I have been looking through a box of old pictures that to me reflect a lot of history of my family. Some pictures I know about and who the people in them are, some I don't. I will make an effort to visit with other cousins to see if they know. It is an awakening to me to realize that I am about the last one around to fill in the little that I know.

As for myself, I kind would like to see my life and memories written in such a way that my children and grandchildren might like to know more about me after I have moved on.

I am sure that anything that I write here will be of little interest to anyone else.

Grandmother Sallie Nichols [Note: her full name was Sarah "Sallie" Hughes Nichols ] was born March 7, 1854. At age 80 she passed away Oct. 1, 1934, and is buried at DeRoche, Arkansas. I knew very little about her life, only that she lost her first husband and then married his brother. Now I know why we always knew him as Uncle Pink.

Uncle Pink lived 82 years, 1851 to 1933. I have no knowledge of the name of my mother’s daddy.  [Note:  Daniel Head Nichols was the father of Jenettie Evelyn Nichols, mother of Herman Orr. ]

Sallie Nichols gave birth to seven children: Lem, Walter, Bell, J.V., Margaret, Jeanetta, and Pink.

I do not know if some of these children are ½ kin. However the head stone of Uncle Pink shows Pink Nichols Sr. There was a son that was known as Pink.  [Note:   Pinkey E. Nichols was the eldest son of Daniel Head Nichols and Sarah "Sallie" Hughes.  Pink Nichols, Sr. was not father, but step-father to Pinkey E. Nichols (Pink, Jr.).]

Caroline Bray first married Edward C. Hughes. She gave birth to five children: Hettie, Sara Jane, Sherman, Mary Elizabeth, and Caswell. Ater losing her husband, she married Robert Orr and gave birth to three boys, Carroll Columbus (Buddy), James Madison, and Henry Washington Orr.

I came along, the last of nine, on the first day of summer, Jun. 21, 1921. Born at Midway, a suburb of Donaldson.

For three years I was a real county boy. I don't know if Elsie and Lelia ever forgave me for not getting to stay longer on the farm and getting to pick cotton and other farm jobs.

I have little or no memories of those years. It does seem that I remember mashing my finger while cracking hickory nuts with a rock. From the pictures that I have found, I must have had a happy normal childhood. I had a tricycle, a big porch to stand on wearing my overalls and a loving sister to wag me about. I have been told that Lacie and Lilian spoiled me.

We had a big collie dog, and the one memory I have, as we were moving to Arkadelphia in a wagon, we had to cross through a creek and I was alarmed thinking "Collie" couldn't get through the water. Don't know why I remember that, but I do.

At my age of three, my daddy made the decision to leave the farm and move to Arkadelphia. There his two younger daughters and son would have good schools to go to and mother would have electricity and running water in her home.

My daddy must have been a successful farmer, as he and Mother were able to clothe, fee, and raise seven of the nine children born to them. I would hate to think just what that would involve at this point in time, 1991.

The first born died at birth and is refereed to, in the family, as "Baby Orr", is buried at DeRoche. One other brother was born five years before me, 1916. He was named Raymond and lived only a short time. He was buried at Midway. I think it would have been nice to have grown up with a brother close to my age.

As I think back over these times that I was growing up, I realize how much loving care I was given by all my brothers and sisters, as well as my parents. There were times, due to circumstances, that Austin and Lacie had to furnish shelter, food and clothing. Not because they had to, but that was the kind of men they were. Myrtle and Bertha had their own families to see after and provide for, but they were always near. Lelia and Elsie were near my age and I grew up with them in the home. Therefore, I'm sure that I must have caused a few problems for them, as little brothers sometimes do.

1993 Insert:

Elise and Lelia were the two sisters that I grew up with our home. Their age was 10 and 12 at the time I was born, and at times I'm sure that they thought I was a spoiled little brat. Especially that time I turned a bunch of "June bugs" loose in Elsie's room. (Mother mad sure that I remembered not to do that again.)

Here in 1993, I have just found some new pictures of these girls as they were growing up. As their little brother I'm sure I was not aware of just how pretty they were and so well dressed. I'm sure that if Mother and Daddy had anything to do with it they were well behaved and lady like.

Austin and Doris were already living in Arkadelphia and operated a barbershop – in those days a very important part of any small town.

Lacie – I am not sure where he was, but I think still at Mid-Way farming. I do know he joined his daddy in their business.

Daddy had sold his farm and with that he bought a grocery store that had an established business. Bought from some people that I have heard called the Ham Brothers. The store was then named "C.C. Orr and Sons".

Moving from Mid-Way to Arkadelphia was no small task using wagons. We didn’t have trucks. I don’t know how many trips it took, but we were on the last load.

The house we moved into is on Walnut Street (1311) at about 14^th. I see it today as I pass. I know it is the house, because I have a picture of myself with Austin and Doris standing by the chimney in the yard.

Soon my folks bought a house closer to town and the store. It was located at Seventh and Crittenden St., southwest corner.

One Saturday night, Elsie took me ( I was about five years old) to the picture show. Mrs. Picket, the ticket seller, came looking for us. Was told our house was on fire. The home was totally destroyed. We lost everything, all our clothes, furniture and treasures. I have a terrible memory of that time – just could not understand why. We lived over this don’t know how, but we did. We moved in with Austin and Doris until Daddy could get us a house built back on the same lot. The house is still standing today. [Note: the rebuilt house was destroyed by a tornado in March 1996. ]

Time marched on and most of my childhood memories occurred while living in this house. In the fall and during cotton picking time, many farmers would drive by our house on the way to the cotton gin at the foot of the street. Ike Dawson and I would run out, climb on a wagon, and ride down to the gin, climb off, and back on an empty going back up. Sometimes the driver would let us hold the reigns. Made us feel big. Harold Walker and Ike Dawson were my buddies. If they were not at our house, I was at theirs.

Roller skating on the concrete street, and playing tin can hockey was a lot of fun. This is until Mr. Bloomfield, the city marshal, would catch us, making us take off our skates and go home. We were not bad – just boys.

The grocery store had been moved to a building at Seventh and Clay, just a block from our home. This created a little bit of a problem for Mother, as Daddy often brought home customers for lunch. Mother always had plenty of food, but there were times – that was when I would hear her call him – not Buddy as he was known but Clumbus!

The picture I have with me standing next to my dad was made when I was 8 or 9 years old. One of my big problems was keeping my hands out of the candy case.

The location is now an auto parts store. The part shown in the picture is their parking space. During this period of time Arkadelphia and Clark County were wet. Beer and hard liquor were sold in town. One of those stores was just around the corner. The building partly seen through the window was a mule barn and horse stables. Just this side of that was a blacksmith shop.

About the age of 12 I decided that I needed to start seeking my fortune. I got a job as a paperboy for the Sifting Herald. I was paid $1.25 a week and I thought I was rich. Mother saved my money for me and soon I had saved enough for her to take me to McClain's Department Store to buy a new Sunday suit. The man that fitted me with the suit was named Mr. Dew. There was no way that anyone could foresee how much we would influence each other’s lives in the future. What would he have thought if he had known that that kid would grow up to marry his daughter, be his son-in-law, and his partner in business.

In a few years I took on another paper route. One in the morning The Gazette for $1.00 a week. Then on Saturday I worked for Mr. Whipple at his hamburger shop. The pay was ten cents a hour and free hamburgers. Mr. Whipple soon saw that the three boys seemed to eat a lot, so he raised our pay to 15 cents a hour and made us pay for what we ate. We didn’t seem to eat near as much.

We had a self-player piano that played with rolls of punched paper and two pedals to pump with your feet. I seemed to enjoy doing that, so mother decided I needed to learn to read music and play. So – we tried – for a long time we tried. I did play a number in a recital. I didn’t like to practice while the other boys were outside playing.

From a basic knowledge on the piano, I went into the school band. I must have liked this, as I play with the band all through high school and college. Our band director was T. J. Ashford. He was blind, but he knew how to control and make us behave.

The picture shows him standing. I am shown holding a bassoon, for picture sake, but the French horn was my instrument. This picture was the Henderson Concert Orchestra.

Professor Ashford directed the Henderson band as well as the high school. It seemed that it was hard to find enough college students to fill the Henderson uniforms, so Prof. Would fill in with high school students. I played with the Henderson band for four years and went to Ouachita and played four years.

Sure, I had dates with several sweet girls. If we dated more than once, we were considered as going steady. I was on and off with my girl friends – until I discovered Floy Dew. There were so many memories of those days of happiness, high school and college. Too numerous to try to write about them here. We have pictures of those years in other albums, so I want to just show a few here, ones of my high school sweetheart.

We had to walk ever time we went any place. On special occasions, when Floy was wearing a long dress, Lacie would let me borrow his car.

The war came along, and upon graduation from Ouachita I was ordered to Fort Benning, Georgia, officer candidate school. While at O.C.S. my father died. I came home on emergency furlough and went back to O.C.S. Upon graduation and receiving my 2^nd Lt. Commission in the infantry (we were told that we knew ever thing about any thing, of course that was before computers). I was given a 10-day delay in route, so that I could go home and take my sweetheart a diamond engagement ring.

I was assigned to the 101 Inf. Division that was on maneuvers in Louisiana, then on to Camp Swift at Austin, Texas. Very soon I received orders to report to Camp Mead, Maryland for overseas assignment. I called Floy and asked her to marry me before I left. On Feb. 6, 1944, we were married in her home by Dr. Robert Naylor.

All our wedding pictures were of no value. Due to the war, fresh film was unavailable and we had to used old film that didn’t come out. Therefore the only pictures we have of that day are ones that were made of me before the ceremony.

Two weeks later I had to leave Floy in Baltimore, as I went on board ship for Italy. Floy went on to New York City to visit sister Elizabeth. She then took a job with Time-Life. Stayed on there until time for school to start that fall. She came back to Henderson to finish her senior year, getting her degree in Business Education.

Six weeks after I let her in Baltimore, she finally heard from me. I think she was beginning to wonder if she was a widow.

I first was assigned to a replacement deport at Caserta, Italy. For about three very boring months, I censored mail, took hikes, went hitch hiking down to Pompeii. I had to serve two weeks as a M.P. courtesy officer at "Santa Marie". A very distasteful job.

About mid June I received orders that ended all feeling of boredom and restlessness. I soon found that it wasn’t just a game of waiting. The time had come that was deathly serious and I must rely on my training.

I was assigned to the 45th "Thunderbird" Division, 180 Inf. Reg. At the "Anzio" beachhead. To make a long story short, we moved out to capture Rome, and dropped back for invasion training. I was in the first wave that hit the beach of southern France. That was quite a show of firepower. Three weeks later, Sept. 7, 1944, a German shell with my name on it found me. Being hit in both arms and one leg meant combat was over for me. I was thankful to be alive. I was flown back to Naples, Italy and then back to Tuscaloosa, Ala. For treatment. There Floy joined me, and we found a small house near the hospital. After a couple of months I was sent to Daytona Beach, FL. For convalescence leave. Of course Floy went with me and we found a nice apartment just a couple of blocks off the beach. Needless to say we enjoyed being there.

After our time was there I was sent to a redistribution station at Hot Springs Ark. Some how I was favored with an assignment to that station. With my office in the Arlington Hotel, I was to work with the returnees and their wives that were there for two weeks.

Floy and I found a nice apartment on nearby Cedar Street, up hill, but not too hard.

When we had processed all the P.O.W. returnees the War Department decided to close the post and give the hotels back to their owners. At the close of the war, I found myself as commander of Cadre personnel, with my office in the Majestic Hotel.

The post closed, I was given the choice of going to Washington D. C. Pentagon duty or to go before the Medical Retirement Board for discharge. I had heard so many stories about Washington, that I wanted no part of that. The Retirement Board gave me 60% disability and turned me over to the Veterans Administration.

This has been a monthly income that has been much appreciated.

Floy and I returned to Arkadelphia and stayed with her parents until we could find an apartment. Now I want to tell what little I know about their history.

Harry Dew as a young man left Arkansas and went into southwest Texas to work as a salesman. There he found his true love, Miss Floy Pouncey. Sometime later he accepted a job with Sterling Stores and moved to Parkdale, Ark. There Little Floy was born. The mother was known as Big Floy and my Floy was Little Floy, and she went to school the first few years there.

Mr. Dew had an opportunity to move to Arkadelphia to manage the Green Dept Store. Then moved again to manage the McClain Dept. Store. It was there that he sold me that suit.

The Dews were honest and sincere people, and loved their family and grandchildren.

As it turned out, I knew Harry Dew, my father-in-law, longer than I knew my own father. I don’t know of anybody that influenced my life more than he and Mrs. Dew.

Mr. Dew and I decided to form a partnership and go into the department store business. We didn’t want to be known as a shop but we wanted to grow and be a full department store. Under guidance of Mr. Dew we did grow. We had trouble finding a good location and much trouble finding an opening stock. Just after the war things were hard to find, but he knew how to get them, therefore getting us off to a good start moneywise, in 1946.

After a few years we found a larger location on Main Street – 630 Main. We had good business but needed more room. In 1962 the corner building and 7^th and Main came available and we moved into that building. We kept the old location and made it into Dew-Orr Home Center.

We closed out the Dept. Store in 1979 and continued the home center until I retired in 1984.

In 1947 Floy and I bought a small house in Bauxite and brought it to Arkadelphia. We had found good 80’ x 120’ lot on Evans Street and we brought the house in part to this lot. We did enlarge it the best we could. We lived in this house until 1962.

During the years on Evans St. our son David was born and then six years later our daughter Elizabeth (Betsy) was born. Just how lucky can a man be to have both a son and a daughter.

During all those years at Dew-Orr, I tried to live up to what was expected of me in the way of civic duties. I was active in the Jaycees, Country Club, Chamber of Commerce, and all the local drives.

While I was a Jaycee, we had numerous drives to raise money for our projects. The one I remember so well was the Minstrel. If you don’t think that was fun – you should try to get that stuff off your face.

I was a member of the Lions Club for 20 years. I got tired of selling brooms and light bulbs, so I joined the Rotary Club for another 20 years.

While I was President of the Lions Club , our city mayor LeRoy Tennison talked me into heading up a drive to raise money to build a swimming pool in our city park. That was quite a job, but a long with other men that I asked to help, we did it. We were so happy to see the day come, that when we filled the pool with water, we all lined up along the side of the pool, jumped in with our clothes on. Floy made a movie of this big event.

Along about this time, I had Arkansas Governor, Mr. Francis Cherry, as our guest at Lions Club.

My only experience at politics was when our city changed its form of government. I ran and was elected to the original Board of Directors. After serving my terms on the city board, I served on the Water Commission for another eight years.

In 1953 Floy and I found a nice lake front lot on Red Oak Bay of Lake Hamilton. We had lots of fun clearing and building our lake house and much pleasure in using it. We enjoyed it until we sold it in 1962.

Sure would be nice if we had it now that I have retired and have time to use it.

In 1960 we knew we needed more space in our home on Evans Street, so we started looking. We found a lot in a good neighborhood on North 12th Street. It was at that time near the edge of town, with fire protection and close to the schools. (They soon moved the high school out of town.) It took us about a year convince Mr. And Mrs. Jimmy Lowdermilk that they needed to sell that lot to us.

We started construction in January of 1962, and moved into our new home in June.

Space?? We had more space than we had money to fill. We moved from a house of about 900 sq. ft. to one with 3600 covered sq. ft.

There comes a time in ones life that there is a low that can only be related to by one that has experienced such. After fourteen months of fighting with all known cures for cancer, Floy expired May 8, 1980. The only comfort I had was that she would no longer feel pain.

I ran – went to Chicago, to Houston, just couldn't stay at home – just couldn't accept it. Once I realized that we had done everything we could to whip this thing and there was nothing that I or anybody else could do to bring her back, I settled down and started paying attention to my business.

Time moved slowly on and I realized that living was for the living.

Howard and Ann Campbell, friends that I had known for years, introduced me to Howard's sister, Zelda Wesson.

Zelda had lost her husband in a tragic accident about two years before I lost Floy. All the years I had known Howard, I didn't know he had a sister. I would never have thought he would some day be my brother-in-law.