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The Pea Ridge Community
Pea Ridge is the long ridge between Dry Creek on the east and Clear Fork on the west, joining Cannon County on the south. The land there has never been very fertile, which makes it quite suitable for growing field peas (crowder, black-eye, whippoorwill, etc.), thus giving it the name "Pea Ridge." Very few early settlers came there, but by 1852 it had enough people that the Mt. Moriah Church had been organized by the group known as The Baptists. In 1852, members Abraham P. Norton and wife Willa had moved to Missouri and were given letters of dismission signed by Joseph L. Pugh, church clerk, and John Mires, the preacher. Mt. Moriah is still an active congregation. The first building stood until after 1900, and was also used as a school until 1895. Both church and school were held only in warm weather, as there was no way to heat the building. It was small, made of logs, had one door and two windows which had neither glass nor wooden shutters. Land for the church is said to have been given by Obadiah Rich; his son William (Billy) Rich had lived by the church and gave additional land in 1875. When a separate building for the school was built, it was near Mt. Moriah Church. In 1940 it had two teachers, Ben Adamson and Mrs. Hooper Craddock.
The store on Pea Ridge was also near the church and was established by Sparrel W. Herman. A well was dug at the store in 1908; until that time most residents got their water from the springs in the nearby hollows. In later years Troy Cripps moved in from Dry Creek and lived near the church; he was a leading businessman in the community.
There was also a store about two miles away at the Cannon County line run by Robert Nokes. The one-teacher Ararat School was near there in Cannon County, with Edgar Anderson teaching there for several years. Also in Cannon County was the Mt. Ararat Church of Christ, which has a large cemetery in which several Pea Ridge citizens are buried, including the Hobbs family and the family of John T. Smithson and wife Nancy Moser.
Because the land on Pea Ridge was not very fertile, it was not very expensive and much of it was bought for one dollar an acre, or less. The owners found ways to live from the land and the trees on it, all of them difficult. Chestnut fence rails could be split and sold for 50 cents for 100 rails, or wood shingles could be sold for 25 cents per 100. Children (and adults) could pick blackberries and huckleberries and sell them for 10 cents a gallon. Tom Davis made baskets from white oak splits. About 1915, Harrison Ashford bought baskets for 50 cents and sold them around the Caney Fork River for a dollar. Harrison was the first boy from Pea Ridge to finish high school (at Liberty in 1911). He boarded with Dr. Adamson and paid his way by building fires and pumping water. Homer Murphy, from Pea Ridge, was elected judge of the DeKalb County Quarterly Court, serving from 1950 to 1958.
Thomas Keith (usually called Hatter Keith) made hats for a living. His son Ross Keith made his living by burning tar from pine trees. Most families grew their own cane to make sorghum molasses. They also grew their own hogs, which could feed on the mast in the nearby hollows.
Tommy Hale lived near Mt. Moriah Church in a frame house with brick chimneys, and a brick kiln was nearby. The older log houses in the community had what were called "stick-and-dirt" chimneys, made of logs with mud plastered over them and very easy to catch fire.
Cash crops like tobacco and nursery stock brought up the income level, and during prohibition in the 1920’s several people made moonshine whiskey, which sold for $8 to $10 a gallon. Actually, this activity continued long after prohibition, and well into the 1960’s.
Today, Pea Ridge has neither a store nor a school, but school reunions are being held, and the Mount Moriah and Mount Ararat churches are still active. In recent years, some families from Florida and other states have moved into the Pea Ridge community.
The store on Pea Ridge was also near the church and was established by Sparrel W. Herman. A well was dug at the store in 1908; until that time most residents got their water from the springs in the nearby hollows. In later years Troy Cripps moved in from Dry Creek and lived near the church; he was a leading businessman in the community.
There was also a store about two miles away at the Cannon County line run by Robert Nokes. The one-teacher Ararat School was near there in Cannon County, with Edgar Anderson teaching there for several years. Also in Cannon County was the Mt. Ararat Church of Christ, which has a large cemetery in which several Pea Ridge citizens are buried, including the Hobbs family and the family of John T. Smithson and wife Nancy Moser.
Because the land on Pea Ridge was not very fertile, it was not very expensive and much of it was bought for one dollar an acre, or less. The owners found ways to live from the land and the trees on it, all of them difficult. Chestnut fence rails could be split and sold for 50 cents for 100 rails, or wood shingles could be sold for 25 cents per 100. Children (and adults) could pick blackberries and huckleberries and sell them for 10 cents a gallon. Tom Davis made baskets from white oak splits. About 1915, Harrison Ashford bought baskets for 50 cents and sold them around the Caney Fork River for a dollar. Harrison was the first boy from Pea Ridge to finish high school (at Liberty in 1911). He boarded with Dr. Adamson and paid his way by building fires and pumping water. Homer Murphy, from Pea Ridge, was elected judge of the DeKalb County Quarterly Court, serving from 1950 to 1958.
Thomas Keith (usually called Hatter Keith) made hats for a living. His son Ross Keith made his living by burning tar from pine trees. Most families grew their own cane to make sorghum molasses. They also grew their own hogs, which could feed on the mast in the nearby hollows.
Tommy Hale lived near Mt. Moriah Church in a frame house with brick chimneys, and a brick kiln was nearby. The older log houses in the community had what were called "stick-and-dirt" chimneys, made of logs with mud plastered over them and very easy to catch fire.
Cash crops like tobacco and nursery stock brought up the income level, and during prohibition in the 1920’s several people made moonshine whiskey, which sold for $8 to $10 a gallon. Actually, this activity continued long after prohibition, and well into the 1960’s.
Today, Pea Ridge has neither a store nor a school, but school reunions are being held, and the Mount Moriah and Mount Ararat churches are still active. In recent years, some families from Florida and other states have moved into the Pea Ridge community.