Mary P. Fletcher in "Arkansas Territorial Pioneers and Their Descendants" appearing in the April 1914 issue of Arkansas Pioneers, says: "as early as 1810 Jacob and John and Asa Barkman lived by trapping and hunting in Ouachita Parish (Louisiana) . . . later they moved to the district now known as Clark County (Arkansas) where they spent eventful lives . . . Jacob Barkman was a member of our first legislature, and the first post office and county court (of Clark) used his house until suitable buildings were erected. This house was built of bricks molded and burnt by his servants who also built grist and cotton mills and boats."

John Barkman was born on July 30, 1786 in Kentucky: another source says Indiana. He married Hannah Davis about 1808 the daughter of Zachariah Davis and Prudence Roberts. The account of his coming to Clark County, Arkansas with his brother Jacob Barkman and his wife's family, the Davises, and the Hemphills in 1811 has been previously given. In October 1815 his brother Jacob Barkman, Andrew Robinson, and Abraham Anthony, hunting and en route to visit another hunting party camped on the Kiamichi about forty miles above its mouth, were attacked by Osage Indians. They attempted to outride their attackers, but Abraham Anthony was overtaken, killed, and scalped. "Later his skeleton was found . . . his hat hanging on a bush nearby."

Prior to 1826 John Barkman moved his family to Lost Prairie in Miller County, Arkansas. This was in the jurisdiction of Lafayette County, Arkansas when it was created in 1827. John Barkman was numbered among the new county's first grand jurors. About 1833 he moved to Texas and settled in Bowie County. He and his wife had a large family of fifteen children:

Mary Ann Barkman born July 31, 1810 in Rapides Parish, Louisiana married Seth Morris.
Rebecca Barkman born March 9, 1812 in Clark County, Arkansas died July 2, 1826 in Miller, now Lafayette County, Arkansas.
Jacob Davis Barkman born December 15, 1813 married Salina Looney in 1841 and died February 15, 1860.
Susanah Barkman born April 8, 1816 in Clark County, Arkansas died March 26, 1837 in Texas.
John J. Barkman born June 4, 1818 in Clark County, Arkansas died February 1, 1837 in Texas.
Isabel Barkman born February 24, 1820 in Arkansas married Joseph A. Looney in 1846.
Mahala Barkman born January 18, 1822 in Arkansas married William Lansdale in 1842.
Hannah Barkman born April 12, 1823 in Arkansas married first William Lansdale in 1842; married second R.H.B. Lansdale.
James Wesley Barkman born February 18, 1826 at Lost Prairie, within the original Miller County, Arkansas, married first Rebecca A. Peake on July 7, 1852 at Arkadelphia, Clark County, Arkansas; married second Hattie C. Martin; died April 23, 1906 near Leary, Bowie County, Texas.
Annie Barkman born December 1827 in Lafayette County, Arkansas married first William McCloskey on June 27, 1849; married second William Cain.
Leanah Barkman born October 21, 1830 in Lafayette County, Arkansas married Robert J. Looney.
Enoch Barkman born October 16, 1832 in Lafayette County, Arkansas married Emily Holmes and died July 15, 1860.
Caroline Barkman born March 2, 1834 in Texas married B.H. Bobo and died March 28, 1864.
Elizabeth Jane Barkman born February 8, 1836 in Texas married first Joseph Tyson; married second a Threadgill; died January 1, 1862.
Jerome Bonaparte Barkman born September 2, 1839 in Texas married Mary Elizabeth Carpenter on December 14, 1865; died November 9, 1892.

The original of this information is in the possession of Jean Barkman Ware Denes, South Lake Tahoe, California. Mrs. Denes obtained the original from Rossie Lee Mercer Hosier, Shreveport, Louisiana. Mrs. Hosier obtained the original from her aunt, Mae Barkman Willis, daughter of Jerome B. Barkman, son of John Barkman and Hannah Davis Barkman.

Births:

Maryann Barkman was born July 31, 1810.
Rebeca B. born March 9, 1812.
Jacob D. Barkman born December 15, 1813.
Susanah Barkman born April 8, 1816.
John J. Barkman born June 4, 1818.
Isabel J. Barkman born February 24, 1818.
Mahala Barkman born January 18, 1822.
Hannah Barkman born April 12, 1823.
James W. Barkman born February 18, 1826.
Annis Barkman born December 15, 1827.
Leanner Barkman born October 21, 1830.
Enoch Barkman born October 16, 1832.
Caroline Barkman born March 2, 1834.
Elizabeth Jane Barkman born February 8, 1836.
Jerome B. Barkman born Sept. 2, 1839.
John Barkman born July 30, 1786.
Hanah Davis Barkman born October 14, 1792.
Wm. L. McCloskey born February 11, 1828.
John Hannah McCloskey born May 25, 1850.
Frances Edgar McCloskey born Nov. 1, 1851.
Isabella Jane McCloskey born November 18, 1853.

J. B. Barkman and Mary E. Barkman Family:
John David Barkman was born December 11, 1866.
Joseph Johnson Barkman was born October 24, 1869.
Franklin Marco Barkman was born December 31, 1871.
Archie Allen Barkman was born April 6, 1874.
Martha May Barkman born May 13, 1876.
Mary Maud Barkman born December 27, 1878.

Joe Barkman Children:

Maud Barkman born February 8, 1892.
Madaline Barkman was born August 2, 1896.
Little Rosie Barkman, July 1, 1881
Franklin Barkman born July 20, 1897.

Marriages:

Wm. L. McCloskey and Annis Barkman was married June 27th, 1849.
Mary Barkman and Mark Willis was married September 22, 1898.
(Their Infant son was born July 12, 1899 and died July 15, 1899.)

J. B. Barkman and Mary E. Carpenter was married December 14, 1865.
Joe J. Barkman and Mattie Anderson was married March 19, 1891.
Frank Barkman and Jessie Answorth was married July 2, 1896.

Deaths:

Wm. McCloskey died April 3, 1855.
Isabel Jane McCloskey died March 17, 1864.
John Barkman died October 8, 1870.
Hanah Barkman died April 26, 1874.
Rebecca Decest, July 2, 1826.
Susanah Decest, March 26, 1837.
John Jr. Decest, Fenruary 1, 1837.
Jacob D. Barkman died February 15,
Enoch L. Barkman died July 15, 1860.
Elisabeth J. Threadgill died January 1, 1862.
Caroline B. Bobo died March 28, 1864.
J. B. and Mary E. Barkman, infant son born June 18, 1868, and died the same day.
John David Barkman died March 13, 1873.
Archie Allen Barkman died March 22, 1875.
Mary Maud Barkman died July 5, 1880.
J. B. Barkman died November 9, 1892.
Mary E. Barkman died July 3, 1898.

Jacob's daughter, Susan Barkman Craven's Family Bible Record shows his date of death to be January 25, 1860.

On June 26, 1822, Austin granted Wavell his power of attorney to form a company in England for the development of his Texas colony. Austin's land grant and such capital as Wavell might raise were to be the joint stock. On July 4 the partners agreed that all profits from land sales, mining, or commerce in the colony were to be divided between them. Wavell sailed from Vera Cruz on the French brig L'Azema, bound for Bordeaux. On September 3, however, the ship was attacked and captured by Spanish pirates, and Wavell was robbed of $1,700 and all of his property including copies of Austin's grant and his map of Texas. The French ship then returned to Charleston, where Wavell transferred to the British ship London to complete his voyage. He arrived in Liverpool on November 11 and began his attempts to raise capital for his and Austin's enterprise. In May 1823 he informed Austin of the proposal of a London firm to furnish £20,000 in exchange for a half interest in the company. Austin did not respond to Wavell's letter. Wavell returned to Mexico, therefore, with no arrangement for English capital to support Austin's efforts, and the company that the two men had planned was never formed. Although the terms of the agreement for raising funds for Austin's colony had never been put into effect, Wavell still had claims against Austin for loans made to him in 1822, and in 1826 he appointed Benjamin Rush Milam as his agent to recoup his investment. No money, however, was ever recovered.

In 1824 Wavell wrote to Austin for advice on his own colonization efforts. Austin responded in wholly negative terms. "I am heartily sick of the whole business," he informed his former partner, and advised him that if he wished "to keep out of trouble let Colonization matters alone, either here or anywhere else." Nevertheless, on July 30, 1825, Wavell applied for a grant between Sulphur Fork and Kiamicha River on the Red River-an area recommended by Milam that Wavell himself had never seen. On March 9, 1826, the vice governor of Coahuila and Texas, Ignacio de Arispe, granted Wavell's request, giving him a six year time limit to complete the colonization of what is now Lamar, Red River, and Bowie counties as well as portions of Fannin and Hunt counties and Miller County, Arkansas. Wavell's efforts to promote the colony in England were fruitless, however, and Milam's attempts to draw colonists from the United States were hampered to a large degree by Mexico's hostility to slavery, without which the production of cotton was next to impossible. Too, the great Red River Raft, a log jam stretching 165 miles from Loggy Bayou to Carolina Bluffs, prevented river transport to and from the colony. The United States disputed the eastern border of the Wavell grant, correctly claiming that it was actually within the southwest boundary of Arkansas, and finally, on April 6, 1830, Mexico banned further immigration from the United States and refused to issue land titles to any of the colonists that Milam had recruited.

In 1826 Wavell attempted to visit his colony but was prevented by flood waters. In 1828 he returned to Mexico, but did not visit Texas, and in 1831 an attack of rheumatism stopped him from viewing his grant. With Milam's death at the siege of Bexar in 1835, colonization efforts came to a virtual standstill. In 1837 Wavell divided his share in the grant with Milam's heirs, and only in 1841 was the survey of the grant completed. In August 1843 and again in February 1844 Wavell approached the British chargé d'affaires seeking compensation for the loss of his claim, but was informed on both occasions that Her Majesty's Government would not support his claim. Accordingly, he petitioned the congress of the Republic of Texas for compensation, but as the laws of June 12, 1837, had voided all Mexican empresario grants, making them the property of the government, and forbidden any alien to file suit against the republic, his petition was never acknowledged, and Sterling C. Robertson was awarded part of Wavell's lands. At last Wavell attempted to petition the state of Texas for compensation for the $10,000 that he claimed to have expended toward the colonization of the state, and on March 18, 1853, retained Ashbel Smith as his attorney. Not until fall of 1856 was Smith able to see legislation passed that would allow Wavell to file suit for his claims in a Texas court. Under its terms he could request one league of land for every twenty families settled on his grant. This land would be equally divided with the heirs of Ben Milam. As Wavell and Milam had introduced only 140 families onto the colony, however, the value of the 15,498 acres to which Wavell would be entitled would not equal the cost of the suit. Wavell, therefore, dropped his Texas claims to pursue the study of the gunrafts then being developed by the Prussian navy, and he never again made mention of Texas in any of his correspondence. On May 27, 1827, Wavell was named a fellow of the Royal Society. He claimed to have recommended Gail Borden's meat biscuit to the admiralty as rations for the Royal Navy. He died in London on July 10, 1860. He was the father of ten children and the grandfather of Field Marshal Sir Archibald Wavell.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Robert W. Amsler, "General Arthur G. Wavell: A Soldier of Fortune in Texas," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 69 (July 1965). Eugene C. Barker, "General Arthur Goodall Wavell and Wavell's Colony in Texas," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 47 (January 1944). Thomas W. Cutrer, The English Texans (San Antonio: University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures, 1985). Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin.

Thomas W. Cutrer

County of Bowie

Know all men by these present that for a valuable consideration to us in hand paid by C. D. Barkman of Bowie County, Texas, one, J. W. Barkman of Bowie County, Texas, son and heir of John Barkman deceased and Joe Barkman and Frank Barkman and Rossie Barkman and Mary Barkman , children and heirs at law of J. B. Barkman, deceased, who was a son and heir of John Barkman deceased and Frances M. Taylor, a feme sole and Leomi Scaife and her husband C. A. Scaife daughters and heirs of Enoch Barkman, deceased, who was a son and heir of John Barkman deceased, and Mahala Looney and her husband J. A. Looney of Ellis County, Texas, said Mahala Looney being a daughter and heir of John Barkman, deceased and Isabella McClosky of Kaufman County, Texas, a widow and a daughter and heir of John Barkman, deceased and Leanah A. Looney, a widow, of Ellis County, Texas, and a daughter and heir of John Barkman, deceased and Pet Lansdell, a widow, of Little River County, Arkansas, and a daughter and heir of John Barkman deceased, and Mary Morris, a widow, of the Indian Territory and a daughter and heir of John Barkman, deceased, and Ann Cain of Bowie County, Texas, and her husband William Cain, said Ann Cain being a daughter and heir of John Barkman, deceased and J. B. Bobo, H. B. Bobo and Lem. P. Bobo and Hanah Marley and her husband John Marley and M. C. Jordan and her husband U. C. Jordan children and heirs of Caroline Bobo, who was a daughter and heir of John Barkman, deceased, and Joe C. Tyson, son and heir of Jane Tyson a daughter and heir of John Barkman deceased, said Joe C. Tyson being of Bowie County, Texas have and by these presents do quit claim, release and relinquish to said C. D. Barkman all right title claim and interest we have in and to the following described tract of land: a survey made for Mary Morris by virtue of Certificate number 232 issued to her for 1280 acres of land by the board of land commissioners for Red River County, Texas, on the 7th day of September 1838, and situated in Bowie County, Texas, and commencing at a stake on the South boundary line of the Wm. McKinney Survey, the North East corner of John Barkman Head Right Survey, a stake from which bears a Red oak S. 53 W. 11 vrs, a Hickory brs. S. 55 W. 164 vrs, both marked J. B.; thence East 445 vrs. to a stake, the South E. corner of Wm. McKinney Survey on the West boundary line of Collin McKinney survey, from which a Black jack brs. S. 33 W. 13 8/10 vrs marked J. B.; thence South with Collin McKinney survey 3242 vrs to a stake from which a Black oak brs. N. 33 E. 9 vrs. marked J. D. B.; thence West 1625 vrs to a stake on the East boundary line of said John Barkman survey from which a Gum brs. N. 76 E. 11 vrs., marked J. D. B. a Black oak brs. S. 89 E. 8 vrs. marked E. F.; thence north with John Barkman survey 1797 1/10 vrs. to a stake from which a Red oak brs. S. 61 W. 23 4/10 vrs, a Hickory bears South 47 W. 22 4/10 vrs, both marked J. B.; thence East 1180 vrs, to a stake from whence a willow oak brs. N. 50 W. 10 vrs, a sweet gum brs. N. 41 W. 11 4/10 vrs. both marked J. B. Thence north 1500 vrs. to the beginning containing 637 3/5 acres . To have and to hold unto said C. D. Barkman, his heirs and assigns forever free from us, our heirs and assigns. Given under our hands this the 15th day of September 1893

Hannah Marley
J. A. Looney
John Marley
Mahala Looney
Isabella McCloskey
Leanah A. Looney
Frances M. Taylor
Pet Lansdell
M. C. Jordan
U. C. Jordan
Ann Cain {mark}
William Cain {mark}
Frank Barkman
Mary E. Barkman
May Barkman
Rossie Barkman
Joe Barkman
Joe Tyson
J. W. Barkman
Lem. P. Bobo
H. B. Bobo {mark}
J. B. Bobo {mark}

PARAGON FIRE ONE OF WORST TRAGEDIES HERE

believed to have been published in the Texarkana Gazette (date missing from article)

Death rode with the bolt of lightening that stabbed down through the furious wind and rain which buffeted a youthful Texarkana on the night of July 12, 1882. An estimated 30 men died that night in the Paragon disaster. The tragedy of the Paragon, a saloon and gambling house, was one of the worst in the history of the 75 year old city. An estimated 36 men, some of whom had gone into the saloon for shelter from the rain, were trapped in the Paragon when lightening struck the adjoining brick building and toppled it over on the saloon. A few of them came out alive. Most of them were carried out dead, and some were burned to ashes in the fiery holocaust . . . . in part Our people went to work to rescue the ones whose cries could be heard . . . . They reached James Lawrence whose leg was broken and J. W. Windsor, whose ankle was injured, and brought them out. A. W. Manning, known as "Will" who kept the lunch stand, was taken out dead. Manning had come to Texarkana only three weeks before from Little Rock. The storm had hit the city around 6:30 p.m. The lightning struck the Ghio Building about 20 minutes later. At 11 p.m. the rescue workers were still bringing out the dead. Fire broke out in the adjoining building about this time and though it was almost impossible to endure the heat, the band of men kept at their sad and difficult task of removing the dead. They tried to remove the body of Mike Mayfield with a rope but failed, so they covered it with blankets, zinc and brick. The body of W. B. (Billy) Russell, the bartender and also the mayor of Texarkana Texas, could not be removed until long after it was discovered. Midnight came and went and still the rescue workers were bringing out the dead, some of them burnt beyond recognition. When it was all over 29 bodies had been removed from the Paragon. Among the dead were Russell Mayfield, Manning, John Morefield, Col. Mercer, Tom Hull a locomotive engineer, John Poland of Shreveport, John Mayfield, Robert Henderson, Nat Vice, Milton Strange, H. B. Spencer, Tony King, Dan Staples of Richmond Ark., Professor A Rosswindor, and a negro. No stores opened their doors on the day following the tragedy. (The article goes on to say nine more bodies were removed, burned beyond recognition.) (Lige Vaughn, a negro laborer, was on the roof of the new Ghio building checking the drain pipe. When lightning hit the building Vaughn went down with it, breaking a leg.)

From Mr. Frank McFerrin: The following comes from a newspaper article in The Weekly Texarkanian, 24 July 1924. The article is entitled "Anniversary of Texarkana's Great Disaster, The Paragon Horror," written by W. B. Weeks, an older gentleman who came to Texarkana in 1876 and who witnessed the aftermath of the tragedy. He writes that the Paragon was a 145 foot long box house that extended the entire length of the lot. It stood one building from the corner of Broad and State Streets. The building being constructed next to it was a three storied brick structure called the Ghio Building. During a storm the incomplete brick wall of the Ghio structure collapsed onto the Paragon, crushing the frail frame structure and all those who had retreated into it or who were patronizing the saloon during the storm. He writes, "Many persons lost their lives in the holocaust, but the exact number will never be known. Estimates made at the time varied; the lowest placed the number at 35 and the highest at 80. Persons best in position to know, however, generally agreed that 52 was about the total number killed." The problem with arriving at an exact number of dead apparently became insurmountable due to three circumstances: (1) The fact that Texarkana was a railroad town and on any given day there may be approximately 200-300 people staying over for a day or several days. The transients would be hard for citizens to account for. (2) The resulting fire was so complete and thorough that the remains of those burned were nothing more than bones. (3) Undertakers would have been in the best position to know the closest approximate number of victims and it was possibly this group of people to whom Weeks refers to in his statement above. Weeks states that only one man escaped as the collapse was occurring. That was J. B. Gregory. He mentions the names of 12 of the most prominent victims: Milton Strange, W. B. Russel, a former mayor of Texarkana, Texas, Mike Mayfield, John Morefield, Colonel Mercer, a gentleman gambler, John Poland, Tom Hall, railroad engineer, Jimmy Lawrence, polar dealer, Uncle Nat Vice, Professor A. Roost, teacher of the Texarkana Brass Band, A. W. Manning, lunch stand keeper, and Charles Spencer, musician. So horrible was the ensuing fire that W. B. Russel, one of the victims, shot himself with his revolver, when the flames began to take him. Weeks mentions members of the rescuers as being James McMahon, Dr. Beidler, Captain Rosborough, A.L. Ghio, Charles S. Todd, Homer Yandes, J. H. Draughon, Walter Driscoll, C.E. Dixon, Zack Few, W. H. Sweeney, Pat Lonergan, Bob Cannon, Hank McCartney, John H. Trigg, J. F. Smith, John Taylor, Pat Hardin, W. G. Cook, John E. Blake, M. V. Flippin, Ben F. James, Walter E. Buron, and Tom Dailey.

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