Margaret Moore Jacobs was a fascinating Arkansas character. Born in 1900 as the oldest daughter of John Burton Moore of Clarendon, she contracted tuberculosis as a teenager and was confined to bed in a sanatorium in Denver.
After returning to Clarendon, she married John B. "Jake" Jacobs, a partner in the city's recently established Ford dealership. The couple was given the former house of Margaret's grandfather, John Wesley Moore. The house was built in 1870 and was later moved across the street by Margaret and Jake Jacobs.
Margaret, a prolific writer, was the first female contributing editor for Furniture World magazine and wrote for the Presbyterian Observer. Her subjects ranged from religion to antiques to gardening. She also was published in more than a dozen Christian periodicals and wrote books with titles such as My Master Has a Garden and A Lifetime of Sundays. Margaret Moore Jacobs Avenue was dedicated in Clarendon in 1948, and Margaret Moore Jacobs Day was held there on April 3, 1952.
Jake Jacobs died in 1965, and his wife died in 1976. Their estate was left in a trust with instructions that the property be turned into a park and museum. A 700-acre farm was also left to the trust to produce the income needed to operate the museum. As Clarendon and the surrounding area lost population, nothing was done with the house for years. Things began to change when Margaret's nephew, John B. Moore III (who goes by Burton), became the curator and trustee. The house and surrounding gardens were cleaned up. Burton's son, John B. Moore IV, now oversees the museum with help from his younger brother, Jeremiah.
On the front page of this newspaper last week, a feature story on the Moore brothers by Noel Oman focused on their efforts to preserve the U.S. 79 bridge over the White River at Clarendon for cyclists, hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts to use once a new highway bridge opens. John Moore IV is a 26-year-old married father of two who returned to Clarendon two years ago at a time when far more people were moving out than moving in. In the 1920 census, Monroe County had 21,601 residents. By the 2010 census, the population was down to 8,149 people.
John IV and Jeremiah, 20, have a deep love for their home county and the Delta as a whole. The website for the Jacobs Park & Museum states: "Our vision at the Jacobs Trust is to create a small spark in a place where the power grid has largely been switched off, and for that spark to strike up a small flame."
Margaret Moore Jacobs always described her home as the Dear Little House. I became familiar with the brothers' efforts in Clarendon last summer when Jeremiah sent an email inviting me to pay a visit. He wrote: "Your forthright love for our state and its history bring a certain kindred feel that leads me to invite you down to Monroe County for a visit, tour and a catfish lunch." Paul Austin, who heads the Arkansas Humanities Council, shares my fascination with the lower White River region. He also shares my love of a good catfish lunch. So it was that we found ourselves in the Dear Little House having lunch with the Moore brothers.
Clarendon has a rich history. The area was settled in the late 1700s by French hunters and trappers who built cabins where the Cache River empties into the White River. Clarendon became the county seat when Monroe County was carved out of Arkansas and Phillips counties in 1829. Numerous skirmishes were fought in the Clarendon area during the Civil War. The Monroe County Courthouse, designed by well-known Arkansas architect Charles Thompson, was built in 1911. The flood of 1927, the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, the drought of 1930-31 and the flood of 1937 all helped spark a decades-long decline.
The Dear Little House is an oasis on the residential part of Main Street. The grounds surrounding the home include cast-iron sculptures from the 1800s, a large bell that came from a church at Helena, and landscaped gardens. The house itself is filled with antiques ranging from an 1880 music box to a fireplace mantle crafted in Naples, Italy. John Wesley Moore, who built the Greek Revival-style house, came to Clarendon from Sussex County in Virginia. Documents from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program note that "the strong architectural influences of his Virginia upbringing are evident in the home he constructed for himself. The house was built on a lot that ran down to the river's edge and gave a spectacular view of the heavy traffic on the White River until the construction of a levee following the 1927 flood, which devastated the town."
"Following his death, the house went to his son, who had established himself as an attorney as well as the owner of extensive landholdings in Monroe County. He married Bessie Branch of Holly Grove in the early 1900s. Bessie was the daughter of William F. Branch, who had established the Bank of Holly Grove, and Ella Walls Branch, whose family held large amounts of acreage in the county."
The Dear Little House was moved on log rollers by mules to its new location in 1931. The lot had been the site of an early schoolhouse. Margaret Moore Jacobs not only restored the house but also landscaped the grounds with plantings mentioned in the Bible. Now two great-nephews, ages 26 and 20, are working to preserve the Dear Little House and gardens along with her legacy.
------------v------------
Freelance columnist Rex Nelson is the president of Arkansas' Independent Colleges and Universities. He's also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com.
Editorial on 01/28/2015