AR Civil War 150- Gaze and Graze 30- Laurie and Barry!

This was our first stop on Thursday.  This was one of my favorite stops of our trip.  This house was the first house built in Camden that was not a log cabin, it was a saw cut board house!  This house just had two owners and they left or have donated back to the house many of the original furnishings which really helps you get the vision of what the house looked like back then. 

The docent told us many stories about the Chidester family.  When Union armies were approaching Camden, General Steele decided he would stay at the McCollum-Chidester house.  He sent ahead a patrol of men to tell Mrs Chidester of her 'soon to be guest'.  She was a fast thinker!!  She had a money belt that she put all their money in and then put it on her most trusted slave.  She then gave the slave the baby and had her sit by the fire to keep warm.  Mrs. Chidester then hid the silver in the back yard.  When the Yankees came, they patted down everyone in the house looking for money, but they never found Mrs. Chidester's!!!  Below is her silver that they didn't find either!

 

 Mr Chidester was the Post Master of Camden.  He had southern sympathies so he let the Southern command read the mail.  For some reason :) the Federal government didn't like that!  They sent a patrol of Union soldiers to bring Mr. Chidester in.  He hid in the second story of his house, in a closet.  The soldiers arrived and they began their search.  They couldn't find him.  One soldier stayed behind because he felt sure Mr. Chidester was in the house.  He fired several shots into the upstairs closet.  No sound.  The soldier left.  Mr. Chidester, who had been hiding in the closet, came out and was never captured.  You can still see the bullet holes.

 Things didn't go too well for the Union soldiers in and around Camden and they soon retreated back to Little Rock.

 Marks' Mill was a place where another battle occurred over a supply train that included 240 wagons and was heavily guarded by 240 cavalry and 4 artillery pieces.  Using tactics like the ones they used at Poison Springs, the Confederates attacked the flank.  By now the Union had 1600 troops engaged and the Confederates had 2500.  It was a brutal battle.  The Union lost 1300 men while the Confederate losses were fewer than 500.  The Confederates found themselves with the entire supply train- 1500 horses and mules, ambulances, four guns, plus valuable official reports concerning Steele's army.

After Marks Mill we drove east.  Andrew had picked out a place for us to eat lunch in Lake Village.  I refused to go in.  Andrew did come back saying that he was probably the only one in there with all his own teeth.  Andrew said the tamales were amazing.  He got me a hamburger and it was yummy! 

 Andrew got a dozen tamales and brought some home to Carl.

 He also got us dessert there.  This is a single serving pie.  Andrew got half sweet potato/ pecan and he got me all pecan.  They were really good!

 We ate our lunch while we waited for our tour of Lakeport Plantation.  It is the only ante-bellum plantation home still standing in Arkansas.  It was built in 1831 by a group from Kentucky.  So many folks from Kentucky settled around this area that the bend in the river became known as the Kentucky Bend.  This group included Seviers, Conways and Johnsons and they dominated Arkansas politics from 1836 til the Civil War.  The Lakeport plantation house became vacant in 1972 and was never remodeled or extensively modernized so you can truly get a picture of what life was like when it was built.

 The storms from the night before come into play during this visit.  Our tour guide lost a car and part of her house during the bad storms.  Lakeport Plantation has tours a 10 and 2 everyday.  We were planning on taking the 2 o'clock tour.  Andrew and I found our selves waiting with a delightful lady named Anne.  Anne shared that she would be 80 this month!  We had a wonderful conversation about Anne's home, her grandchildren- some of whom Andrew knew from AUBURN, how she buys Christmas gifts, how she was meeting a daughter to go to Ladies Night at Paul Mitchell.  We waited for quite awhile.  Anne was getting a little undone and then she realized that the Lakeport Plantation used the same security system that she has at her house.  Upon mentioning that she knew how to get someone to the house, Andrew sprang into action!  I am not sure who he called but even after our tour he got a few phone calls asking about our tour.  Our tour guide arrived and gave us a wonderful tour.  I highly recommend this stop.

 ASU is doing a 6 million dollar restoration.

 Here is an oil cloth that was in the foyer.  It was discovered by accident.  One of the ladies working on the restoration tracked in some mud and as she was cleaning the mud off the floor this was discovered. Our tour guide has a love for this house and the restoration and it showed as she was so thrilled to tell us many fun stories like this one.

 After Lakeport we went to Lake Chicot State Park.  The stamping site was in the visitor center of the park.  It has several cool displays.

Here is the view out the front door of our cabin.  I want to go back.  So peaceful.

 Here is the inside of our cabin and the back.

After we checked in we drove over to Greenville, MS to eat supper at the original Doe's with our long time friends from Little Rock, Laurie and Barry.  Very much a highlight of our trip.  The bad storms of the night before had knocked out their power.  Barry made us a reservation and we ate in the kitchen. That was great fun.  They saw many friends there.  Laurie is a reader and she introduced me to one friend who has enjoyed D. E. Stevenson as much as I have.

So far Andrew and I have 18 stamps in our passports with 5 more to go.