Carl Thomas Whitaker

Carl Thomas Whitaker

82, a resident of Dutch Mills, Arkansas, passed away June 26, 2006 at Fayetteville, Arkansas. He was born March 20, 1924 at Dutch Mills, Arkansas, the son of William Tom and Katherine Wall Whitaker.

Carl was a member of the Liberty Baptist Church of Dutch Mills since 1961; he was a fourth generation Whitaker to live and work the family farm; he was a long time board member on the Dutch Mills Cemetery Association.

Survivors include his wife of sixty years, Helen Smith Whitaker of the home, three daughters, Carolyn Umberson and her husband Donald of Cane Hill, Arkansas, Linda Walker and her husband Lonnie of Springdale, Arkansas, and Diane Flynt and her husband Curt of Clever, Missouri, one brother James W. Whitaker of Newark, California, two sisters, Nadene O'Neal of El Dorado Springs, Missouri, and Doris Barton of Gainesville, Texas, seven grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers memorial may be made to the Dutch Mills Cemetery Association P.O. Box 849 Lincoln, AR 72744.

Funeral Service will be held Wednesday June 28, 2006 - 10:00 A.M. at the Liberty Baptist Church in Dutch Mills, Arkansas with Frank Thurman officiating. Burial will follow in Dutch Mills Cemetery at Dutch Mills, Arkansas.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Luginbuel Funeral Home of Prairie Grove, Arkansas. To sign the online guest book, visit www.luginbuel.com.

Anecdotes

( By Carl and Helen Whitaker)

Some of my earliest memories, are of the beginning of school at Dutch Mills. Helen and I still live on part of the farm which my great grandparents, William Riley and Jane Whitaker homesteaded in 1866. At that time there were more families living along the County Road than live here now.

My Father, Tom Whitaker, built a swinging bridge across the Whitaker Branch to make it possible for families living on either side of the branch to cross after heavy rains.

When I started school in 1929 there were several of us who walked to school together. Some of the children were from the families of the Hodges, Bobbie, Lindy, Maxine and Margie. Also, Robert and Jackie Bailey. The Whitakers, Marguriete, Nadine, Jimmy, Doris Betty and myself. The Glovers, Alford, Stillman, Gertrude, Dolly, Hazel, Charlie, Ben and Christine. Minnie Jane Thompson and Tom Moore's children. The Johnson's, Denver, Ralph and Cecil Swain's children, along with the Daughtery's, Harold Tillery, the Keene's and Bill Ray's children. Some of these children came down the other road and we met them near where the old canning factory stood and we forded the creek and walked the rest of the way to school together.

The first year I went to school, as has already been mentioned, there were two rooms of classes in the Church House, this was done by hanging a curtain across the building to separate the lower grades from the higher ones, there were about 60 pupils attending school at that time. Miss Ora B. Gregory and her sister, Amalee Choate was the teacher. We carried water from down in town as there was no well on the

hill at that time. This was a fun time for many of US, as we got to go down to the well that was between the store and the blacksmith shop. The well had a pitcher-pump in it, which had to be primed each time it was used. This got us out of classes a few minutes longer. We also had to carry wood into the house in the winter to keep fire in the wood heater. The favorite job of some kids was to get to go outside and dust the erasers. We carried about four 10 quart buckets of water up the Church house hill every school day.

Any get-together at the school brought most of the community together and Christmas was a special time. Someone in the area would bring two large cedar trees and they would be placed one on each end of the stage, which was much higher and longer than the one that we have now. On the morning before the program that night, we would practice the program one last time. After that we would decorate the rooms and the trees. The older boy's would carry gifts from Mrs. Leach's and Clyde Rutherford's store. The trees would be hanging full of gifts plus the floor under and around the tree would be covered. Some parents shopped early and left their gifts at the stores to be carried to the school and other families brought their gifts that night. The arrival of Santa Claus and distribution of gifts ended the party.

Saturday was also a big day in the community as that was the day families came to town and brought their eggs, cream and maybe a few chickens to trade for groceries and other essentials. It was a play day for the kids and a visiting time for the older folks as they got to see all the neighbors and catch up on the neighborhood news.

The young' ones were sure of free treats of ice cream, soda pop, and candy from Mrs. Ruth Leach. "Treating" the younger was a practice Mrs. Leach kept as long as she was in the store. Our girls have many fond memories of Mrs. Ruth and her store.

Another event we looked forward to was the coming each year of

Cap Tiller and his moving picture show which was held in a tent with wooden boards for seats. He usually came in late Summer or early Fall and stayed several days showing a "Western each night and a continuing Serial also. The last year the movies came, too. Dutch Mills was in 1946.

Throughout the year the young people would gather at various homes for parties and card games. Some families had radios and a group would gather to listen to their favorite programs. The Hodges home was a favorite place to meet. We enjoyed the music from their Victrola. It played a small record shaped like a tube and the speaker was a large horn. It had to be wound by hand at the end of each record. Wherever we gathered there was always a group, walking there and back home.

Helen's great grandparents, John Wesley and Alta Yates Kirkland were early settlers in ~Dutch Mills. The Kirkland?s home now owned by Dale and Naomi McReynolds. Helen's Grandmother, Helen Kirkland and Gene Richmond, also her great-aunt, Mable Kirkland, and George "Shorty? Simpson were married in a double wedding ceremony in the Kirkland home in 1901.

Our three daughters, Carolyn, Linda and Diane are married, and with their families have moved from this community. There are few descendants of the early settlers still living in the Dutch Mills area. The ones remaining are Frank Hodges, Bobbie Hodges Pinkerton, her son Steve, and myself, Carl Whitaker.

Another young couple who married in the community was Helen's parents, Leonard Smith and Florence Richmond. Their ceremony was held under a tree in the front yard of the Bert Luginbuel home. Mr. Luginbuel was the Justice of the Peace. They married May 29, 1926. That was 65 years ago last May. And they said it wouldn't last!