Special offer

Centerton, AR Real Estate News

By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Ellis O’Neal was born in California back in 1900 to Albert and Addie. He attended Lake County, California public schools and onto UC Berkeley graduating in 1923.He married Lois and they moved to Los Angeles where he continued his education at the University of Southern California where he received his Ph.D. afterwards, they moved to the District of Columbia where he accepted a position of the staff at Howard University in 1931.By 1955, he was appointed to the President’s White House Conference on Education for a decade. He also worked as a consultant to the Peace Corps and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. In 1967, he retired and moved back to Los Angles where he served as Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern California until his death in 1975.What you may not know about ...
Comments 16
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Frank James was born in Greensboro, North Carolina back in 1925.he graduated from Collegedale Academy in 1943. After graduation he enlisted in the United State Army. He served as a staff sergeant with the 101st Airborne Division where he landed in Normandy.He was captured at the Battle of the Bulge however, he escaped earning him the Bronze Star, the Combat Medical Badge and the Glider Badge with one star.After his tour of duty, he enrolled at Southern Missionary College where he received his bachelor’s degree continuing his education he received his MD in 1956 from Loma Linda University. Afterwards he worked as a general practitioner before completing his residency in orthopedic surgery at the Los Angeles County Hospital.In 1964 he teamed up with Dr. Robert Kerlan to specialize in spor...
Comments 18
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Harrison Jeffords was born in Dexter, Michigan back in 1834. He received his education in Michigan, was admitted to the bar when the Civil War started.He enlisted in the 4th Michigan Volunteer Infantry where he rose in rank to colonel. He served in the Army of the Potomac where he saw action in several major battles.I don’t have the date but between battles he returned to Michigan on a recruiting trip. The ladies of Monroe, Michigan presented him with a new national flag as the original one had been damaged in the recent battles.In the second day at Gettysburg the color-bearer so Harrison advanced to retrieve it. A Confederate soldier had already seized the flag, during the melee Harrison was shot and then bayonetted. Men from his company rushed to his aid however, the wounds were fatal...
Comments 17
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
John Adams was born in Warrenton, North Carolina back in 1840.  In 1861, we worked as a janitor for a jeweler.  There he was taught to read and write.  John being a black man was not allowed to learn so he was sold at least eight times in his twenty-five years as a slave.After the American Civil War, he was emancipated and returned to North Carolina where he worked as a farmer pursuing elementary studies.  What you may not know about John Adams Hyman is that he was the first African American to represent the state in the House of Representatives from North Carolina’s 2nd congressional district as a Republican.After serving in congress he worked for the United States Postal Service and the Department of Agriculture in Washington where he died in 1891.  Just goes to show you what determin...
Comments 12
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
James Hoban was born in Callan, County Kilkenny back in 1755. You could find him working as a wheelwright and carpenter until he reached his early twenties. He attended the Dublin Society’s Drawing School on Lower Grafton Street.He graduated with honor in 1780. After the hostilities ended from the American Revolutionary War he emigrated to the United States. He found work in South Carolina working there until 1792. He died in 1831, he is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, D.C.What you may not know about James Hoban is that while working in South Carolina his work caught the attention of a very important person. He was summoned to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1792. He is best known for designing the White House in Washington, D.C. thus, the White House was designed by an Iri...
Comments 17
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Sarah Allen was born in the Isle of Wight County, Virginia in 1764 as a slave. When she was eight you could find her in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By 1800 she had gained her freedom and married Richard in 1802. The marriage resulted in six children.I could not find out when but sometime after the marriage they purchased some property in Philadelphia for $35.00, a hefty sum in those days. Anyway, the property had a blacksmith shop on it. The family gathered their horses and moved the shop renovating it into a church.Their home was part of the Underground Railroad. In 1827, she founded the Daughters of the Conference, they started a sewing circle to help mend and make clothes for the ministers. She died in 1849 in Philadelphia. What you may not know about Sarah is that she is known as an...
Comments 16
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Thomas W. Knowlton was born in West Boxford, Massachusetts back in 1740.  The family relocated to Ashford, Connecticut when he was eight.  In 1755, at fifteen he served in the French and Indian War, serving in at least six campaigns being promoted to lieutenant in 1760.  When General Thomas Gage sent British troops to Lexington and Concord in 1755 Thomas joined the 5th Connecticut Regiment being chose and captain leading two-hundred men.  In 1776, George Washington promoted Thomas to lieutenant colonel, assigning him to reconnaissance missions, which of course is the rest of the story.The same year he engaged the British Black Watch at the Battle of Harlem Heights when he was killed during the action.  Then General George Washington wrote of him “The gallant and brave Col Knowlton,… wou...
Comments 13
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Mary Morrell was born in Norwich, England (date unknown). In 1635, she immigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony as an indentured servant.   She married Peter Folger in 1644 moving to Watertown, Massachusetts before moving again in 1660 to Martha’s Vineyard.They had nine children, eight of those were born in Martha’s Vineyard. In 1763, they moved again to Nantucket where their youngest daughter Abiah was born in 1667. It was there where Abiah met Josiah and the couple married where they had a son. Mary’s husband died in 1690 and she died in 1794.What you may not know about Mary of course is the rest of the story. Her daughter Abiah like I wrote earlier married Josiah, Josiah Franklin and their son was named Benjamin, which made Mary the maternal grandmother to Benjamin Franklin, yes th...
Comments 16
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Samuel Lee Jr. was born in Richmond, Virginia back in 1922 to Samuel and Mary. Attending Virginia Union University leaving before graduation to join the U.S. Navy.He began his career in the U.S. Navy aboard a submarine chaser and remained there during his active service. In 1946, he was released from active duty but remained in the Naval Reserve. In1949 he was recalled to active duty as a recruiter in Washington, D.C. when the Korean War started he severed on the USS Iowa.I1961 he was given command of the USS Theodore E. Chandler. In 1962, he was given command of the USS Falgout, he was the first to command a combat ship. what you may not know about Samuel Lee Gravely is that he was the first African-American in the U.S. Navy to serve aboard a fighting ship as an officer, the first to c...
Comments 16
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Pirate Bill was born in Canada back in 1782. He spent the first 30 years of his life as a British Loyalist. He worked at several jobs before being a captain of his own schooner on Lake Ontario.During the War of 1812, the British accused him of being a spy and ordered his arrest. He escaped and then made his own war on the British. During the years of 1813-1814 he did spy on the British, attacking their supply boats, robbed mail couriers, burned ships and participated in two engagements.In 1838, he led a party to capture the passenger steamer Sir Robert Peel. To make a long story short they burned the ship when they could not get the boilers to work. A search party was sent out but they could not find Bill. Finally, he surrendered to the American’s later that year. Try as they may they c...
Comments 19
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Eli Hamilton was born in Loudoun County, Virginia back in 1831 to Daniel and Elizabeth.  His education was limited to a brief education at a seminary.  He married Cornelia (date unknown).  During the Civil War, he was a major for the Confederacy, serving on the staff of General Robert E. Lee.  After the war, you could find him working as a clerk in a dry goods store in Alexandra Virginia.  He however, was also an imaginary in that he had an idea for something that is still in use today.  For you see, he not only had an idea he actually worked on it.  He began by whittling on a block of wood while on his lunch breaks.  In 1873, he took his idea, applied and received a patent for it.  U.S. Patent 138,405 was approved on April 29, 1873.  What you may not know about Eli Hamilton Janney is t...
Comments 16
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Dancing in the Rain.Well I wasn’t actually dancing. Sunday, it rained most of the day my wife and I have been sodding our yard and we only had 4 more strips of sod to put down. So, I went outside barefooted in the slush and mush and prepared the soil, hauled the sod to the backyard and laid it in place.I bet you were thinking about another Rain, wasn’t you? It’s late I’m tired and the sandman is calling. I’ll play I the Rain again in the morning but I won’t get wet.
Comments 13
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Joseph Lafayette was born in Washington County, Virginia back in 1810.   He joined William Sublette who was with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company at 18 roaming the Rocky Mountains for over a decade as a trapper.His explorations found him along the Yellowstone River and the Yellowstone National Park. He described the area as: The whole country beyond was smoking with vapor from boiling springs, and burning gasses, issuing from small craters, each of which was emitting a sharp whistling sound. In 1838, he married the daughter of a Nez Perce chief, calling her Virginia. I’m writing about Joseph Lafayette Meek.In 1847, some Cayuse and Umatilla Indians killed his wife Narcissa and his daughter Helen (she was 10). This prompted him to go to Washington where he met with President James K. Polk. ...
Comments 13
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Baruch Samuel was born in Brooklyn, New York back in 1925 to Meyer and Ida. Attending the Orthodox Yeshivah of Flatbush elementary school. he went on to attend James Madison High School. His education was interrupted during WWII when he joined the US Navy. He attended Union College graduating with honors in 1946.He enrolled at Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons receiving him M.D. in 1951. He went on to Balliol College earning his Ph.D. in 1957, eventually becoming the first American to be master there. He travelled the world obtaining blood samples to study the genetic variations in human beings. His focus was why some people contact a disease while others do not.I could go on about all the accomplishments he made to the medical profession however, I’ll cut to the chase about...
Comments 20
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Burton Green was born in Madison, Wisconsin back in 1868 to Richard and Amanda. He attended Beaver Dam Academy moving to California with the family in 1886. In 1889, he graduated from the Los Angeles High School. He worked as an orange grower in Redlands, California for five years.In 1905, he moved back to Los Angeles to invest in the oil company, as they say the rest is history. He established the Green & Whittier Oil Company merging with two other oil companies to become the Associated Oil Company of California. He died in Los Angeles County, California in 1965 at 96.Maybe just maybe you know him better as Burton Edmond Green. If not that’s okay for in the history books he is known for a lot of accomplishments but one stands out for he bought the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas which he ren...
Comments 9
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
George Compton was born in Lancashire, England back in 1829 to William and Sarah. In 1836, the family moved to and wound up in Taunton, Massachusetts. He attended elementary school in Taunton and Worcester. For high school, he went to the Millbury Academy in Worcester. He never attended college.For a short time, he worked for the Colt Company and saw in person the innovative skill of Samuel Colt. In 1849, his father became incapacitated and George took over the family business. It was then he remembered what lessons he had learned working for the Colt Company and applied those lessons to the family business and as they say the rest is history. So, allow me to tell you what happened next.In 1857, he improved his father’s invention and built the Crompton Loom. This new loom had twenty-fou...
Comments 13
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Antoine Benezet was born in Saint-Quentin, France back in 1713.  They moved several times for religious reasons finally ending up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1731.  Once he arrived he tried his hand at being a merchant but that failed so he tried his hand at teaching school in 1739 at Germantown.  In 1754, he started his own school the “Friends’ English school of Philadelphia”.  In 1770, he founded the Negro School at Philadelphia for black children.  He died in 1784 at 81 and is buried in the Friends’ Burial Ground in Philadelphia.What is so amazing about this man is once he arrived in the colonies he changed his name to Anthony not Antoine.  He is noted in the history books for being one of the early American abolitionists, founding the first anti-slavery societies, the Society f...
Comments 14
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Samuel Bell Maxey was born in Tompkinsville, Kentucky back in 1825 to Rice and Lucy.  Inn 1834 the family moved to Albany, Kentucky and in 1842 he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point.Ranking near the bottom of his class he graduated in 1846 commissioned as a Brevet second lieutenant.  Assigned to the 7th Infantry Regiment he saw action in the Mexican-American War.  He was promoted to first lieutenant for his action at the Battle of Cero Gordo and Contreras in 1847.  He was admitted to the bar in Missouri in 1851.  In 1857, he moved to a small farm near Paris, Texas.  When the Civil War started, he enlisted in the Confederate Army and sent to Memphis, Tennessee.  In 1862, he was promoted to brigadier general seeing action at the Battle of Shiloh.  In 1863, he was ass...
Comments 13
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Don’t you just love it when the light bulb turns on in a darken night? I know I do and that is exactly what happened at our last meeting. I know this is going to be a surprise because I believe this is the first blog I’ve written about a fellow ActiveRainer since I’ve been writing posts.I want to personally thank Barbara Todaro and I’ll tell you why. Ask any agent who is with our agency when they ask me about marketing I tell them to join ActiveRain and follow her and do what she does. At our last meeting, I took one of Barbara’s leads and suggested that instead of calling on builders to do the usual asking them to list their homes to try another approach.Now you may be asking yourself what approach that was and I’m going to tell you. I suggested that the agents first find some undevelo...
Comments 18
By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
George Walther was born in Seinbach-Michelstadt, Germany back in 1876 to Heinrich and Elizabeth. In 1892 George and his brother Jacob moved to America to live with their father’s brother in Dayton, Ohio.He arrived in America when he was 16 working at the McHose and Lyon Company building ornamental iron. He enrolled in an international correspondence school becoming a U.S. citizen in 1899. He returned to Germany for a year’s study at the Technical School of Michelstadt returning to American in 1903.In 1905 George with his brother and two others opened their own foundry contributing $1,000.00 each and as they say the rest is history. For you see George is credited for over 100 patents and the foundry he helped found was the Dayton Steel Foundry. Starting out with an 8x10 building he built...
Comments 18
Centerton, AR Real Estate Professionals