Cane Hill, Washington County, Arkansas
James Coulter
James Coulter, Jr. was the son of James Coulter, Sr. who
arrived in Washington County, Arkansas. from east Tennessee in
1830. James, Jr. married Mary W. Moore, daughter of John
D. Moore and Amy Patrick. They had two children: John A.,
born about 1833, and Elizabeth Ann, also called Amy, born September
6, 1834.
The Coulters were members of the Cane Hill congregation of
the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Though James, Jr. had
been cited by the church for drunkenness and confessed his "immoral
conduct" to his father and brother-in-law James Bryant
Russell, he was suspended from church privileges until he
showed proper penitence.
James, Jr. had been involved in a dispute with William Butler
over a horse Butler claimed as his own. On October 2, 1834,
James and his brother Alexander were driving horses south when
they came upon William Butler and his brothers Benjamin and
Reese in Crawford County. William demanded the return of the
horse in question. During the ensuing argument, Benjamin
Butler, intending to shoot James, instead hit Alexander, who died
several hours later. Also in the company of the Coulter brothers
were Thomas H. Coulter, their cousin, and Benjamin Staunton.
The Butlers were eventually tried and acquitted.
The following summer, James, Jr. was again driving horses
south. While traveling on the steamboat Neosho down the
Arkansas River in Pulaski County, he became ill and died. He
was buried in Pulaski County. The date of his death, July 13,
1835, was recorded by the Cane Hill Church. His widow married
John Tate Reagan on June 16, 1849 in Washington County, and
they moved one and one-half mil.es east of Farmington. Mary
died July 20 one year in the early 1870s and was buried in the
Cane Hill Cemetery near her second husband.
James and Mary's son John died at age 24 in Washington
County and also buried in Cane Hill. Elizabeth married Robert
Lafayette Cox in this county in 1858 and moved to Bell County,
Texas.
By: Nancy Maxwell