Tuesday, July 17, 2012

When the Presbyterians Came to Kingston


Sometimes you get an education in the place you least expect. Last Friday's trip over to the beautiful Boxley Valley was more than I anticipated, behind this door at Grandpa's Flea Market on the square at Kingston was a piece of history that has almost faded away. Without the diligence of John D. Little and his daughter Janet Musteen, we might have missed this interesting piece of Arkansas history altogether.

Some people are storytellers, they may have done many things in their life, but they were destined to be the Keepers of Memories. Janet Musteen is one of these. She shared so much with us while we in her Dad's store on Friday. We missed Mr. Little by just a few minutes, he still comes by the store every few days even though he's 88. That's because part of his heart resides in the walls of that old store.

John D. Little and his wife traveled far in their married life since he was in the military, but retirement brought them back home to Arkansas. When daughter Janet could see he was bored with the sameness of everyday... she suggested he come down and run a little "garage sale" out of the old building. Reluctant at first, he finally showed up one day and enjoyed the visiting, bargaining and selling so much that he was hooked! Kingston may be a speck on the map but it holds a lifetime of memories and a chunk of Arkansas history that has almost disappeared.

Mr. Little co-authored "When the Presbyterians Came to Kingston" with Abby Burnett and Ellen Compton. The book documents a time when Mountain Mission Schools were being erected in the South by Northern religious denominations. They focused on the secondary education of white children, combining a common school education with vocational training. When the Kingston College was built in 1917, it was operated by the Reverend Elmer J. Bouher of the New York Presbyterian Church and subjects such as agriculture, blacksmithing, carpentry, printing and domestic science were taught along with an outreach program for local farm families. They also established the community's first medical clinic and worked diligently to battle moonshiners and bootleggers!

If you look closely at the pictures, you'll see the sheer size and grandness of this building. It was built as a church, used as a college, town hall and gathering place for the community of Kingston and rural Madison County from 1917 to 1951.




The Kingston College is long gone now, the victim of time and termites. All that remains are pictures, a book and this replica of the school built by a graduating Kingston class in 1935. 
Those with vision are wise enough to save the bits of our past.





17 comments:

  1. You certainly have an interesting post today, things I never knew before. Really like the quote...those with vision are wise enough to save bits of our past. Thanks for your wonderful blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These are my favorite things to blog about, I should get out more often!

      Delete
  2. I'm glad you didn't miss that place, and that you shared with us that little bit of history - so interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just thought that was so interesting, glad you did too! I'm sharing more pics next week, all the great antiques that were in there!

      Delete
  3. I love learning about the history of a place- thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Even the building was historical, it used to be the old post office for Kingston.

      Delete
  4. Why do so many people try to eradicate the past? It really is a shame!...:)JP

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, not in our family. My whole family are savers or gatherers, whatever you want to call it! That store really spoke to me,I wasn't expecting to find something so interesting, truly a piece of Arkansas history!

      Delete
  5. What a wonderful post! He had such an interesting lifetime...and a link to the past for all of us. Its refreshing to hear about something good! Thank you...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He really did! His daughter was so nice and that store was packed with antiques... I'm doing another post on the goodies in there next week so come back!!

      Delete
  6. I love that replica!!!.. what a great find.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wan't it cool? In the most out of way place, the most interesting story. As soon as I got home I started Googling info and found the book on Amazon!

      Delete
  7. I love meeting people who know their history! There are so many unique little places in AR and most have no one to remember them. I wish I had paid more attention to my elders when I was small. I would know so much more than I do now about the places I grew up at. Wonderful post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was Janet Musteen who gave us a history lesson that day! She was a wealth of knowledge, and I can imagine very much like her Dad. He is 88 now but still keeps his eye on things around the store!! I had grandparents who kept telling me things until it "stuck!"

      Delete
  8. For me it's the stories that give antiques their beauty. Without the stories they are simply "old stuff".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm lucky in that I inherited so much from my Grandparents and their parents so my "old stuff" came with family stories. I wouldn't trade them for the world! My Grandmother loved her dishes and I do too, guess it's a gene thing!

      Delete
  9. the English civil war! and maybe some info about the round heads and cavaliers with be good thanks :) any facts about it will do as well.

    regards,
    hvac school in AR

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...