained in Dell most of his life. He worked as a cook in a logging camp at one time, but for the most of his life, he worked in the grocery business. He was a charter member and leader in the Dell Methodist Church and was considered the unofficial Dell historian. He was a leader in the community and a loving father and husband. He left the community briefly in 1926 when Pearl died of pneumonia. "When Pearl Moody died they had had Gladys (Keener) only two months and five days. Gladys went to stay with the Woodards in the country. . .Aunt May Belle Moody Shultz kept house for L.M. for a time. L. M. went to Blytheville then for a time to work, but not for long. He had worked for Dell Supply when Pearl was living and later for many years. Dell Supply was owned by Otto Bradberry, who died in 1937. Then he went to work for Taylor Freeman." (G. Smith) Eventually, L. M. would own his own grocery business in Dell. Luther's second wife was Arietta (Rita) M. Glover. She had one daughter, Marcella. Together they would have four children: L. M., Virena, A. G. and Larry Gene. Rita died of cancer in 1959. In 1965 another tragedy would strike the family. L.M.'s youngest child, Lieutenant Larry Gene Moody, was killed in the war in Viet Nam. He was believed to have been the first Mississippi Countian to die in the war. He and three other officers were ambushed. He was 24 years old. Luther died the next year, at the age of 83.
Martha Elizabeth Golden and her husband Ross Beavers lived in Dell for a time. They then moved to a house at the present-day site of the Greyhound Bus Station in Blytheville. The Beavers were from Cave-In-The-Rock, Illinois. Many of them settled in the Dell area and had signed the petition for the incorporation of Dell, Arkansas in 1905. Ross worked as a barber for a number of years and also was employed as a bookkeeper and collector for various business firms. He was elected Blytheville city treasurer and later won the election for city clerk. His sister, Julie Ann, married O. P. Winn, the first mayor of the incorporated town of Dell.
Margaret Ettna worked at her stepbrother George Golden's boarding house in Dell for several years. Monta Evelyn lived with Della Ozee and worked at the Dell post office in the early 1920's. Eventually, all the girls married, establishing their own families. "My Grandma (Margaret Golden) and her sisters were lively, complex and spirited women who worked hard all their lives, and they set a wonderful example for my sister and me. . ." (Annette Lee)
Margaret Ettna Golden married Albert Edward Shearer in Dell on November 20, 1911.
Mary Ellis Golden married Tom Simmons.
Monta Evelyn Golden married ______Orr.
Myrtle Evins Golden married Henry Elmer Smith.
Arietta and
Luther Marion Moody
