Newspaper The Arkansas Farmer (Conway, Ark.) 190?-1917

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About The Arkansas Farmer (Conway, Ark.) 190?-1917

Conway is the Faulkner County seat in central Arkansas, and in the late nineteenth century, it became a commercial center for the surrounding farmers who visited to sell their crops and buy supplies. By the early 20^th century, Conway boasted several colleges: Central College for Women (also called Central Baptist College), Arkansas State Normal School (later the University of Central Arkansas), and Hendrix College.

In February 1908, James “Jim” Bennett Higgins and Andrew Jackson Witt, Sr. renamed the Conway Weekly Times (190?-190?) to the Arkansas Farmer. Though Higgins and Witt ran the paper, they were leasing it from Louis “Sharp” Sharpe Dunaway, Sr., who purchased the newspaper plant in 1900. Higgins and Witt continued the Farmer as a weekly Democratic paper that supported George Washington Donaghey in his run for Arkansas governor. The Farmer shared agricultural and horticultural advice and news.

In April 1908, Witt sold his interest in the Farmer to Higgins and retired. In December 1908, Higgins left the Farmer to run for Chief Clerk in the Arkansas House of Representatives, having already worked as the Journal Clerk. Pinkie Asberry Hyatt, John Andrew Boone, and Marion Frank Dickinson took over the Farmer from Higgins. Dickinson was the new secretary-treasurer of the Arkansas Farmers Union and would become a major figure in the Arkansas Farmers Union for 50 years due to his progressive stance on labor issues.

At the time they purchased the Farmer, Dickinson, Boone, and Hyatt also purchased the Arkansas Union Tribune (1906-19??) from Benjamin “Ben” Loring Griffin. Griffin was the previous secretary-treasurer of the Farmers Union and publisher of the Conway Weekly Times from 1906 to 1907 before it was renamed the Farmer. The Tribune was the official organ of the Arkansas Farmers Union and used the Farmer’s printing plant to publish.

In June 1909, Dickinson, Boone, and Corley left the Farmer. In September 1910, Dickinson restarted the Rural Educator in Jonesboro as the new official organ of the Arkansas Farmers Union. The state headquarters of the Farmers Union also moved from Conway to Jonesboro. Dickinson began working at the new First District Agricultural School (now Arkansas State University) in Jonesboro as well. In 1911, he resigned from the Educator after graduating with his medical degree. In 1912 the Rural Educator (1911-19??) moved to Russellville.

In June 1909, Robert Lemuel Brawner, a former Arkansas legislature from Logan County, and Paul D. Cooper took over the Farmer after the Arkansas Farmers Union officers left. Brawner had been the Logan County representative in the Arkansas legislature. In August 1909, Cooper sold his interest in the Farmer to Brawner, who ran the paper alone. Cooper had only recently moved to Arkansas from Indiana and planned to return there to practice law.

In October 1909, Brawner retired as editor of the Farmer due to poor health, and Higgins returned as editor. Higgins worked with Tom A. Graham to publish the Farmer. In between his stints at the newspaper, Higgins served as Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives. He also worked as the Farmer’s business manager, with Graham in charge of the mechanical department.

In July 1910, a fire damaged the Farmer’s newspaper office, causing $700 worth of damage to the printing plant and newspaper building. At the end of July 1910, Higgins left the Farmer and dissolved his partnership with Graham, who ran the paper alone. Higgins again ran for chief clerk of the Arkansas General Assembly.

In September 1910, Samuel Anderson McNish, a newspaper veteran of over twenty years, took over the publishing and editing duties from Graham, who remained at the Farmer as foreman. Just prior to joining the Farmer, he was the editor of the Lafayette Recorder out of Lewisville. During this period, Dunaway and McNish attended the local Farmers Union meetings in Conway. McNish left the paper to work as a traveling agent for a Memphis paper. He later became the editor of the Beebe Bulletin.

In August 1911, Tom E. Wren took over for McNish. Prior to joining the Farmer, Wren worked at the local Log Cabin Democrat (1908-current) for 11 years. He ran the Farmer until April 1912, and then moved to Russellville to publish the Courier Democrat (1909-1914). Wren ended his lease of the Farmer, and Dunaway was left with no one to run the paper. Higgins temporarily rejoined the Farmer to keep it running, then decided to lease the paper from Dunaway again and continued publishing and editing the Farmer for a few years.

In September 1914, John Henry Hand took over from Higgins as publisher and editor. John Hand’s son, Roy Hamilton Hand, helped publish the Farmer. Roy Hand was formerly the publisher of the Marion County News in Yellville.

In February 1915, Elmer Rudolph Thompson joined the Farmer to work with John and Roy Hand. Thompson had previously worked at the Farmer when it was named the Faulkner County Times (1???-190?), under Dunaway in 1900. In between working at the Times and Farmer, Thompson worked in the newspaper business in Huttig, Arkansas. Roy Hand and Thompson ran the Farmer with assistance from John Hand, who was also working as the editor of the Marion County News. In 1916, Thompson took over from the Hands as editor and publisher. Roy Hand went to the Marion County News and ran it with his brother, Henry Grady Hand. Roy Hand later became the Arkansas State Printing Clerk in the 1920s.

In August 1916, Jacob Bartle Parker took over the Farmer from Thompson and ran it with his son, Edgar Bartle Parker. The Parkers previously established the Fort Smith Herald and New Elevator (1912-1915) in 1912 and ran it until 1915 when they closed it.

In 1916 the Farmer’s masthead included the text: “agricultural, horticultural, and farmers union” over a drawing of farm fields with the note “Our Motto: Farmers to the Front.” The masthead also included drawings of the three colleges in Conway: Central Baptist College, State Normal School, and Hendrix College.

In August 1917, the Parkers renamed the Arkansas Farmer back to the Conway Weekly Times (1917-1928), publishing on Fridays. Jacob Parker stated the reason for the name change was that the Farmer title was confusing, and the “Conway Weekly Times” was more expressive of the paper’s function.