Newton County Arkansas in the Civil War

Newton County had some military activity from scouts and small raids during the civil war but no real battles. According to the Civil War Timeline, 2 skirmishes occurred in Newton County on June 14th and November 15th, 1863 with a lot of military activity, scouting parties and camps around Marshall Prairie.

Know Scrip notes issued in Newton County, Arkansas during the Civil War

Only one location in Newton County is known to have issued scrip. It is curious this is not the County Seat. (Jasper). I suspected that businesses in Jasper did issue scrip notes but none have been documented.

The only businesses known to have issued scrip notes from Newton County during the Civil War are from Marshall Prairie:
    N. Clements       (pictured below)
    B. F. Ramsey     (not pictured)

About the note:

That I have been able to confirm, only 4 notes from Marshall Prairie still exist today. Three notes issued by N Clements:  a 25 cent, serial number 133, a 50 cent serial number 76 and a $1 dollar serial number 12 from Rothert's collection which I now own. Rothert's book list one B.F. Ramsey $1 dollar note serial number 43. Other undocumented notes may exist.

This one dollar note is printed on lined writing paper and, yes, some of the words are misspelled.


About N Clements
Rothert in his book wrote "Mr. Anthony Clements was born in Tennessee in 1826. He moved to Crittenden County, in the 1860's, near Bradley's Landing on the Mississippi River." Goodspeed's Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Eastern Arkansas, page 410 says Anthony M Clement was born January 9, 1826 in Gibson County, Tennessee and was engaged in merchandising near Humboldt. (Humbroldt is about half way between Memphis and Nashville just north of I-40.) Goodspeed writes "During the war of the Rebellion Mr. Clement resided near Humboldt, but took no part in the contest. In the spring of 1867 he moved with his family to Crittenden County, Ark., locating on the Mississippi River, near Bradley's Landing,..." Crittenden County is the county on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi River at what is today West Memphis. Goodspeed further notes Anthony Clement died November 24, 1888 at the age of 62.

Records of Gibson County Tennessee show the following: Anthony M Clements was the son of William J Clement. All of the children on William J Clement's last Will and Testament are listed with the last name of Clement except Anthony M who is listed as Clements with an S. The records show the name spelled both ways as Clement or Clements. None of the brothers are named Nathan. I have checked the 1850, 1860 and 1870 census records, marriage records, tax list etc. The marriage records do list an Anthony M Clement married Mary C Patrick in 1852.

Federal and Arkansas land records do not show land ownership by an A. Clements or Anthony Clements, with or without the "s", in or around Marshall Prairie. These records do show a Nathan Clements did acquire 40 acres on February 1, 1860 located on the NW1/4 of the NW 1/4 Section 19, T17N, R18W which was located on the banks of Marshall Branch just below the land owned by John H Marshall. This is located just NE of the present day down town Western Grove. I did not find an A. or Anthony Clements, with or without the "s", in the Newton County 1860 census records.

Based on this and even though the description in Rothert's book does match that of Anthony M Clements, I see no reason to believe that the person who issued notes in Marshall Prairie, Newton County, Arkansas in 1862 was Anthony M Clements or any of the Clement(s) from Gibson County Tennessee. It could be that Rothert read about Anthony Clements in Goodspeed's and just assumed they were the same person? If so, who then issued these notes?

After studying the signatures on the notes and on the Federal Property records, I think it was N Clements who issued these notes and not A Clements. The Federal property records show Nathan Clements owned two plats of property one just NE of downtown Marshall Prairie and one a little further north around the Boone County line. A comparison of the signatures from the land records to the scrip note signatures is shown below. The top signature is from one of the land records. The second signature is from the 25 cent note. The third signature is from my one dollar note and the fourth signature is from the second land record.


Based on this comparison, it appears these are the same signatures although the signatures on the notes is the first initial and then last name. The N in Nathan of the top two signatures match and the N in Nathan of the bottom two signatures match.

I feel the signatures, combined with the land records, combined with the information about Anthony M Clements proves these notes were issued by Nathan Clements and not Anthony Clements.

The 1860 Newton County census list Nathan Clements at 43 years old, born New York in 1817, married to Elizabeth, age 30, born in Kentucky, with two children Sarah and Richard both born in Arkansas. The week of June 13, 1929 Mountain Echo newspaper of Marion County, Ark list Nathan Clements as serving as a representative from Marion and Searcy Counties in the 6th Arkansas General Assembly from 1846-1848.

About Marshall Prairie (today known as Western Grove, Arkansas). The Marshall Prairie post office is located in Section 25, T17N, R19W GPS coordinates of 36.06.02.96N and 92.57.13.19W. According to the book History of Newton County, Arkansas by Walter F Lackey page 240,  The town..."first known as Marshall Prairie.. is located in the Marshall Branch valley, about 4 miles west of the old trading post, known as Marshall Prairie. The little valley, drained by Marshall Branch..".

According to the same book, "The following was the first to own land in what is now Western Grove: Joseph Holcomb (see Washington County for more information about Jo Holcomb) came into possession of 160 acres..through his Choctaw relative, Ah-Che-Ah-Ho-Nah..". "Western Grove (Marshall Prairie), the grove west of Marshall pasture, once called "Tight Wad" (and, I assume, aptly named) received its name from John H Marshall, the third postmaster of the old Trading Post". In the same book, page 183, "Marshall Prairie, established November 11, 1854.. Records show that the location (of the original trading post) was about four miles east of the present Western Grove post office".

According to the Federal Land records, John H Marshall acquired 40 acres on the banks of what is today known as Marshall Branch on November 15, 1854 located just NE of the present day down town Western Grove in the SW1/4 SE1/4, Section 18, T17N, R18W or GPS coordinates of approximately 36.06.49.77N and 92.56.27.47W.

Four miles east of the Western Grove post office is the NE 1/4 Section 27, T17N, R18W or approximate GPS coordinates 36.06.04.02N 92.52.52.83W. This is located along a dog leg in Searcy County Road 27 along a small valley and fields.

An 1857 map of Newton County shows a road running from Jasper through Marshall Prairie and on to Yellville. This road is not listed on the original 1836 survey or 1855 map of Arkansas.

A few old store buildings is all that is left of the present day Marshall Prairie (old down town Western Grove).
Old down town Western Grove, west side of the street looking north. These were built long after the war. The head waters of Marshall Branch and the land owned by Nathan Clements and John H Marshall is (was) located just to the right at the north end of the photo.