Nancy and Douglas Tate are here again! We visited the mill pond at Boxley a few months ago. It is located next to the old mill house, know as Villines Mill. We walked around the pond and saw several species of insects, birds, reptiles, and plants. At one end of the pond was a bog area. We identified raccoon tracks and also saw large and small bird tracks. Small frogs bounced across the decayed plant material and into the shallow water, there must have been a hundred of them. Insects were working in the mud of the bog and small flies and swarms of nats were hovering over it. In the cattails we could see three nests, but were unable to identify the type of water fowl that they belonged to. Dragon flies were darting over the water and turtles were suning near the edge. Also saw two snakes going into the water, they were about five feet long and were dark. Watched them for awhile, but never saw them eating or trying to catch something to eat. There were lots of shelf mushrooms on trees not far from the pond. We were there just over an hour, the clouds reflecting on the pond were beautiful and we enjoyed all that we saw.

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Sexton Lineage...

By Ed Smith

I would like to start this story with an appreciation for the amount of work and dedication Helen Maxine Sexton Baker Smith (my mother b. May 29, 1920, Antlers Ok . d. Feb 1992 Port Orchard, Wa.) exhibited in compling an extensive listing of the Sexton, Blackwood, and Baker lineage. Mainly from Newton Co. but documenting the families where ever the path may have gone. This was in addition to the research she did on my adoptive fathers’ lineage (Smith).

On the rare occasions when I was home on vacation or just passing through on a business trip, I kept telling her that "you need a computer to hold all of this stuff." Her reply was always, "Can’t teach and old dog new tricks. My pencil never lets me down." In spite of those objections, I did manage to get her onto a computer and I even created a rudimentary database for all that she had done. But teaching her the intricacies of computerdom were not always very successful. Even then I recognized the need for a more sophisticated record keeping system. Well I never did get her that sophisticated system (I was always looking for that ‘round to it’) and to her credit she managed anyway inspite of my shortcoming. After she died, I had my father send me all of her genealogy stuff and I would take over her work and fully automate her data. It has been 8 years and I still have not found my ‘round to it’. I do not think I ever will, so I guess I will just get started. Oh my, I did not realize how deep the waters were going to be nor the vastness of her work.

I estimate that if I work diligently (at least 8 hours per day) for the next year, I might be able to scan all of her documentation, pictures and memorabilia into electronic form and enter the 25 three ring binders of family group sheet information into Family Tree Maker. I THINK!

As I was rummaging through her documentation and memorabilia it dawned on me that I am probably related in some fashion to nearly everyone in Newton Co. Well at least it feels that way. Scanning through the surname requests on Judy Tate’s Web site, I recognized almost every name as being somewhere in my family tree. It is just so hard to imagine that many relatives. Yes, some are distant but most do not fall far from my main Sexton/Blackwood family tree trunk. For example, Holt, Greenhaw, Plumlee, McCutcheoon, Hamilton, O’Neil, Hefley, Criner, Nichols, Gager, Duck, Henry, etc. Some interesting genealogy mathematics can serve to show my concerns. For example, lets say each generation is 25 years, the average age of everyone’s parents at their births. Each of us came from two parents, four grand parents, 16 great grand parents, 32 great great grand parents and so on. The farther back we go, the more lineal ancestors are involved. Thus, for each of us alive in 1989 we had 16,384 ancestors in 1639. That’s a lot of people to track.

I would like to present the Sexton / Blackwood lineage from its earliest documented days in Newton Co. Arkansas and trying to avoid the 16,384 number. But being a realist, I know I need to start from a known solution and then grow from there. Having said that, I will start with my great great grandfather Allen Sexton (my mothers work goes well beyond this starting point and extends back to ~1752 to a Timothy Sexton who served in the New Jersey Continental Line during the Revolutionary War).

Allen Sexton was born in Newton Co. Ark on 5 Nov 1858 to a Timothy and Artilissa Holt. He had two older brothers, William Riley and Levi. It also seems but is somewhat controversial that there may have been a sister. Accounts differ as to what happened to her. Most agree she was born around May 1863. More of my side of this story at another time.

Per the White Township Census Records of 5 July 1860, it shows a head of household as Timothy Sexton age 31, Eliz S, Sexton (writing is hard to decipher on the census pages) age 25 and 3 children. William R. age 4, Levi age 2 and Allen age 1. It records them as farmers with no valuable real estate and not much in the way of valuable personal effects. Their homestead was on or near Big Creek. Timothy and Artilissa are buried near the old homestead on the mountain above the Sexton Cemetery. In between them is a smaller headstone labeled only "Infant Baby." This will play an important role in the "another story" mentioned above.

Not much is known of their lifestyle except it must have been hard farm work. For example, William Riley a brother to Timothy Sexton has his old homestead featured on page 152 of the 'History of Newton County, Arkansas.' In this photograph, the man in the hat is believed to be a son of William Riley, Thomas J. and his wife. The person playing the fiddle is believed to be Albert Sexton another son of William Riley and the little boy is a nephew, Joe Sexton.

Back to the Timothy Sexton lineage, his William Riley is believed to have married a Sarah J. (or I.) Davis on 21 Sept 1897. I have that they had 6 children (Melissa N., Mary J., Luly C., Ulysses Grant, Oma and William L.). I do not have anything more on this couple, yet. However, I do have a photograph of Levi and Allen Sexton late in their lives. I do not know when it was taken but Allen appears to be in his 50-60’s and sporting a full mustache while Levi being somewhat older and his beard is hiding most of his facial expression. A Daniel Sexton (possibly a Justice of the Peace) married Levi Sexton (age 26) to a Mary J. Jones (age 24) on 14 Feb 1882 in Chancel Newton Co. Ark. I am not sure and do not think that Daniel Sexton is in the same Sexton lineage. It seems that Levi and Sarah had 7 children (Enoc, Martha, Ollie, Mellia, Mary Elizabeth, Nora and Katy).

Allen Sexton (age 22 per marriage license) married an Ida Selden Hamilton (age 15 per marriage license) on Jan 3, 1882 by none other than the same Daniel Sexton and duly recorded again by a Samuel Davis County Clerk for Newton Co. I do have their original license and several photographs of them together. My records have that Allen and Ida had 10 children (Edmond, James Walter, Thomas Jefferson, Joseph Timothy, Julia Ann, Effie June, Etta Mae, Lora Jane, Roy and an Ida. Ida it seems was born out of wedlock to Allen and one Betsy Asher. I do not have any information on Betsy. However, Ida was raised as a half sister to all of the Allen and Artilissa kids. Later on, Ida married a Rufus Clark and moved on to Texas. She had 3 children and died in childbirth during the last one at Sherman, Texas. I do have a picture of the Clark children, Luther, Earl and Ethel.

Whew, those Sextons sure did know how to make kids. Lets see for Timothy’s 3 son’s there were 23 grand children. Maybe not so much as how to tango but maybe to spread the enormous work load of running a farm. Completing; the lineage on those 23 has mainly been done, again by my mother. At this rate I am going to get to 16,384 before long.

My lineage descends from Allen’s third child, Thomas Jefferson Sexton. However, before descendancy can occur there has to be another person involved. It takes two to tango, ya know. Enter the Blackwood’s. On Feb 5, 1911, Thomas Jefferson Sexton married Grace Lee Blackwood in Mt. Judea, Newton Co. Arkansas. Now some genealogy for both. Thomas Jefferson was born 19 Oct 1889 in Mt Judea, Newton Co. Arkansas to Allen and Ida Selden Hamilton. Grace Lee Blackwood was born to Dr. James Colby Blackwood and Serena Roseta Plumley on 11 Sept 1891. Dr James and Serena were married on 4 Apr 1880. At this point in time I will not describe the Plumley line except to say that it has been traced back some distance and along the way intersects with the Denton lineage. The Blackwood’s have been traced back to a James Blackwood around 1750’s. There must be at least 250 more people in this section of the Blackwood/Plumlee tree. Maybe at a later date I can describe in sections these lineages. Thomas Jefferson and Grace Lee had 5 children (Harold Paul, Allen Eugene, Helen Maxine, James Hayden and Wanda Lee). As of this date only James Hayden and Wanda Lee are still surviving. James is living in Bremerton, Washington and Wanda is living near Spokane, Washington. Allen Eugene just passed away on Dec 3, 2000 in Hesperia, California. I do not have much in the way of T.J. (Thomas Jefferson as far back as I can remember was always called T.J.. Of course he was Grandpa to me.) and Grace Lee (aka Gracie) early childhood adventures. I do know but not how or why T.J. ended up a school teacher in Mt. Judea, and Oklahoma in later years. I have posted two photographs of his classes in Newton Co. (one from 1910 and one from 1915) on the web site maintained by Judy Tate. I also have a newspaper picture from his Old Carter School circa 1917 as presented in the Harrison Daily Times dated 25 June 1974.

It seems that teaching was in the Sexton blood. T.J.’s brother Joseph Timothy was a teacher as was his wife (Dona Criner Sexton.) Eileen Sexton, a child of Joseph Timothy was also a long standing teacher at the Jasper High School. And as recalled by Elsie Upton, a faithful co-worker and friend, “she was from two respected and established families - the Criners and Sextons of Mt Judea. Her mother and father were teachers as Eileen grew up at Mt Judea. Then her father was elected County and Circuit Clerk and the family move to Jasper. Eileen carried on the family occupation by teaching in the Jasper High School. “ T.J.’s sister Julia Ann Sexton Greenhaw was a teacher in the primary grades for 15 years. Eight of those years was at Mt Judea and the remaining years in surrounding districts until her early death in 1938. I am sure as I examine more closely my mothers genealogy documentation, I will undoubtly find others and their teaching exploits. Even I have spent several years as a teacher mainly in the military technical schools but also as an undergraduate college engineering instructor. But as of now these are the known teachers in the Sexton line.

I also have a picture of the 1911 Mt Judea baseball team coached by Thomas Jefferson. This picture sure was a revelation to me that he had coached baseball. I always knew he loved baseball because there were many an evening I can recall where we would be sitting out on the back porch, listening to the Dodgers. Lastly, I have a newspaper photograph of the class members of the Newton County Teachers Institute, 1916 (courtesy of the Newton Co Historical Society.) Some other interesting notes are that, he was an owner of a patent for improvements in drinking fountains. Patent # 1894573 granted 17 Jan 1933. After his teaching career ended and not to sit idly by he received certification as a Psychiatric Mental Health technician. He worked in this trade until he finally retired in late 1950’s or early 1960’s.

My earliest recollections of grandma (nanny, that was my name for her) and grandpa are a mixed blur of mental images and events. I can remember riding with grandpa on the back roads until I fell asleep. Or walking with him down to Coffee’s store to buy a paper. In my early school years, I can remember picking up my brother and walking the both of us from school over to grandma’s house where we would stay until mom picked us up after school. I never did enjoy those after school stays, because grandma would always have on the soap operas. You know “As the World Turns”, “Days of Our Lives”, etc. Ugh. Those shows just could not stack up to cartoons and I was to old for naps.

On some Saturday mornings or Sunday’s before church, we would often go over to their house for breakfast. My grandpa always had biscuits, butter and honey for breakfast. He used to tell us it was brain food. In later years, I can remember playing checkers with him on the back porch when there wasn’t any baseball game on the radio. For years, I was never able to beat him in checkers, however, being the resourceful person I am, we started playing out on the back porch in the evenings. The back porch was not well lit and in the evenings it was very dark. My strategy was to give him the black checkers. They were much harder to see in the dark than the red checkers. Oh well, it is a fond memory.

Thomas Jefferson passed away 20 Apr 1968, while I was stationed in Viet Nam. And to this day I truly regret not being granted leave to attend the funeral. Grace Lee Blackwood Sexton passed away at a very young 103. She was still as sharp as a tack at that age.

Charles, A. CAGLE, Pvt, Pension # 1033083
Age 18, Enrolled 19 Jul 1863 at Jasper, Arkansas 
Greene S. CARNAHAN, Pvt
Age 27, Enrolled 10 February 1864 in Newton County, Arkansas 
Samuel CECIL, 1st Sgt 
Age 25, Enrolled 18 July 1864 at Springfield, Missouri 
     Born May 17, 1839 
     Died March 24, 1914
     Was a Farmer
     Living at Whiteley, Van Buren Twp, Newton County at 
     enrollment
     Husband of Nancy Ally Buchanan Born May 11, 1838
                                    Died May 11, 1907
     Samuel and Ally are buried McFerrin Cemetery in 
     Newton County
Harmon O. CHAFFIN, Pvt, Pension # 891933
Age 40, Enrolled 6 Oct 1863 at Jasper, Arkansas 
     Blacksmith at discharge
     Husband of Hulda Anne Bayes
     Harmon Owen Chaffin, son of James and Mary Chafin
     Born June 24, 1823 Lawrence County, Ohio
     Died February 24, 1911 Neosho County, Kansas
Francis M. CHAFIN, 1st Cpl, Pension # 808025
Age 18, Enrolled 19 Jul 1863 at Jasper, Arkansas 
     Francis Marion Chafin, son of Harmon and Hulda
     Born September 1846 Lawrence County, Ohio
William R. CHAFIN, Pvt and Bugler 
Age 19, Enrolled 10 Feb 1864 at Jasper, Arkansas 
     Son of James and Mary, brother to above Harmon
     Born August 2, 1846 Boone County, Kentucky
James C. COOPER, Pvt, Pension # 852620
Age 34, Enrolled 19 Jul 1863 at Jasper, Arkansas 
James M. CRINER, Pvt, Pension # 1127883
Was sick in hospital in Springfield at muster
Joseph H. CRINER, Pvt 
Age 21, Enrolled 15 Oct 1863 at Jasper, Arkansas
     Born July 9, 1843
     Died October 24, 1921
     Was a Farmer
     Living at Mt. Judea, White Twp at enrollment 
     Son of William Thomas Criner and Mary Jane Hefley
     Husband of Martha Louvina Cheatham 
                              Born January 1, 1843
                              Died September 19, 1915
     Joseph and Martha are buried Criner Cemetery in 
     Newton County
William CHISAM, Pvt
Age 18, Enrolled 19 Jul 1863 at Jasper, Arkansas 
Richard M. CRUTCHFIELD, Pvt
Age 18, Enrolled 10 Feb 1864 in Newton County, Arkansas

Hello there...My name is Colleen Haynes Rongey. This is Home Base for my family's genealogy, for visiting mountain stories and other things that fall my way. Newton County history has been a lifetime of interest to me as I saved all old letters and printed pieces from the words of the old timers; so many are gone. I am pleased to share these things with you. Stop by for a visit at, Colleen's Place

For custom picture framing in the New Orleans area, stop by Colleen's Frame and Art.

Scan through the Scrapbook or checkout a variety of Louisiana Prints, Jazz and Heritage Festival Posters, and Antique Maps. Shop online for Colleen's Louisiana Florals and Crawfish Coloring Books...a delight for all ages.