Tulip, Arkansas General Store Ledgers

Collection

Identifier: MC 1784

Staff Only
Select files to request

Scope and Content Note

This collection consists largely of the general store ledgers of Herbert Matthews, a merchant and postmaster at Tulip. Herbert Matthews' father, George Matthews, a Methodist circuit rider, married into the Butler family, a large and prominent family within the Tulip community. Alexander Butler, the family's patriarch, was one of the town's first settlers, arriving there in 1848; Herbert Matthews eventually inherited the original Butler house. This collection also contains a journal (which, incidentally, is an unused general store ledger) belonging to Herbert Matthews' wife, Ruth, in which she records the weather, the day-to-day activities of her family, especially in regards to their health and agricultural pursuits, and her reactions to Herbert Matthews' death, which took place on November 13, 1937.

Also within this collection are the journals of Reverend James E. Caldwell, Ruth Matthews' father. J. E. Caldwell was born in Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas, in 1833, but moved to Tulip in 1850 in order to study at the Arkansas Military Institute. In 1851, he attended a Methodist revival, which inspired him to convert to Methodism. He attained his license to preach in 1853, and married Martha Grubbs the following year. The journals within this collection, "Book E" and "Book F," contain his writings--perhaps his sermons--on various religious topics, such as "Terms of Discipleship," "The Kingdom of God," and "The Christian Nation."

Materials include journals, correspondence, written notes, dried flowers, catalog order forms and receipts, store ledgers, newspaper clippings, calendars, advertisements, a scrapbook, and a New Testament Bible.

Dates

1858-1948

Creator

Tulip, Arkansas General Store (Organization)

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Access Information

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Use Information

No Use Restrictions Apply.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

The rural town of Tulip, Dallas County, Arkansas was once, as a center of antebellum education, considered the "Athens of Arkansas:" both the Arkansas Military Institute and the Tulip Female Collegiate Seminary were located there. Between 1842 and 1862, the town flourished as a small but wealthy agricultural settlement, home to several cotton plantations. As the Civil War raged, however, Tulip found itself at the crossroads of important highways between Little Rock and Camden, and much of the town was destroyed in the fray: only one post office, two stores, a school, and a handful of farms remained after the war. The town was never rebuilt, and much of the population left, but regardless of the subsequent decline in population and wealth, the remaining citizens of Tulip continued about their business--mercantile, agricultural, religious, and otherwise--as is demonstrated by this collection.

Extent

1 Linear Feet (1 box)

Additional Description

Arrangement of the Papers

Materials are arranged in chronological order by format.

Acquisition Information

The Tulip, Arkansas General Store Ledgers were purchased by the University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections Department via www.ebay.com from Sherry Huff of Mount Ida, Montgomery County, Arkansas, on June 26, 2008.