RSSPieces of Pettigrew’s Past Assembled
Sep 08
There couldn't be a more perfect picture of "Pa."
This was a tough story to write and try to even pretend objectivity. This is my father-in-law, and I love him with all my heart.
By Becca Bacon Martin
bmartin@nwaonline.com
Wayne Martin knew his time was limited. He’d been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
He also knew that unless he got busy, much of his hometown’s history would be lost.
Less than six months later, Martin’s book, “Pettigrew, Arkansas: Hardwood Capital of the World,” will debut this weekend at Pioneer Day in St. Paul.
“It had to be done,” he said simply. “There were too many stories to tell — and so many more I didn’t get to.”
Martin and his wife, June, have spent their lives in Pettigrew, now barely a wide spot on Arkansas 16 in southern Madison County. They’ve been involved in the restoration of the schoolhouse, now used frequently as a community building, and the annual Pettigrew Day celebration, part of a continuing partnership with the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale. That collaboration has made Pettigrew “the best documented little town in Arkansas,” according to the museum.
Martin and Bob Besom, for many years the director of the museum, met in 1986, when an auction dispersed the contents of the Mooney-Barker Drug Store, a time capsule of the community’s history since 1916. Martin knew all the stories that went with the coffin hardware, Model T parts and medicine bottles, because he was Helen Mooney Barker’s grandson.
Even after the Mooney-Barker Drug Store was gone, Martin kept looking down Pettigrew’s vacant main street, seeing the memories he wanted to share. He knew there was a time at the turn of the 20th century when this tiny town was the terminus of a railroad line that carried hundreds of loads of hardwood out of the Madison County hills. He knew that the street bustled with people, coming and going from hotels, stores and livery stables, the grist mill, the bank and even a silent movie theater. He remembered his great-grandparents, his grandparents and his parents, all of whom played significant roles in the community.
Many of those memories are included in the book, which the Shiloh Museum published.
“He came into the museum within the last year and saw the Tontitown book (a pictorial published by the Tontitown Historical Museum), bought one, looked through it and said, ‘I believe we could do this with Pettigrew,’” remembered Susan Young, the museum’s outreach coordinator. “I told him, ‘Yes, I think we could, and I think you’re the person to do it.’”
Young said they considered “a scholarly study,” but “there was just too much raw information in our collection.” Instead, Martin took some of the hundreds of photos of Pettigrew he’d accumulated and wrote about what he saw.
“When he looks at a photograph, he can go so much further,” Young said. “He can look at a tie yard and tell you what purpose those ties were made for.”
The museum board approved, said Young, not because Martin has been a longtime friend of the museum but “because the book has merit. The photos are stunning, and the story is a slice of everyday history.”
Martin started writing the book in longhand, but his illness got in the way. Linda Wilson, a neighbor, and journalist and author Abby Burnett of Kingston came to assist.
“A lot of people live in an area and don’t care that much about the history,” said Wilson, who retired to Pettigrew with her husband, Harry. “This was such a glorious place in its heyday, and now people can see that through his eyes. Lots of people around here care about this book.”
“He’s a marvelous storyteller,” agreed Burnett. “He has such a way with words, it’s the next best thing to having seen it.
“I think you could look at the book without knowing anything about Pettigrew and it’s still a wonderful window into a vanished way of life,” Burnett added.
“Wayne and June are the best, most genuine people, and from the moment we met, I was indoctrinated in the project to save Pettigrew’s history,” Young said. “It’s been a love affair for me with that community ever since.
“This book is Wayne’s love letter to Pettigrew.”
‘Pettigrew, Arkansas: Hardwood Capital of the World’
Debuts at Pioneer Day
When: Friday evening and Saturday
Where: Downtown St. Paul, 32 miles southeast of Fayetteville on Arkansas 16
Cost: The book will sell for $20
Information: Susan Young at 750-8165
Oct 04, 2010 @ 05:32:48
Dear Becca,
I don’t believe we’ve ever met, but I remember well the Mooney-Barker Drug Store. We went there often when I was a young boy – spending the summers with my Grand Parents, Cannon and Gladys Lane. They lived in Elkins.
The home of Uncle Orville and Aunt Bob was our destination and center of activity when we went to Pettigrew. Uncle Orville ran a sawmill with a massively loud radial saw and a huge pile of sawdust. Aunt Bob ran the house. There were a couple turkey houses below the place. Wayne and June’s home was the extra excursion. Danny’s rock collection was a special item. But Granny Barker’s store – she lived in the rear of the place – was where we explored and had small child adventures.
My Father, Jim Lane is in Arkansas this week, attending Wayne’s funeral with his wife, Nancy.
I have not been back to Arkansas since Grandpa passed away in 1999. Sadly its been all too easy to fall into life, family and day to day affairs than remember the folks that shaped the adult you are in the here and now.
My Dad called told me of Wayne’s death today. We – my wife, Maria and my son, Russell – were just arriving home from a weekend trip to San Diego. We live in San Juan Capistrano, CA
This news has had a steadily gnawing impact on me. I had no idea of Wayne’s book. I much admire his successful effort in keeping the Pettigrew I knew as an 8 year old alive and thriving in our memories.
My sincere condolences, Becca. Please tell June and the rest of the family that you all are in my prayers.
In Health,
Russ Lane
Apr 02, 2011 @ 12:53:10
Hello Becca.
I dont remember you as you are probably much younger than me but I grew up in Pettigrew in 40,s 50,s when there was Haughts store, Barkers store and a Bank, service stations, Movies, A tie yard Ect even a mill that made wagon spokes.
I left to join the service in 1959, and never returned except for a visit, there last in 1994 and was very taken back by what had happened to pettigrew.
I knew the Martins Roofie orvil wayne etc. My condolences to the family.
Jimmy Brandenburg
Dec 04, 2011 @ 16:41:03
I grew up in pettigrew in the forty’s and fifty’s I remember as a kid going into barkers store and looking upon the old clock and the seeling fans with amazement,also pop and I carried corn to the grist mill which was pulled by a pretty large pop and go engine I called them and would leave with some mighty fine corn meal.
and I remember when there was a tie yard there,and they also bought fence post there which I made by the hundreds and sold for ten cents each. also recall the spoke mill where they made wagon spokes for the wheels. fletcher keck had a store bank and a canning factory, pettigrew was a pretty bustling place even then. the last time i drove up highway sixteen through pettigrew Was in 19 94 I saw not one person and it was hard to tell where pettigrew started and stopped,all the old buildings were gone. I stopped for a moment and gazed back down the street and for a moment the old buildings appeard and people filled the streets for a fleeting moment I saw into the past,and with a nod of my head and blink of the eye reality returned and I drove into the future. Jim Brandenburg