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Gladden, Woolsey, Woolum, Woosley and Zion:
Facts and Folklore of the 19th Century Stagecoach Routes in Washington County, Arkansas
by Kirby Sanders
©2009 Kirby Sanders
Facts and Folklore of the 19th Century Stagecoach Routes in Washington County, Arkansas
by Kirby Sanders
©2009 Kirby Sanders
Washington County, Arkansas has long been an important transit corridor in the history of the United States. In the early Nineteenth Century settlers from the northeast followed the first Post Road into Arkansas from St. Louis, Gateway to the West. By the mid-1800s, the establishment of the Butterfield Overland Mail postal and passenger stagecoach route further heightened the importance of the area as the main national route to Texas, the gold fields of the West and California. From the mid-1800s through the building of the railroads in the 1870s, the 1880s and the turn of the 20th Century, stagecoaches played an important role in the transportation of people, mail and goods through the state.
Three major anomalies arise for the serious student of the stagecoach routes of the 1800s as they passed through Washington County, Arkansas. All available documentation agrees that the most significant route was that of the Butterfield Overland Mail through the area from 1858-1861. Folklore and anecdotal evidence have, however, placed erroneous Butterfield stops at the Gladden Hotel in Springdale, the community of Zion east of Fayetteville and at Signal Hill near Winslow. In this article we will consider the documented evidence (or lack thereof) of these Butterfield locations.
It must be said at the outset that there is no doubt stagecoaches did serve these locations. The question has been: Were these stations Butterfield Stations? The documentable answer in each case appears to be No -- they were not Butterfield Stations.
Beginning at the north, our first point of reference is Fitzgerald's Station at Od Wire Road / Old Missouri Road / Arkansas 265 and Dodd Avenue in Springdale. Fitzgerald Station is a documentable Butterfield Station and is listed as such on the National Register of Historic Places (Fitzgerald Station and Farmstead - added 2003 - #03000465). From there we will consider the status of the nearby Gladden Hotel as a Butterfield Station.
There is documentable evidence from research done by Bobbie Byars Lynch and others that the first main road through Northwest Arkansas passed through the community of Shiloh (later Springdale) in the early 1800s. That route wound its way from Fitzgerald's Station past the present-day Fitzgerald Cemetery at what is now Randall Wobbe Lane and Old Missouri Road. It continued into the Shiloh community along Mill Street. This route would have taken the original road within a block of where the Gladden Hotel eventually stood (West Main at Center Street).
Here, the anecdotal claim kicks in. It has long been maintained in the community that the Gladden Hotel was a Butterfield stop -- perhaps an occasional stop for meals and to discharge passengers. In an interview in 2001, Lynch disputed that contention. She maintained two points in that regard. First, there was no evidence of the Gladden family in the area of Shiloh 1858-1861 let alone their operating the hotel. Second, she contended that John Butterfield's surveyors snipped about one and one-half miles off of their route in 1857 - 1858 by improving a road through swampy ground to the east of Shiloh, creating what she termed the "Butterfield Bypass" past the community. In modern terms, the Butterfield Bypass began at what is now Randall Wobbe Lane and Arkansas 265 / Old Missouri Road. It continued along Arkansas 265 / Old Missouri Road to a point just south of Spring Creek and north of Ford Avenue.
Lynch's first contention appears to have proved true on at least two fronts. According to the 1889 Goodspeed's History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas,Thomas Gladden (referred to as "the accommodating proprietor of the Gladden Hotel"), came first to Benton County and later to Springdale and Washington County. The Goodspeed article reports that Gladden "... became a resident of Benton County Ark., in 1867 and from there went to Boonsborough, where he lived five years. He has now been residing in Springdale for thirteen years and during that time has been engaged in keeping hotel, purchasing his present large house in 1887, which is largely patronized by the traveling public."
Quick math, subtracting 13 years from the 1889 publication date of the Goodspeed entry would indicate that Thomas Gladden was not a resident or hotelier in Springdale / Shiloh prior to 1876.
Additionally, the Gladden name does not appear in federal census data for Washington County until the census of 1880. That census lists the household as Thomas Gladden (age 66), wife Sarah, (age 53) along with Burnis (age 25), Mary W. (age 23) and Isam I. (age 19).
Secondarily, Lynch noted that a Post Office named Lynch's Prairie was established on the outskirts of Shiloh at the south foot of the Butterfield Bypass in order to assure mail service to the nearby community. This location was also at a point where the old road rejoined the "Butterfield Bypass". That site in modern terms is across from the present Northwest Technical Institute (109 S Old Missouri Road) and adjacent to the Springdale Municipal Airport. Lynch's Prairie, she said, was a "flag stop" for the Butterfield -- meaning that coaches would stop if there was mail to be delivered and the Postmaster would "flag down" the coach if outgoing mail was to be picked up.
While none of the contemporaneous reports from the Butterfield Route document a stop at Lynch's Prairie, Goodspeed confirms the existence of the Lynch's Prairie Post Office (1859-1866) and lists Albert G. Gregg as having been Postmaster. Being on the outskirts of town at the time and less than a mile from the heart of Shiloh with no other nearby community to serve, there is no other reason for the United States government to have approved the establishment of a Post Office at this location.
Lynch maintained during the 2001 interview that another inn or tavern may have predated the Gladden Hotel at the Main and Center Street location. She stated it was possible that Butterfield coaches running ahead of scheduled may have stopped there on occasion for a quick meal or to discharge passengers, but urged that the location would have been off the main Butterfield route and was not a scheduled stop.
Velda Brotherton, in Springdale: The Courage of Shiloh, specifically notes an inn predating the Gladden Hotel and identifies it as the Lovelady Inn. She places the Lovelady Inn about a block east of the Gladden Hotel location at Main and Center Streets, noting that Gladden relocated the hotel after purchasing the Lovelady. She reports the Lovelady was "originally built by Bennett Putman" and was operated by Putman during the Butterfield period, 1858-1861 and that the Lovelady Inn was an occasional / optional stop for the Butterfield as was indicated by Lynch.
Brotheron also identifies Lynch's Prairie as the first Post Office for the Shiloh Community but states that it was "several miles away" from the settlement. She does state that "The post office was established with the arrival of the Butterfield Overland Mail route and closed soon after the Civil War." Additionally, Brotherton reiterates that the Butterfield bypassed the community of Shiloh. She also indicates that Thomas Gladden owned property as of the preparation of a plat by John Holcombe in 1868
The second quirk in Washington County stageline research involves the community of Zion to the east of Fayetteville. Researchers in the 1950s concluded that the Butterfield Route between Springdale and Fayetteville passed through Zion -- with the result that the modern road between Springdale and this small community was eventually named Butterfield Coach Road. Additionally, an historical marker to that effect was erected at Robinson Road and Butterfield Coach Road in south Springdale. Later research, however, indicates this was a later coach route.
A newspaper article originally published in the St. Louis (MO) Democrat and cited in the New York (NY) Times of October 14, 1858 contains a particularly inclusive itinerary of the 1858 Butterfield Route compiled by a passenger named Bailey. It contains no mention of the Zion community. Additionally, maps of the area from the time period do not show a main road other than the one tracking what is now Arkansas 265 between Springdale and Fayetteville.
Research has also confirmed the Butterfield Route as having tracked what is now Arkansas 265, passing through what is now Lake Fayetteville Park in Fayetteville. The 1958 publication by the Arkansas Committee of the Butterfield Overland Mail Centennial (W. J. Lemke, chairman) notes specifically that "Part of this stretch of the old road is now covered by Lake Fayetteville. From the lake south, the old road is still in use."
The areas specifically noted by Lemke would have been bypassed had the route from Springdale to Fayetteville followed a course via the Zion community. Further, in 1858, the site of the Zion community was a religious camp hosting an itinerant population from time to time but not a substantial permanent population. It is unlikely that the Butterfield Overland Mail would have diverged from the main road to serve a location without a permanent population. While there is credible information that a stagecoach did serve the Zion community after it had stabilized, it appears this route was most likely a part of the 1876 Woolum-Brown Stageline rather than the 1858 Butterfield. As a result of research 2000 to present, the errant Butterfield Coach Road historical marker previously mentioned was moved to a point on Arkansas 265 near Lowell (then "Mudtown") that is a confirmed location on the Butterfield Route.
All available research agrees that the Overland Mail served the Butterfield Hotel and Station in Fayetteville, now the location of the Old Washington County Courthouse at Center Street and College Avenue. The next undisputed stop was Parks Station just south of Hogeye on Arkansas 265. After Parks Station is the Strickler Station located on Bug Scuffle Road at Arkansas 265.
Thereafter, folklore and anecdote have maintained that the Butterfield coaches stopped in the vicinity of Signal Hill west of Winslow. This station at Winslow is frequently referred to as the "Woolsey" or "Woolum" Station and is often claimed as what contemporaneous reports call the "Woosley Station." This Winslow-area station is most assuredly a later coach stop unrelated to the Butterfield. For starters, a sidetrack from Strickler to Winslow would have required a due-east side track of almost seven straight-line miles -- and given the terrain of the area, there is no such thing as "straight-line miles". This region is among the most rugged of the Boston Mountain area and would have required a an arduous (if not impossible) passage for horsedrawn coaches. On existing roads this sidetrack is a 22 mile trip. The most-direct route through the same terrain would have required at least seven hours for the Butterfield coaches. To reach the next confirmed stop at Brodie's Station near Lee Creek would be another 26 treacherous miles requiring another eight or nine hours to complete.
Bailey states specifically that the distance from Parks Station (Hogeye) to Brodie's (Lee Creek) was 20 miles -- which route goes directly through Strickler. It appears obvious that having built a new stretch of road to snip about a mile off of the route at Shiloh, Butterfield's surveyors would not have designed a treacherous 48 mile sidetrack off the main road to get to Winslow.
Additionally, local historian Jo Ann Kyle, in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, states plainly that the Signal Hill location belongs to a later coach company that was not established until after the Butterfield had ceased operation in Northwest Arkansas. Says Kyle, "The stage lines became an important means of transit for people and mail. Elijah J. Woolum established the Woolum-Brown Stage Line operating between Fayetteville (Washington County) and Alma (Crawford County) sometime after the Civil War (the exact date is unknown). The stage stop became known as Summit Home. On December 11, 1876, an application was granted for a post office at Summit Home. William John Reed was the first postmaster. It is speculated that this stage line was part of the Butterfield Overland Route, but it has never been proven. "
Goodspeed confirms that as of 1876 William J. Reed served as Postmaster at Summit Home.
Elijah J. Woolum is not listed in the 1850, 1860 or 1870 census of the area. The first likely census entry is in 1880 -- listed as "E.J. Wollum" (age 56 of Illinois) with wife Elizabeth (age 57 of Tennessee) and son Frank F. (age 11 of Alabama). Goodspeed lists "Elijah J. Woodburn" as Postmaster of Summit Home in 1879. That record indicates the change of name to Winslow as of 1881 with Elijah J. Woolum serving as Postmaster until 1883.
As to the possibility of a "Woolsey" rather than "Woolum" station, William T. Woolsey and a substantial family are listed in the area as of the 1850 census. Their farmstead, however, was about 10 miles north of Signal Hill / Winslow in the area of West Fork, Arkansas. It is also noted in Goodspeed that William T. Woolsey was" involved in freighting" , but relocated to Missouri during the Civil War. Upon his return after the war, Woolsey involved himself in "mercantile business, soon building up a good trade." It should also be noted that W.T. Woolsey served as Postmaster for West Fork 1871-1878 (again according to Goodspeed). These facts make it apparent the Signal Hill station near Winslow was operated by Elijah J. Woolum rather than William T. Woolsey -- and most likely established after the United States Census of 1870.
While Kyle notes the Woolum line as having served Fayetteville to Alma as of 1876, it is very likely that this is the same line that served Zion and Springdale further north. Given the populations of those two communities at the time, it is unlikely that an independent stageline serving Springdale / Zion / Fayetteville would have been economically viable and perfectly likely that such a branch would improve the profitability of Woolum's Fayetteville / Alma line with little additional time or effort involved.
Additionally, Brotherton reports that as late as 1881 stagegecoaches of the U.E. & E.L. Fisher Stageline "made a circle from Fayetteville north to Springdale, then by circuitous route to Pierce City, Missouri, and another route south via Neosho, through Bentonville and on to Fayetteville." It is also possibe to likely that the regional Fisher Stage Line may have served the Zion Community
Of last note regarding Winslow / Signal Hill as Butterfield's "Woosley" Station is geographical impossibility. By contemporaneous reports from both Waterman Ormsby and Bailey, Woosley's Station was located between the stations at Lee Creek and Fort Smith -- both of which are well south of Signal Hill / Winslow. Ormsby's and Bailey's 1858 reports have also been confirmed by Lemke (1958 but incorrectly noted as "Oosley's Station"), Conklings (1947), Mincke (2005) and the Matt brothers (2006). The identified site of this station is in Crawford County in the vicinity of the intersection at Arkansas 220 / Uniontown Highway and Arkansas 59 south of Cedarville.
The presence of the Woosley family is indisputable in the area just south of Cedarvile. The Woosley Station was established by James Woosley and his son George near the family homestead. The 1860 census for Crawford County lists two households (misspelled "Woosly") at the Woosley homestead. The first household is that of James Woosley (age 49) with wife Patience Woosly (age age 49) and six children . The other household is that of George Woosly, age 25, Sarah E. Woosly, age 28 and (significantly) Sarah M. Woosly, age 7. Also resident in the second household are Michael Morricy, age 25, and M. Dudley, age 25, both of whose occupations are listed as "stagecoach driver".
The significance of Sarah M. Woosley's census entry is that Sarah M. Woosley (daughter of George W. and Sarah E. Woosley) died of disease at age seven. She was buried near the family homestead and was the first person to be buried in the Woosley family cemetery. The Woosley family cemetery later served the nearby community and was named the Sarah's Grove Cemetery. That cemetery is located on Sarah Grove Road just east of the intersection of Arkansas 220 / Uniontown Highway and Arkansas 59. Additionally, James Woosley's eldest son, Capt. W.W. Woosley, was killed at the Battle of Prairie Grove on December 7, 1862 and interred near his sister, Sarah, in the Woosley family Cemetery. Captain W.W. Woosley's gravestone still stands in the Sarah Grove Cemetery showing the proper spelling as "Woosley."
Swinburn and West report that "All [the Woosley] buildings were destroyed by the Federals during the Civil War when they marched through Dripping Springs to Van Buren."
A historical marker located at the corner of Sarah Grove Road and Arkansas 59 (dedicated to the Battle of Dripping Springs) commemorates a confrontation between Union forces under General James G. Blunt and Gen. Francis Jay Herron with the Confederate 1st Texas Rangers commanded by Lt. Colonel R. Phillip Crump on December 28, 1862.
James Woosley and family reportedly abandoned the homestead during this period. Some research maintains James Wooosley moved to "the area near Greenland Arkansas" while others claim he moved to Texas. Recent research indicates the Woosley family homesteads and station were burned by Union troops on December 28, 1862 at the onset of the Battle of Dripping Springs and that the family did indeed move to Texas. Through the post-Civil-War years they became a successful merchant and banking clan in the area southeast of Sherman, Texas.
As a final note, this article is not intended to disparage any of the communities or the researchers who have studied them. Rather, the intent is to give credit where credit is due at the time it was due and to clarify the admitted tangle of stagecoach routes through Washington County in the mid- to late- 19th Century.
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References
• The Overland Mail Centennial; W.J. Lemke and Ted R. Worley; published 1958, Arkansas Committee Butterfield Overland Mail Centennial - Arkansas History Commission, Little Rock AR
• The Butterfield Overland Mail; Waterman L. Ormsby (1858); edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, published 1942, Huntington Library, San Marino CA
• The Butterfield Overland Mail, 1857–1869; Roscoe P. and Margaret B. Conkling, published 1947, A. H. Clarke Company, Glendale CA
• Chasing the Butterfield Overland Mail Stage; Donald Mincke, published 2005, Donald Mincke, Portage des Sioux, MO
• Springdale: The Courage of Shiloh; Velda Brotherton, published 2002, Arcadia Publishing, Mt. Pleasant SC
• Drivers Guide to the Butterfield Overland Mail Route (Volume One - Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma); Kirby Sanders, published 2008, Heritage Trail Partners, Fayetteville AR
• New York (NY) Times article: California - Arrival of the Overland Mail - Itinerary of the Route; published October 14, 1858
• Goodspeed's History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas; published 1889, Goodspeed Publishing, Chicago
• Butterfield Overland Mail - 2000 Miles of Motorcycling The Butterfield Trail; Don & Paul Matt, published 2006, internet publication accessed February 22, 2009, (http://butterfieldoverlandmail.blogspot.com/), Berryville AR
• History In Headstones: A Complete Listing of All Marked Graves in Known Cemeteries of Crawford County, Arkansas, August 1970; compiled by Susan Stevenson Swinburn and Doris Stevenson West, published 1970, Press Argus Printing and Publishing, Van Buren AR
• Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture - Winslow (Washington County); Jo Ann Kyle, update of 6/10/2008, internet publication accessed February 22, 2009, (http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?search=1&entryID=2634)
• Archives of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History; 118 W. Johnson Ave, Springdale AR
• Transcription: United States Census - Washington County, Arkansas 1850, Fayetteville Public Library, 401 W. Mountain St., Fayetteville, AR
• Transcription: United States Census - Washington County, Arkansas 1860, Fayetteville Public Library, 401 W. Mountain St., Fayetteville, AR
• Transcription: United States Census - Washington County, Arkansas 1870, Fayetteville Public Library, 401 W. Mountain St., Fayetteville, AR
• Transcription: United States Census - Washington County, Arkansas 1880, Fayetteville Public Library, 401 W. Mountain St., Fayetteville, AR
• Transcription: United States Census - Crawford County, Arkansas 1850, Fayetteville Public Library, 401 W. Mountain St., Fayetteville, AR
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