Arkansas Post Montgomery's Tavern & Johnston and Armstrong's Store Historic Structure Report/Historical Data

A. Certain Generalizations

One of the great difficulties in site identification at Arkansas Post National Memorial is the failure of the "city fathers" to prepare a village plat. To secure such a document to support the Historical Base Map, it has been necessary to examine, in detail, the Arkansas County Deed Books. Information obtained has been plotted on provisional Historical Base Maps by Archeologist John W. Walker and the author. But in doing so, many intangibles have had to be taken into consideration, the principal ones being: (a) the accuracy of the surveyors' field notes as to directions and distances; and (b) the possibility that some transactions and lots were not recorded.

In 1966 and '68 the site of the Arkansas State Bank was located and identified. Through the use of archeology, other sites will be identified, the documents verified or challenged, and our knowledge of this important but little-known phase of our history enriched.

B. The Montgomery's Tavern Square

1. The Ownership. 1804-25

The one-acre lot on which Montgomery's Tavern stood in 1819-1821 is first identified in an instrument of conveyance found in "Arkansas County Deed Book A," pages 45 and 46. On Apri110, 1808, James Scull, as attorney for the Jacob Bright estate, in accordance with instructions from Benjamin Morgan, sold at public auction "to the highest and last bidder a house and lot containing about one acre of ground in "the Town of Arkansas." Morgan, a New Orleans banker and merchant, had been a partner in Jacob Bright and Company.[1]

The lot conveyed is further identified as having belonged to Louis Jordella, deceased, and sold by the said Jordella before his death to Bright and Company. The subject lot fronted on the property of Charles Refe1d and Mrs. Dion and "extended back to the next street opposite the lots of Joseph and Baptiste Dardenne."[2]

Samuel Moseley's bid of $300 was high for the subject property. As soon as he was paid the $300, James Scull conveyed to Moseley the improvements and lot. This transaction was recorded before Andre Fagot on July 22, 1809.[3]

From 1809 until 1819 the subject property was owned by Moseley. During this period the town experienced a growth in population and economic importance. In 1812 it became the seat of government for Arkansas County and in 1819 it became the capital of Arkansas Territory. This growth was reflected in an increase in property values.Early in 1818 Moseley moved off the subject property, turning it over to Mr. and Mrs. William Drope. Some time before August 24, 1819, Moseley sold to Drope for $1,000

a certain lott [sic] of Ground containing one acre or thereabouts of land situated in the post (or village) of Arkansas ... together with all the houses, buildings, improvements, rights, privileges and appurtenances thereon ... belonging, which said lott of ground, houses, buildings ... hereby sold and conveyed is the same which was formerly occupied by ... Samuel Moseley, and the same which have been occupied by... William Drope since about the beginning of 1818.[4]

The Dropes (William and Elouisa) promptly rented the property to William Montgomery. Until moving to Montgomery's Point in February 1821, Montgomery operated on this lot a tavern. During part of this time, Montgomery rented the improvements and lot from Benjamin F. Babcock. In May 1820 the Dropes, who had moved up the Arkansas to Pulaski County, sold to Babcock of New York City for $4,000

two certain Houses and Lotts [sic] lying and being in the village of Arkansas ..., one lott being the same lott purchased of Samuel Moseley by said Drope and occupied at this time by William Montgomery and containing one acre ... and including and forming one full and complete square; the other house and lott being the same purchased of Eli J. Lewis.[5]

The transfer of the territorial capital to Little Rock had important economic repercussions at Arkansas Post. There was an exodus of people and land values slumped.Unimproved lots were soon being sold for taxes. Babcock, an absentee landlord, was hard-pressed. In 1823 he was cited by the sheriff of Arkansas County as delinquent for taxes on his two Arkansas Post lots.[6]

Babcock held on to the subject property until May 1825, when James Scull, acting as his agent, disposed of it at a terrific loss. When he sold the lots it was to Frederic Notrebe for $350. The conveyance, which was recorded on May 25, identified one lot as containing an estimated one acre, more or less, "situated between the residence" of Notrebe and "a house built and formerly occupied as a store by one Hamilton, being the same property that was occupied in the month of May 1820 by Montgomery as a tavern."[7]

2. The Ownership. 1825-1930

In 1840 Frederic and Felicite Notrebe sold to the Bank of the State of Arkansas for one dollar part of the acre of ground, more or less, originally owned by Louis Jordella and conveyed by him to Bright and Company; and by James Scull, agent for Benjamin Morgan, surviving partner of the firm, to Samuel Moseley; by Moseley to William Drope; by said Drope to Benjamin Babcock; and by said Babcock to Notrebe.[8] The boundary of the real estate conveyed was to begin on the street which runs between the dwelling house and store of Frederic Notrebe and a post corner; then with said street 80 feet to the corner of the "block or square"; then with the street which passes between the dwelling house of Mrs. Mary F. Bellette and the house opposite formerly occupied by a store operated by Johnston and Armstrong to the northwest corner of said "block or square"; then 80 feet with Main Street to a post corner; and then across said "block or square" to the place of beginning. The lot conveyed was the northwest part of theSquare.[9]

Frederic Notrebe died in April 1849, and the subject square was inherited by his granddaughter, Mary F, Cummins, and her husband, Edward C. Morton.[10] Notrebe, at his death, left a valuable estate, but it was heavily mortgaged. During the period 1850-61, the Mortons retained possession of their inheritance, but to do so they were compelled to borrow heavily. With the coming of the Civil War, Confederate military authorities, in the autumn of 1862, erected fortifications at Arkansas Post. These were attacked by theFederals in January 1863, The Confederate stronghold and garrison were captured. The village was heavily damaged and many buildings destroyed.

The collapse of the Confederacy in the spring of 1865 found the Mortons broke and their slaves emancipated. Having moved to Little Rock, they made no effort to pay taxes on this square or their other property at Arkansas Post. It was presumed by county authorities that the land included in a survey of 1814 and platted as the U. S. Reservation reverted to the United States when the taxes became delinquent. It was 1927 before an individual established title to the l40-acre U. S. Reservation, which included the subject square. In that year Fred J. Quandt entered on the Arkansas Post Reservation for taxes.[11]

Quandt, on June 17, 1930, following establishment of the Arkansas Post State Park Commission, donated to that group for one dollar 20 acres off the northwest corner of the Arkansas Post Reservation. Included in the acreage conveyed was the subject square.[12]

C. The Johnston and Armstrong Store Lot

1. The Ownership. 1820-35

William and Elouisa Drope on January 12, 1820, sold to Francis and Catherine Mitchell of Arkansas County for $3,000 two certain Houses and Lotts [sic] on Main Street."

Located on the first lot was the new house built in 1819 by the Dropes prior to their move to Pulaski County. This lot had a frontage of 90 feet on Main Street and extended back to Post Bayou. The second lot, which had a frontage of 80 feet on Main Street, had on it a house in which Joseph Dardenne had lived for a number of years. This lot likewise extended back to Post Bayou. Separating the lots was a cross street, having a width of 36 feet.[13]

Both lots had been part of Spanish Land Grant No. 2432 of 752 arpents confirmed to Joseph Dardenne. He had sold this acreage to the Dropes. [14]

In the period 1819-November 1821, Johnston and Armstrong kept a store in the two-story building on the lot they rented from the Mitchells. James Hamilton and Company inNovember 1821 moved into the "store lately occupied by Messrs. Johnston and Armstrong."[15] The recession which gripped Arkansas Post following the removal of the territorial capital to Little Rock forced the Mitchells to dispose of their property at a financial sacrifice. On March 11,1825, they sold to Frederic Notrebe for $100 "a lot situated in the Village of Arkansas... being one of the lots conveyed" by Drope to them. The subject lot had a front on Main Street of 80 feet, and extended in a southwesterly direction to Post Bayou.[16]

Colonel Notrebe on July 17, 1835, made a gift of two lots to his father-in-law, John B. Bellette (alias Enselma). This was to reward Bellette for his 25 years of faithful service. Notrebe, for one dollar, sold to Bellette and "his heirs at law a house and two lots situated in the village of Arkansas, where the said Bellette resides." The subject lots fronted on Main Street, and joined Notrebe's gin lot on the east and Creed Taylor's lot on the west.[17]

2. The Ownership.1835-1931

Arkansas Post was ruined by the Civil War. Colonel Notrebe had died in 1849, and by the mid-1860s his heirs were no longer paying taxes on the property. The Bellette lots lost their identity in the economically troubled years during and immediately following the Civil War. In 1876 Samuel Rowe was listed as owner of 160 acres in Spanish LandGrant No. 2432, valued at $2 per acre. When he failed to pay his real estate tax of $2, the property was ordered sold.[18] John Larque in 1877 was listed as owner of 320 acres in Spanish Land Grant No. 2432, valued at one dollar per acre. As he was judged delinquent for taxes of $2.60 on the tract, the land was ordered sold.[19] Seven years later, in 1884, the unknown owners of 480 acres in Spanish Land Grant No. 2432, valued at $320, were listed as delinquent for taxes. On July 25, 1885, the subject land was redeemed by the State of Arkansas.[20]

In 1886 the Arkansas Real Estate Company was listed as delinquent for taxes on 55 acres in Spanish Land Grant No. 2432, valued at $60. This tract was redeemed by F. Ferrell on his payment of $1.53 in back taxes.[21] Some time between 1895 and 1901, Fritz Quandt acquired this 55-acre tract in the northeast corner of Spanish Land Grant No. 2432, when Ferrell was found to be delinquent for the taxes thereon.[22] This tract, which included the site of Johnston and Armstrong's Store, was valued in 1901 at $60. In 1919 there was a reassessment of property values in Arkansas County, and the 55-acre Quandt Tract was assessed at $100.[23] Quandt died on July 19, 1924, and in the division of his real estate Mrs. Rosa Place, one of the heirs, was assigned the 55-acre tract situated in the northeast corner of Spanish Land Grant No. 2432, and Lots 7 to 12, Block 10, in Gillett.[24]

Mrs. Place and her husband, J. G., in May 1931, sold to the Arkansas Post State Park Commission for one dollar a 11.75-acre tract in the northeast corner of the 55 acres they had inherited from Fritz Quandt. The boundary of the tract conveyed was to begin at the northeast corner of Spanish Land Grant No. 2432; then south 300 west ten chains and two links to a corner on the north line of Spanish Land Grant No. 2432; then south 300 east five chains and 37 links to a corner; then south 20 west three chains to a corner; then south one chain to a corner; then south 480 east two chains to a corner; then south 440 east six chains and 30 links to the most northeastern corner of Spanish Land Grant No. 2363; then north 330 east four chains to the southeast corner of Spanish Land Grant No. 2432; then north 300 west on the east line of Spanish Land Grant No. 2432 18 chains to the place of beginning.[25]