The  Quarterly   is  published  four  times  a  year  by  the  Ouachita   County  Historical  Society,  a   nonprofit  corporation  chartered   in  Camden,  Arkansas,  in  accord   with  the  laws  of  the United States  and  the  State  of  Arkansas.

"I want to dedicate this issue to my personal friend and neighbor, B. J. Biggers who passed away this fall. I had a very personal friendship with B. J. that goes back to around 1955 when I started driving and could go places and have a good time with my friends.

We all hung out at the Duck Inn from the time our parents would let us go places...

Once out there, we would order their delicious cheeseburgers...and a large lemonade...sometimes Becky Biggers would wait on us...

Meanwhile we were watching to see who else was at the Duck Inn...If no one of interest was out there we would start circling town...Boy, did we burn some gas in those days...

After a while we would all go inside the Duck Inn and probably order onion rings, fried potatoes, or an order of the best rolls in town...we would use Jeff and B. J.'s special Thousand Island dressing that they always had on the table...If I didn't have enough money to pay for my food, I would tell B. J. to charge it to my daddy. After a while, B. J. would have to call my dad, Mr. I. T. Urrey and ask him what he wanted to do about the bill I had run up out there!...

One of the funniest memories I have of B. J. is one day when I was horseback riding out to Carnes Park and I stopped by the Duck Inn to get a large lemonade...I stayed around and visited for a while not paying any attention much to my horse as she was tied up back by the bargeque pit...I never rode my horse on his parking lot again!...

I had the pleasure of living next door to B. J. these last fourteen years since we returned to Camden and I can tell you he was a wonderful neighbor and best friend. In my book B. J. is a local legend to all of us that grew up during the 40's and 50's..."

Excerpts from "Editor's Corner"

Winter 2008   Features

"The Duck Inn Cafe" by Danny Biggers tells the history of one of Camden's finest restaurants known for its food throughout the state of Arkansas. Purchased in My, 1952, it had its beginning in the heart and mind of Jeffery L. Reynolds, who later partnered with B. J. Biggers. Each of these men and their distinctive roles in the operation of the Duck Inn were a vital key to its success. For all those who lived in and around Camden during the Duck Inn era, mention of the Duck Inn will always bring fond and cherished memories.

In 1977 a new law brought about dramatic change in county governments in Arkansas. The new law limited the maximum number of JPs for any county in the state to 15. At this time and since 13 has been the number of "Justices of the Peace in Ouachita County" writes Kenneth Poindexter.

"Ecore Fabre's Under Water Rock Ledge" by Dr. Robert Nunally suggests the under water rock ledge stretching diagonally across from one bank to within 30 ft of the other bank of the Ouachita River contains igneous rock which gives strong support for the hypothesis that the rock ledge is in fact an igneous intrusion that penetrated the surface in the bed of the Ouachita River.

A listing of the graduates and a brief "History of the Fairview High School Graduating Class of 1942" is submitted by Gerald Keith.

Submitted by Attorney Arthur R. Carmody, Jr. , "Polignac, Camille Armand Jules Marie, Prince of France and a Confederate General" was written in 1914 by Helen Bragg Gaughan recounting the social visit of Confederate General Camille de Polignac.

Jim Findley remembers some of the most important times of our lives as he reminisces about the "Camden Movies."

"WWII Soldier Becomes Entrepreneur" edited by Teresa Harris focuses on the postwar business ventures of Arny PFC Paul Harding Crow after his return home in 1945 from WWII.

Lucelle Newton writes about an exciting school year when the Dowdall "Opera House was Used as a School" in 1918-1919.

"This article is a summation of a radio interview conducted by Frank Holt of Little Rock on the Welcome Home Show February 11, 1946, Station KARK. It was a program dedicated to our returning Arkansas veterans of World War II and broadcast each Monday night by Pfeiffer's Men's Store in Little Rock, AR in cooperation with the Arkansas American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars."

McCollum-Chidester House Museum
during the March 2008 snow storm

"It was beautiful on Thursday afternoon as we set up for the festival in downtown Camden.  The temperature was in the low 60's...By dark it had clouded up and started to turn cold and the wind was blowing like crazy. By 9:00 Friday morning a blue northerner blew in and we had a blizzard going.  We were panic stricken...This was devastating as Friday is our biggest tour group day, but it was this way all over the state...It finally stopped snowing about 5:30 in the afternoon and left us with three to seven inches of snow depending on what part of the county you lived in.  The good news was it wasn't but about 33 degrees and melting fast...Saturday morning I was up at daybreak driving out to the gardens to see what condition they were in to determine if we would be able to open at all that day..."

Excerpt from "President's Report"

Spring 2008   Features

This article, "Big Boat's Owner and Builder Has His Troubles Launching It", first published in the Arkansas Gazette March 29. 1934, was submitted by Patsy Hendricks Rivers, daughter of Louis Hendricks and tells of the challenges of launching the "Privateer", luxurious motorboat designed and built by Louis Hendricks, service station operator.

Fond reminiscenses of dreaming the whole summer about having chipped barbecue sandwiches from "The Maid Rite Drive-Inn" over a bench at the show room of the Camden Monument Works are shared by Ronald E. Bullock, nephew of S. E. Padgett who bought the Maid Rite in the late 1940's from Hershel McAnulty. Ronald worked there while still in high school and was making $1.00 an hour plus all the free food he could eat.  His uncle gradually converted the cafe from a largely inside business to a drive-in, well equipped with highly attractive car hops to take orders outside and deliver them by trays.

"The Thursday Musicale", organized in 1908, celebrates  100 years of bringing together women interested in music. Glendle Griggs and Teresa Harris share the history of the organization of a very civic minded group of women during the 1920' and 1930's which gave a firm foundation to a music club which continues to present high quality programs in the same tradition that began in Camden in 1908.

This poem, taken from "A Small Book of Verse" by J. Emmett Gaughan, contains a reference to each member of the 1929 Camden Rotary Club and was read at the annual banquet by Mr. Gaughan who was President of the Club.

"Camden Native Remembers Indian Emigration", compiled and edited by Teresa Harris, tells a 1933 story by Ida Victoria Hill Goodwill, the youngest daughter of early pioneer Camden settlers Ezra and Olivia Hill.  Her intense interest in Native Americans was encouraged by the wonderful folk tales of the family slaves and fostered by her father. When she was thirteen and graduated from Columbia Institute in Tennesssee, she chose for the subject of her graduating essay " The Indians of North America.  She shares some personal encounters she had as a young girl as the Creeks, Cherokees and Choctaw Indians were removed from the Southeast and their route brought them through Camden.

"Aerojet Recognizes Volunteer Services of Employee, Cecilia Davoren".  In the past Ouachita County Historical Society has received corporate matching funds for employee charitable donations. When you make a donation to OCHS please ask your company if it has a matching funds program.

Clara Freeland pays "Tribute to Roxane Daniel, Camden's Own Steel Magnolia", who has done so much for the community since she moved to Camden from Atlanta, Georgia.  She made herself at home here and became involved in many organizations.  Without the vision and leadership of Roxane Daniel and her late husband, Dennis, the Daffodil Festival would likely never have happened. " Just like the brave and fearless daffodils who weathered the snow storm of 2008, Roxane has always thrown off trivial things like snow, sleet, rain...Roxanne has shared her resilient spirit, work ethic and her sense of humor with a league of willing workers.  Roxane, you have inspired us to do more than we thought we could and brought us closer together as a community, and we sincerely thank you and love you for that!"