James Marrs

Died near Prairie Grove at the age of 91 chasing deer in a snow storm!

Story told about James by his grandson, Squire Buchanan Marrs.

One story my father told many times about his grandfather, James Marrs, was that he swore when he was a young man that he would never work. He was a hunter, killing deer, bear, wild turkey, or whatever he had to eat. I asked Dad what became of him and how long he lived. He said that his grandfather got caught in a bad snow storm when tracking down a deer he had shot, and took pneumonia and died at age 91, but he still never had a job.

"Among the first to come to Washington County, Arkansas, was the Marrs family; namely, Isaac Marrs. A settlement had been made in the Prairie Grove Valley in 1827 by Isaac Marrs, on the creek which bears his name. This was, doubtless, the first settlement in the Valley. The next year, his brother, James Mars, settled what is now known(in 1867) as the Patton place. Both reared large families, and several of the prominent citizens of the county are numbered among their descendants. They came to Arkansas from Logan County, Kentucky, as early as 1817. Alexander Marrs, a member of another family, was also a pioneer of the county." from Goodspeed's History of Arkansas.

Note from the 4 Sisters Marrs book: "We think that what James Marrs meant was that he refused to punch a time clock for the other fellow, for our father held the same view. However, James was appointed postmaster at Marrs Hill in 1840, and he was the coroner thereEARLY SETTLERS

History of Rhea Community - Washington County

by Dorothy M. Johnston, Ph.D

Part of this section of the History of Rhea consists of stories about the earliest settlers, Marrs and Wagnon, but part cannot be verified by records today. This information was published in the LINCOLN LEADER in the spring and summer of 1969.

In 1817 Isaac and James Marrs accompanied by Thomas Wagnon came on a hunting and exploring trip into Northwest Arkansas. They explored the area where Rhea, Prairie Grove, Cane Hill and Lincoln are located, making a map of the streams, springs and mountains. Isaac Marrs was more concerned with the map than the others, as he said that he was going to settle some day near the spring located at what is now Rhea, and he located a spot on the creek (later called Marrs Creek) where he would build a saw mill.

They had very little difficulty with the Indians with whom Isaac Marrs and Thomas Wagnon were on friendly terms, but they had difficulty keeping James Marrs from trying to kill some of the Indians who were watching closely.

They found the physical features of the area quite different from what it is now, as there were large areas of prairie which are now covered with denser underbrush. They found the elevations and valleys were covered with a luxuriant growth of grasses which offered excellent pasture for buffalo's and other herbivorous animals; panthers, bear, and wolves were plentiful.

Along Marrs Creek (now Moore's Creek), an area chosen by Isaac Marrs, he found some of the finest timber he had ever seen, some of the huge oaks being three to five feet in diameter. Also there were walnut trees three to four feet in diameter, hickory two to three feet in diameter and cedars two to three feet in diameter, tall and straight. The oaks were fifty to one hundred feet high, while the walnut and hickory were thirty to fifty feet in height, and the cedars ranged from forty to fifty feet.

When Isaac Marrs and Thomas Wagnon returned to the area around Rhea in 1827 they brought with them their families, slaves, and everything they needed to establish their new homes in a land where no other white man had lived.

Isaac Marrs brought with him his wife and four children, two girls and two boys; six adult slaves, four males and two females; and five children ranging from three to twelve who were born of the adult slave couples. He brought his household furmture and eqipment for the saw mill; this was all carried in four wagons pulled by oxen and driven by, the male slaves. A fifth wagon pulled by oxen carried the rest of his slaves and their clothes and two barrels of flour and corn meal. A sixth wagon pulled by two black mares was driven by Marrs' wife and carried all his family, clothes and a large mirror type dresser which was entrusted to no one else, as it was a prized possession of Mrs. Marrs. Isaac Marrs rode a high stepping black stallion.

Thomas Wagnon brought his wife and their small son and daughter and everything they needed for their new home, including four adult slaves, one elderly man and woman, one couple their thirties and their two children.

Thoas Wagnon rode a big roan; his wife drove one wgon pulled by a pair of gray mares carrying their personal belongings and two small children. The adult slaves drove a team of oxen each, their wagon being loaded with a few pieces of furmture and supplies. Behind each of these two wagons two milk cows were tied. Thomas Wagnon also had a two year old bull which was tied behind one of his wagons.

This wagon train composed of these two families left Tennessee in the spring of 1827. They traveled along the Arkansas River to where Van Buren is now located and turned north to Natural Dam, where they camped for two days. At the camp the livestock were permitted to graze and the wagon wheels were checked and greased. A feast was prepared by the woman slaves; they barbecued a deer killed by one of the slaves.

On the third day of May they broke camp and traveled north-ward camping near the location of Dutch Mills. The next day hey camped at the head of Marrs Creek and on the fifth of May arrived at their destination.

After the arrival of Isaac Marrs and Thomas Wagnon, with their families, the first two weeks were very busy ones. Marrs staed at once looking at a small dam on Marrs Creek and settmg up his. saw mill powered by water. Some of the rocks from this dam were still in place in the middle of the 1900's. This mill was bmlt on Marrs Creek (presently called Moore's Creek), southwest of Rhea; where for years an old swimming hole was called Roundhole. (This creek was called Marrs Creek as late as 1884, according to Court House records in Fayetteville. The exact date the name was changed to Moore's Creek has not been determined.) Below it, about one hun­ dred feet, was a hole of water named Elm Hole by Thomas Wagnon because of the large elm trees which grew along the banks.

As soon as they arrived in the area, Thomas Wagnon and his two male slaves plowed fifteen acres of ground with three oxen teams, and about ten acres for Isaac Marrs. Once this was done they proceeded to plant an acre of garden for each family and the rest of the acreage they planted in corn.

The Indians helped plant the corn. The Indians dropped two fish in each hill, which they said produced better corn. When Wagnon had planted the garden and corn, Marrs had the saw mill ready for operation. They started cutting logs to saw into lumber to build their homes.

On two occasions during the year of 1827 a battalion of soldiers was dispatched to remove Wagnon and Marrs from the land where they had settled, but on both instances they were rebuffed by Indian warriors, led by their chief Bowl, who informed them that the settlers were their friends.

Allegedly Bowl was fascinated with Isaac Marrs because he was the only white man who had ever treated him as an equal and could outride, outrun, outjump, shoot a bow and arrow, throw a tomahawk or hatchet and spear farther and with more accuracy than Bowl himself.

Thomas Wagnon was admired and liked by the Indians because of his willingness to learn their ways and he always made them welcome at his table, but he never became a hunter or a woodsman. Marrs could glide through the woods swifter than most Indians and would never be seen or heard; only Chief Bowl could equal him.

The above information was reported as part of a record of the journey of the Marrs and Wagnon families, a record reportedly in the possession of Joseph H. Gregory until his home burned early in the 1900's.

The writer has not found records to substantiate the above information. However, the fact the County Court House records show Moore's Creek was called Marrs Creek until the late 1800's indicates that the Marrs family were early residents along the creek in the Rhea area. It is recorded that the creek was officially known as Marrs Creek when the Illinois Township was formed in July 1829, according to the County Court House records, which specified the eastern edge of the Illinois Township extended east to the top of the ridge west of Marrs Creek. Marrs Hill Townnship met the Illinois Townnship line on the top of the ridge west of Marrs Creek, before the creek turns east. This line is more than a mile west of the Rhea settlement.

The minute details indicate a record of the Marrs-Wagnon journey existed somewhere, and Thomas Wagnon's will probated in 1840 substantiates his ownership of slaves.

At the time the first land surveys were made in Washington county in 1832 there were four families with cleared fields and improvements who had previously built on land in what later became came Rhea Township southern part of the township in 1832. There were no developed areas in the northern sections of the township until after 1834.

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1850 Census of Northwest Arkansas:

Washington Counties - Bobbie Jones McLane and Desmond Walls Allen

Marrs Hill Township

MARRS, James 65, Isabella 54, Mary 21, Julia

19, Lafayette 16, Isabella 14, Matilda 10,

Joel 1 3 KY/NC dwg 21, Marrshill twp