Stirman Karnes

Stirman Karnes

Stirman Karnes and his wife, Gladys Dove (Curtis) Karnes,

moved to Cane Hill from West Fork, Washington County,

Arkansas, July 10, 1920. They both were descendants of the

Andres Karnes -Eliz.abeth Howry family. Stirman's parents were

Charles William Karnes (1868-1944) and Alta Alexander

(1873-1966), and his grandparents were John Karnes (1841-1920),

Rachel Winn (1843-1915), and William Alexander, (1823-1912),

Mary Johnson (1843-1908). Gladys' parents were Robert Graham

Curtis (1869-1925), and Effie Stockburger (1874 to 1949), and

her grandparents were Franklin Farris Curtis (1833-1902) and

Narcissa Jane Karnes (1835-1916), and Alexander Stockburger

(1858--1926), Sarah Carroll (1855-1925). John Karnes and Narcissa

Jane Karnes were children of Andrew Karnes (1796-1890)

and Eliz.a Howry.

According to a history booklet written by Bernice Rachel

Karnes, 1983 entitled George !Carnes and Decendan~, she writes:

George Karnes, Sr. was born m Germany. He was m Bo~ecourt

County, Virginia as late as March 20, 1798 when he sold ht~ land.

In 1797 he bought land in Hawkins County, Tennessee. J:Its. fi;te

sons and one daughter were born in Botecourt County, Virginia.

All but the last son, Andrew were children of his first marriage.

In April, 1794, George married Eliz.abeth Persinger. In 1796

Andrew was born.

George Karnes, Sr. made a will in Hawkins County, Tennessee

on 14 October 1816 in which he named six children and

wife Eliz.abeth. Geo~ge died after 1816, and Eliz.abeth died

Aug~st 9, 1839, age 81. Her death is recorded in ~ndrew's Bible.

Both are buried in unmarked graves near Rogersville, Tennessee.

According to Prentiss Price, genealogist of Hawkins County,

Tennessee ...

Andrew left Tennessee in 1851, and came to a place south of

Elkins in Washington County, Arkansas.

Stirman Karnes family - 1946 - of Cane Hill. Back row: Merrill Karnes

Brown, Charles Curtis Karnes, Stirman Warren Karnes, C. Marguerite

Karnes Deaton. Front row: Helen Allean Karnes Moore, Gladys Karnes,

Stirman Karnes, Wanda Karnes Irwin.

In 1852 Andrew came to West Fork where he stayed on the

same place until his death in 1890. I~ 1820 Andrew married

Eliz.a Howry, daughter of Reverend Daniel Howry and Susannah

Wax. Susannah was the daughter of Henry Wax and Margaret

Gersch wind. .

Stirman Karnes moved to Cane Hill after receiving an appointment

to the position of rural mail carrier by the Civil Service.

On July 12, 1920, he began a mail route that covered the

area south and southwest of Cane Hill; and he carried the mail to

that area until his retirement, December 1, 1966.

Stirman was born in West Fork, March 27, 1897. He had

spent his entire life in West Fork before moving to Cane Hill,

with the exception of time spent in the military service during

World War I from September 1, 1918 to December 23, 1918,

arriving home on Christmas Eve, 1918. He graduated from West

Fork High School and was married to his childhood sweetheart

(Gladys) on April 28, 1918, ~t West Fork. He and
grown up as neighbors and their fathers were first cousins.

After the death of Gladys, April 11, 1966, Stirman married

Grace Raines Webb, May 24, 1970, and they still reside in the

Karnes Home at Cane Hill (1987). Grace was a native of Tennessee.

Gladys Dove was born in West Fork, August 15, 1897, and

had spent her entire life there before moving to Cane Hill. She

graduated from West Fork High School and attended teacher's

institutes and normal (as they did at that time) to prepare for

teaching school. After being certified to teach, she taught at the

following schools in the West Fork vicinity: Manilla, Round

Mountain, Sugar Hill and Sycam9re. She commuted by horseback

from the home of her parents to some of the schools. Her

teaching career ended in December 1918 when Stirman returned

from the army. After moving to Cane Hill with her husband and

first child, she lived there in the same house until her death from

a heart attack, April 11, 1966. She was buried in the ~ne Hill

Cemetery. Gladys was active in her church and commumty, serving

on the original board of directors of the Oz.arks Rural

Electric Cooperative.

Both Stirman and Gladys were members of the First Christian

Church in West Fork, and later became members of the

Cane Hill Presbyterian Church. .

The following six children were born to Gladys and Sttrman.

All were born in Cane Hill with the exception of Gladys Merril,

the oldest who was born in West Fork and moved to Cane Hill

with her parents. Other children were Carlyn Marguerite, Stirman

Warren, Charles Curtis, Helen Allean and Wanda Jean. All

graduated from Cane Hill High School; all attended the

University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and all were members of

the Cane Hill Presbyterian Church.

Gladys Merril was born March 17, 1919, at West Fork. After

attending the University (1936-1939), she taught school at Summers

High School, Summers (Washington County), Rogers High

School, Rogers (Benton County) and Morrow High School,

Morrow Washington County, all in Arkansas. She moved to Fort

Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas, in June 1944. There she

worked at the First National Bank for a short time, at Singer

Sewing Machine Company as sewing instructor, at the Sebastian

County Tax Collector's Office, and at Hurley Insurance Company,

Inc., as office manager and salesperson. On May 2, 1964,

she married Maurice Glen Brown, a native of Marion, Illinois,

who had spent his adult life in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,

before moving to Fort Smith in 1963, where he was co-owner of

Brown-Norcross Chrysler/Plymouth car agency. After Maurice's

death, November 17, 1966, (burial was in Cane Hill Cemetery),

Merrill returned to do college graduate work and has been

employed by the Fort Smith school system until the present time

(1987). She has one step-son, Jay Scott Brown, who resides in

Norman, Oklahoma.

Carlyn Marguerite, born December 20, 1920, attended the

University 1938-1941, taught school two years, (one year in Cane

Hill Elementary School and one year at Sunset Elementary in

Rogers, Arkansas) before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma, July 7,

1943. There she went to work as a service representative in the

business office of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. On

June 4, 1960, she married Freddie Howard Deaton, a native of

Okemah, Oklahoma, who was principal of East Central Junior

High School which was later annexed to Tulsa Public Schools,

until he retired in June 1980. During her tenure with the

telephone company, Marguerite was advanced to a position in

management where she served for several years until she retired

in March 1981. She and Howard moved to Claremore,

Oklahoma, in 1985, where Howard keeps horses-both

thoroughbred and quarter horses, at his farm "Howard Deaton's

Breeding Farm". Howard and Marguerite had no children ...

Stirman Warren (known as "Son") was born August 21, 1923,

at Cane Hill. He attended the University of Arkansas one year

(1941-42) before his being drafted into the army during World

War II at the age of 19 years. During his army training, he attended

the University of West Virginia in 1943. On January 3,

1943, he married Lillian West of Cane Hill, his high school

theart. After his army discharge, March 13, 1946, he and Lillian

lived in Tulsa until they divorced in July 1949. While in Tulsa,

he worked for Santa Fe Bus Company and International Harvester

Company. Late summer of 1950, he returned to Cane Hill

and re-entered the University of Arkansas where he completed

his degree in agricultural engineering in January, 1954. In October

27, 1951, he married Peggy Lou Mason of Prairie Grove,

Arkansas. They lived in Tulsa for a short time, and then moved

to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where he was with International

Harvester, then Dowell Division of Dow Chemical Company and

moved to Midland, Texas. He was in Midland until 1962, and

then transferred to Fort Smith, Arkansas, when Dowell opened a

business there. He and Peggy had five children, one of whom

died at the age of 15 days-Jennifer Sue, born August 3, 1962,

and died August 18, 1962, and is buried in the Karnes plot in the

Cane Hill Cemetery. The other four were boys: Stephen Warren,

born February 15, 1953; Randall Clark, born June 13, 1957;

John David, born January 7, 1965 and Paul David, born January

4, 1970. Stephen Warren married Kathy Schneider of Fort

Smith in July, 1971, and they had one son, Stephen Cory born

February 1, 1972. They later divorced and he married Pamela

Sue Shoemaker of Liberal, Kansas on December 10, 1980. They

have two SQns, Samuel Clayton born March 1, 1983 and Travis

Warren, born July, 1984. Randall Clark married Merriam Dawn

Higginbotham of Fort Smith on December 6, 1975. They have

two sons; Randy Michael, born January 3, 1977 and Daniel

Jacob, born May 24, 1979. John David married Penny Ann

Taylor of Havana, Arkansas on April 22, 1985. They have one

daughter, Jenifer Nicole, born September 27, 1985. Paul Edward

was not married as of 1987. After Warren and Peggy divorced in

October, 1973, he married Wanda Jean (Sloan) Morris, May 26,

1979, with whom he lived until his death from cancer December

6, 1980. From this marriage he had two step-daughters, Carol

Jean (Morris) Tuck of Fort Smith and Kathy (Morris) Anderson

of Wichita, Kansas. Warren was interred in the Cane Hill

Cemetery.

Charles Curtis (known as "Squirt") was born December 6,

1925. Upon completing high school, he was drafted into the

World War II army at the age of 18 years, and served until he was

discharged, April 23, 1946. After he returned home, he attended

the University of Arkansas for two years (1946-1948). He was

married to Martha Lee Cuzick of Morrow, Arkansas, January 30,

1947. They lived in Lincoln, Arkansas, where they operated a

cafe "on the square" of Lincoln while he attended the University

of Arkansas. In 1948, he went to work for the Bank of Lincoln.

In January, 1970, he was promoted to president of the bank and

continued in that position until his death from a heart condition,

January 18, 1974. He was interred in the Cane Hill Cemetery.

During his life in Lincoln, he had also ventured into farming and

real estate developments in the Lincoln area. He and Martha

were the parents of two children; Brenda Sue, born August 16,

1948 and preceded her father in death March 17, 1962, from

cancer and was buried in the Cane Hill Cemetery; and Larry

Curtis, who was born October 30, 1950, and now lives in Lincoln

and is vice president in the Bank of Lincoln. Larry graduated

from the University of Arkansas, and married Charlotte Wright

of Lincoln. They have three sons: Phillip, born September 5,

1974; Bart Curtis, born April 15, 1977; and Whitney Lee, born

August 5, 1981.

Helen Allean (known as "Sis") was born December 30, 1927.

After completing high school in 1944, she worked one year

before entering the University of Arkansas in the fall of 1945.

She did two years of college work to receive a secretarial degree,

then worked one year for the Veteran's Administration in

Fayetteville. She re-entered the University and completed her

degree in personnel administration management in 1950. She

taught school one year at Farmington, Arkansas, and then went

to work as a secretary for Service Pipe Line Company (an oil

pipe line company) in Tulsa, Oklahoma on April 7, 1951. On

May 3, 1958, she married Ralph Gene Moore, a native of Vinita,

Oklahoma; they lived in Vinita where her husband was in business

with his father, C. R. Moore Motor Company, later moving

to Pryor, Oklahoma opening a subsidiary of Moore Motor Com

pany. They are the parents of a son and daughter, Michael

Karnes Moore, born March 2, 1960 and Ann Elizabeth born October

20, 1963. Michael graduated from Fort Hays University,

Hays, Kansas, and married Bonnie Barclay of Arlington, Kansas

on June 18, 1983.

Wanda Jean was born February 24, 1930 in Cane Hill. She

entered the University of Arkansas after completing high school

in Cane Hill in 1946. After two years at the University (1946-48),

she taught school in the Cane Hill High School for one year

before it was consolidated with the Lincoln High School in the

fall of 1949. She then taught the fall semester there before she

married. On December 26, 1949, she married James Clark Irwin,

a native of Clyde (near Cane Hill), and moved to Prairie Grove.

James was the first vocational agriculture instructor in the

Prairie Grove High School, and opened the department there in

1948. In January, 1950, Wanda returned to the University and

completed her degree in business education in the spring of

1951. On June 1, 1951, she, James, and their two month old son

moved to Clyde and lived on his family farm homeplace. James

was then principal of Morrow Elementary School, Morrow,

Arkansas until 1954 when they moved to Tulsa with their two

sons, and James taught in the Tulsa School system the year of

1954-55. They returned to Clyde in 1955 and James became the

vocational agriculture instructor for the Lincoln schools until

July 1960, when they and their three children moved to

Springdale, Arkansas where James became an executive vice

president with Tysons Foods, a poultry firm. He worked with the

firm until November, 1982, when he took early retirement due

to heart surgery. Wanda had a real estate agency there, "Irwin

Town and Country Properties" from October 1978 to 1982, and

is now serving on the board of directors of the Bank of Lincoln.

James continued to manage his family poultry and cattle farm at

Clyde to the extent that he was able, and has served on the

Springdale City Council from 1969 to the present time. The three

children born to James and Wanda were: James Stirman born

April 2, 1951, Charles Clark born August 9, 1952 and Paula Kay

born July 25, 1955. All three are graduates of Springdale High

School and the University of Arkansas. James and C. Clark were

members of the Razorback football teams and Phi Delta Theta

fraternity 1969-1973. Paula Kay W!IS a member of the Chi Omega

Sorority.

James Stirman moved to Little Rock, Arkansas in 1974. He

became a member of the Appraisal Institute and is engaged in

appraisal and commercial real estate. On May 20, 1978, he

married Judy Beth Showalter of Tuckerman, Arkansas. They

have two children: Jill Shannon, born June 26, 1979 and James

Clark Irwin, II, born March 12, 1987.

Charles Clark Irwin moved to Houston, Texas, in 1975, and

was employed with Conoco Oil Company, but returned to

Springdale in 1978, and became Vice President of Tyson Foods

in the transportation department. He married Georgi Ann

Spillman of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in April 25, 1980. They are

the parents of two daughters: Carrie Marie born June 8, 1983 and

Lauren Kristen born October 11, 1986.

Paula Kay Irwin was married to Terry Lynn Parson of

Huntsville, Arkansas, on January 8, 1977 while a senior at the

University of Arkansas, and later taught music at Elkins High

School and Springdale Elementary Schools. She was divorced in

February, 1980 and continued to teach elementary music and

high school music in the Springdale Schools until the spring of

1982. On June 19, 1982, she married David Stephen Herdlinger

of Springdale, an attorney with Jacaway, Herdlinger and Stanley

firm. They are the parents of two daughters: Hannah Kay, born

June 26, 1983 and Hailey Ann born August 30, 1982.

More history of the James Clark Irwin family can be found

elsewhere in this Washington County History.

The Karnes family is very proud of its heritage in West Fork

and Cane Hill in Washington County, Arkansas. They have

always taken an active part in their church and community, and

have been interested in its welfare. They are a native family, with

ancestors moving to Washington County in 1851.

By: Wanda Irwin