Bragg-Rumph House


The Bragg-Rumph House The Bragg-Rumph House was constructed in 1874 as a one story Victorian wood frame house with turret and gingerbread work. It is thought to have first been owned by Dr. Junius N. Bragg, assistant surgeon of the 33rd Regiment Confederate Army. Dr. Bragg was educated at Tulane and was a well respected local physician who raised his family for many years in this house. Dr. Bragg's daughter, Helen Bragg Gaughan, was married in the house in 1899. The Gaughan family was one of the occupants of the home across the street. Shortly after the turn of the century, Dr. Bragg sold the house to Sid and Mary Gaughan Green. In April 1904 the Greens sold the house to Garland S. Rumph, son of Dr. John Benjamin Rumph, an early settler of Ouachita County. Dr. Rump was a country doctor educated at the Medical College of South Carolina and twice elected state representative (1852 and 1874) from Ouachita County. Having served before and after the Civil War, he falls under the category of what is often called the redeemers. The redeemers were Democrats who retook control of many southern statehouses following reconstruction. Garland's mother, Martha Hodge Proctor, was Dr. Rumph's third wife who bore six of his nineteen children: Maude, Bessie, Charlie, Garland, Hattie and Lillian. Garland was born September 26, 1878, and was named for his father's good friend, Governor and United States Attorney General, Augustus H. Garland. Raised in the rural Harmony Grove area, young Garland chose to make his home in the county seat of Camden where he was a partner in the retail grocers firm of Rumph and Tyson. He initially shared his home with his mother, Martha Proctor Rumph, and his sisters. In October 1904 Garland married Cassandra Mae Gardenhire, an accomplished local musician. One of eight children, Mae's family migrated from the hills of Tennessee near Oak Ridge to Iowa Park, Texas, then to Camden. Garland and Mae had three children, Dorothy Mae Rumph, Frances Elise Rumph, and James Harvey Rumph. Garland served on the Camden City Council, on the board of stewards for First Methodist Church and was a member of the Knights of Pythias. Mae was the organist of First Methodist Church for 30 years and a charter member of the Thursday Musicale and the New Century Club, among others. Seven years prior to the Busey Well #1, discovered January 10, 1921, that sparked the South Arkansas oil boom, Garland began his career in real estate about 1914. By 1921 Garland started the Camden Electric Gin Company and also increased his land holdings in Ouachita County. With a keen knowledge of South Arkansas and his success with the Richardson Well # 1, Garland sold his share of the grocery business in order to focus on real estate and oil. His cash journal of 1927 to 1929 shows that he bought, sold and traded oil leases with well known names in Camden's businesses. It was also during this period that he had the Rumph House expanded and remodeled, reflecting the owner's changing architectural taste as well as his new financial success from the South Arkansas oil boom. The remodeling included expanding front rooms of the house and adding a second story with three bedrooms and bath. The residence features distinctive craftsman elements including exposed rafter details, wood bracketing, wide eave overhangs, stuccoed gable ends, and exposed false roof beams under side gables. It is hard to imagine this home as a small Queen Anne, but although all of the Queen Anne details are gone from the exterior, you can still find a couple of surviving walls inside the home that were exterior walls before the remodeling occurred. They are still sheathed in the weatherboard siding that once covered the entire house. During World War II, with Garland and Mae's children married and living elsewhere, the upstairs rooms were rented out to teachers. Two who lived there survive today, Elizabeth Henry Buck, well-known favorite Hot Springs, Garland County, high school teacher of President Bill Clinton, and Francis Brooker, retired from Camden schools. In addition to the extended Rumph family, the house was a center of family events for Mae's family, the Gardenhires. A clay tennis court in the lower yard behind the house, which no longer remains, was a popular spot for Camden teens and adults from the 1920's to the 1940's. Rumph daughters Dorothy and Mae were both accomplished athletes in tennis and golf. The house was a favorite location for holiday feasts, summer picnics, and parties for family weddings and receptions. Known to their grandchildren as Big Mama and Big Papa, Mae and Garland raised newborn granddaughter, Elise Ann, in their home following the death of their daughter Elise in 1941. After Garland's death in 1950 the house then became home to James Harvey's family, which included his wife, Alice and children, Julia Mae, Dottie, Jim, and Alice. Mae continued to share the home with her family until her death in 1965 and, at that time, James Harvey and Alice purchased the house from Mae's remaining heirs. Upon his death in 1950 Garland was eulogized in a long-running column in the Camden News,"Al's Alfalfa." It stated: For years Mr. Rumph was in business here and this writer recalls when he was in the grocery business and the candy and cookies we got from him while with ST Tyson in the famous firm of Rumph and Tyson...He was a booster and believed in Camden and Ouachita County. Back when he went into the oil and realty business after retiring from the grocery firm, he put his money and his faith in projects to build Camden. He and the late Henry L. Berg developed the tract of land on South California Street that has grown so fast. These two men then deeded the acreage for the proposed new county hospital, and it was choice acreage, too, that had already been divided into building lots. We will miss Garland Rumph... Garland believed in retaining mineral interests in all real estate transactions. Garland's success in oil and real estate continues to generate income for his descendants. Public Service was considered an honorable calling. Garland's reputation in business and civic affairs undoubtedly provided a strong foundation for his son's and granddaughter's campaigns for public office. Following the legacy of twice-elected state legislator, Dr. John Rumph, three family members who lived in the Rumph House were elected to public office: Garland Rumph and James Harvey Rumph, who was known at Hendrix College in 1930 as the "fastest man in Arkansas football," were both elected to local political offices, and Julia Rumph Hughes Jones, stepped it up a notch, becoming the first woman elected as Pulaski County Circuit Clerk (1976-78), then followed that up by becoming the first woman elected to a statewide constitutional office, without first having succeeded her husband when she was elected Auditor of the State of Arkansas and held that position from 1980-1994. Following James Harvey's death at age 89 in 1998, Alice continued to live in the home until September, 2002.

The Bragg-Rumph House

The Bragg-Rumph House was constructed in 1874 as a one story Victorian wood frame house with turret and gingerbread work. It is thought to have first been owned by Dr. Junius N. Bragg, assistant surgeon of the 33rd Regiment Confederate Army. Dr. Bragg was educated at Tulane and was a well respected local physician who raised his family for many years in this house.

Dr. Bragg's daughter, Helen Bragg Gaughan, was married in the house in 1899. The Gaughan family was one of the occupants of the home across the street.

Shortly after the turn of the century, Dr. Bragg sold the house to Sid and Mary Gaughan Green.

In April 1904 the Greens sold the house to Garland S. Rumph, son of Dr. John Benjamin Rumph, an early settler of Ouachita County.

Dr. Rump was a country doctor educated at the Medical College of South Carolina and twice elected state representative (1852 and 1874) from Ouachita County. Having served before and after the Civil War, he falls under the category of what is often called the redeemers. The redeemers were Democrats who retook control of many southern statehouses following reconstruction.

Garland's mother, Martha Hodge Proctor, was Dr. Rumph's third wife who bore six of his nineteen children: Maude, Bessie, Charlie, Garland, Hattie and Lillian. Garland was born September 26, 1878, and was named for his father's good friend, Governor and United States Attorney General, Augustus H. Garland. Raised in the rural Harmony Grove area, young Garland chose to make his home in the county seat of Camden where he was a partner in the retail grocers firm of Rumph and Tyson. He initially shared his home with his mother, Martha Proctor Rumph, and his sisters.

In October 1904 Garland married Cassandra Mae Gardenhire, an accomplished local musician. One of eight children, Mae's family migrated from the hills of Tennessee near Oak Ridge to Iowa Park, Texas, then to Camden. Garland and Mae had three children, Dorothy Mae Rumph, Frances Elise Rumph, and James Harvey Rumph.

Garland served on the Camden City Council, on the board of stewards for First Methodist Church and was a member of the Knights of Pythias. Mae was the organist of First Methodist Church for 30 years and a charter member of the Thursday Musicale and the New Century Club, among others.

Seven years prior to the Busey Well #1, discovered January 10, 1921, that sparked the South Arkansas oil boom, Garland began his career in real estate about 1914. By 1921 Garland started the Camden Electric Gin Company and also increased his land holdings in Ouachita County. With a keen knowledge of South Arkansas and his success with the Richardson Well # 1, Garland sold his share of the grocery business in order to focus on real estate and oil. His cash journal of 1927 to 1929 shows that he bought, sold and traded oil leases with well known names in Camden's businesses.

It was also during this period that he had the Rumph House expanded and remodeled, reflecting the owner's changing architectural taste as well as his new financial success from the South Arkansas oil boom. The remodeling included expanding front rooms of the house and adding a second story with three bedrooms and bath. The residence features distinctive craftsman elements including exposed rafter details, wood bracketing, wide eave overhangs, stuccoed gable ends, and exposed false roof beams under side gables. It is hard to imagine this home as a small Queen Anne, but although all of the Queen Anne details are gone from the exterior, you can still find a couple of surviving walls inside the home that were exterior walls before the remodeling occurred. They are still sheathed in the weatherboard siding that once covered the entire house.

During World War II, with Garland and Mae's children married and living elsewhere, the upstairs rooms were rented out to teachers. Two who lived there survive today, Elizabeth Henry Buck, well-known favorite Hot Springs, Garland County, high school teacher of President Bill Clinton, and Francis Brooker, retired from Camden schools.

In addition to the extended Rumph family, the house was a center of family events for Mae's family, the Gardenhires. A clay tennis court in the lower yard behind the house, which no longer remains, was a popular spot for Camden teens and adults from the 1920's to the 1940's. Rumph daughters Dorothy and Mae were both accomplished athletes in tennis and golf. The house was a favorite location for holiday feasts, summer picnics, and parties for family weddings and receptions.

Known to their grandchildren as Big Mama and Big Papa, Mae and Garland raised newborn granddaughter, Elise Ann, in their home following the death of their daughter Elise in 1941. After Garland's death in 1950 the house then became home to James Harvey's family, which included his wife, Alice and children, Julia Mae, Dottie, Jim, and Alice. Mae continued to share the home with her family until her death in 1965 and, at that time, James Harvey and Alice purchased the house from Mae's remaining heirs.

Upon his death in 1950 Garland was eulogized in a long-running column in the Camden News,"Al's Alfalfa." It stated:

For years Mr. Rumph was in business here and this writer recalls when he was in the grocery business and the candy and cookies we got from him while with ST Tyson in the famous firm of Rumph and Tyson...He was a booster and believed in Camden and Ouachita County. Back when he went into the oil and realty business after retiring from the grocery firm, he put his money and his faith in projects to build Camden. He and the late Henry L. Berg developed the tract of land on South California Street that has grown so fast. These two men then deeded the acreage for the proposed new county hospital, and it was choice acreage, too, that had already been divided into building lots. We will miss Garland Rumph...

Garland believed in retaining mineral interests in all real estate transactions. Garland's success in oil and real estate continues to generate income for his descendants.

Public Service was considered an honorable calling. Garland's reputation in business and civic affairs undoubtedly provided a strong foundation for his son's and granddaughter's campaigns for public office. Following the legacy of twice-elected state legislator, Dr. John Rumph, three family members who lived in the Rumph House were elected to public office:

Garland Rumph and James Harvey Rumph, who was known at Hendrix College in 1930 as the "fastest man in Arkansas football," were both elected to local political offices, and Julia Rumph Hughes Jones, stepped it up a notch, becoming the first woman elected as Pulaski County Circuit Clerk (1976-78), then followed that up by becoming the first woman elected to a statewide constitutional office, without first having succeeded her husband when she was elected Auditor of the State of Arkansas and held that position from 1980-1994.

Following James Harvey's death at age 89 in 1998, Alice continued to live in the home until September, 2002.