The Walkerville MCCollums

 

 

The clan had its Columbia County, Arkansas origin, when John Clayton McCollum and his wife Pricilla Tyler and their family moved to Mississippi Township (the western part of what is now Emerson Township) circa 1858.  They acquired several patent deeds from the Federal Government and raised a family of eight surviving children on this homestead.  One of these was Daniel Elisha McCollum.  Daniel, upon returning from the Civil War, went to work for the widow Martha Strickland Hodge and subsequently they were married and had two children - Pricilla Ida Elizabeth and Isaac Newton.

Isaac Newton McCollum was born on 4 July 1875 in Mississippi Township, Columbia County, near Emerson, Arkansas.  His wife, Sarah Daisy Paschal, was born on 20 November 1881 to Jeff and Jennie Paschal, in the Calhoun Community of Columbia County, Arkansas, six miles east of the county seat Magnolia.  The couple married on 5 June 1901 and established their home in what is now the Walkerville Community, where they reared eleven children.  They were known generally as Mr. Newton and Miss Daisy, as is the custom in these parts. 

The initial 120 acres of this farm, was purchased by Mr. Newton’s grandfather, William Strickland and given to his daughter, Martha (Newton’s mother), after she married Newton’s father, Daniel.  Newton took this small acreage, starting in 1900, and developed it into a farm of 720 acres.  In later years he gave 80 of it to his son Charlie.  However, the remainder was kept intact by the family and an additional 80 acres was, in recent years, purchased from distant cousins, to bring the current total back up to 720 acres.

 Although the McCollums' formal schooling was limited to that provided by their respective communities, they were convinced of the importance of a good formal education.  In fact, the standing rule of the household was, "When the `book farmer' (as the county agent was referred to in those days) makes a visit, tie up your mule and learn all you can."  Daniel’s and Newton's passions for education were a primary motivating factor in this regard and in their roles in the establishment of the Arkansas Agricultural School, Third District (TDAS) just north of the county seat, Magnolia.

 The McCollums were a very self-sufficient, vigorous people who taught their eleven children the values and rewards of hard work.  Mr. Newton's, ambition to be a good farmer and provider for his family was stimulated in part by the farming articles he so avidly read.  His success was due partially to the fact that he was not bound by tradition.  For example, he paid house insurance with two dressed hogs for many years and he bartered for fencing for his farm as well.  His versatility included changing from crop farming to livestock agriculture after reaching the age of sixty.  Also, he took advantage of a near-by oil boom by making frequent trips to the food-scarce area with farm products such as milk, butter, eggs, meat, vegetables and syrup - an enterprise which required the assistance of all family members in residence at the time.

As was the case with most farm wives of the day, Miss Daisy was no mere housewife!  In addition to running the household, she always had a large vegetable garden and chickens for both meat and eggs.  She assumed the dairying operations, which included milking the cows and preparation of milk for drinking, butter and cheese.  Many of her milk and poultry products were traded with a community peddler for yard goods and household products.

Miss Daisy contracted glaucoma during the 1920's, a time when no treatment was available.  Although she completely lost her eyesight during the forties, she never complained or treated her blindness as a handicap.  She continued to do all of her housework, managed her chickens and learned to use a typewriter in order to correspond with her children who were away from home.  In the early forties she received a reading machine from the Library of Congress along with books in phonograph record form.  She read and promptly returned all books and magazines and for many years received the "Reader's Digest" on a current basis.  One of the most exciting highlights of Daisy McCollum's life occurred in 1956 when she was named Arkansas Mother of the Year and was invited to go to Little Rock to receive her award from Gov. Faubus.

The McCollum family led the community in experimenting with new crops and agricultural techniques, using modern machinery, and in practicing conservation measures on their farm.  Among the innovations and accomplishments attributed to the McCollums:

 Of all the things that happened in the lives of the McCollums, the most significant was the establishment of the Arkansas Agricultural School, Third District (known as TDAS and forerunner of the present day Southern Arkansas University).  Foreseeing the importance of a good education, Mr. Newton’s father, Daniel Elisha McCollum, sought contributions from other farmers in the area, collecting nearly a third of the some $40,000 (in those days, a substantial sum of money), to induce the State of Arkansas to place the school in Columbia County, instead of in one of the several other counties in Southwest Arkansas who were vying for it.  Ultimately, ten of the eleven McCollum children would attend TDAS and its subsequent iterations; and all eleven eventually obtained a full college education, many with advanced degrees.  This was particularly remarkable, considering that they lived in the rural backwater of South Arkansas and were born between 1902 and 1920!  All led successful and meaningful lives, as noted in the following paragraphs.

 William Carl, the eldest of the McCollum children, attended TDAS for high school and graduated in 1921.  He went on to Oklahoma A&M College (now Oklahoma State University) where he earned a BS in agronomy in only three years, having been given credit for his entire freshman year, based upon what he had learned at TDAS.  Upon graduation, he first taught vocational agriculture and then joined the Soil Conservation Service, where he served for some 30 years before retiring.  He is largely responsible for reversing the serious water erosion problem in Eastern Oklahoma.  Not to let any grass grow under his feet, he led an active and productive life until after his 100th birthday!  Even at age 95, he was doing yard work for neighbors in Kilgore, Texas, where he and his wife Nelwyn lived in retirement.  When he died five weeks short of his 103rd birthday, he was the oldest living graduate of what is now Southern Arkansas University.

 Vera Mae (now deceased) completed high school at TDAS in only three years, graduating in 1922.  She was asked to teach at her rural school upon graduation from TDAS and did so for two years before attending Oklahoma A&M with her younger brother John. She was awarded a BS in home economics, again, in only three years, and worked as a home economist with the Arkansas Extension Service for several years, before marrying Thurman Chisholm, of Macedonia, Arkansas and settling in Bryan, Texas with her family.

 John Paschal (now deceased) completed high school at TDAS in only three years, as well, graduating in 1924.  He went on to Oklahoma A&M, receiving his BS in agriculture, again, in only three years.  He then went on to Cornell University in Upstate New York, to pursue a PhD in horticulture, making him the first graduate of TDAS to earn a doctor's degree.  After running the Long Island Research Station in New York for a short period, he accepted an appointment at the University of Illinois to do research and teach in the field of olericulture, finally retiring as a full professor in 1971 to Springdale, Arkansas.  His wife of more than 50 years, Vashti Ruth Cromwell was the plaintiff in the landmark constitutional law case in the mid-forties involving the first amendment establishment of religion clause, Peo. of the State of Illinois, ex rel McCollum -v- Bd. of Educaton 333 US 203 (1948).  One of his sons, Dannel, went on to become the longest sitting mayor of Champaign, Illinois and is a published author.

 Elisha Thomas (now deceased) received his high school diploma from what was, by now, known as Magnolia A&M, formerly TDAS, and stayed on to earn an AA degree in 1928.  He subsequently went on to Oklahoma A&M to earn his BS degree in agriculture.  After graduation, he joined the Soil Conservation Service, during which he served as the District Conservationist at Vinita, Oklahoma for 26 years and received several awards in recognition of his outstanding work as a soil conservationist.  He retired with his late wife Catherine in Vinita.

 Mattie Faye (now deceased), graduated from Magnolia A&M in 1926 and went to Oklahoma A&M to earn both a BS and an MS degree.   After working several years with government agencies in various states, achieving the highest ranking office held by a woman in the State of Mississippi, she returned to Columbia County in 1957 to take care of her parents and served as the Director of the Columbia County Department of Social Services until her retirement in 1974.  She and her late husband Ray, lived on the McCollum home place in Walkerville for a number of years until after Ray's death, when she moved to Prescott to live with her sister Ida.

 Charlie Newton (now deceased), after graduating in 1931 from Magnolia A&M with his high school diploma, went on to study at the University of Illinois, where his older brother John was a professor, and then on to Arkansas State Teachers College.  Albeit he was the only McCollum of his generation who didn't earn at least a bachelors degree from college, he did, in fact, have the equivalency of one.  His life's work was as a soil scientist with the Soil Conservation Service, where he served for 36 years with distinction, before retiring as one of the leading soil scientists in the south central United States.  He continued to be in demand as a consultant some years afterwards.  Upon his advice and counsel, Weyerhauser established one of its principal tree nurseries on former Paschal land in the Calhoun Community of Columbia County, Arkansas.  Until his death in 1988, he lived with his wife Doris in Ashdown, Arkansas.

 Jennie Rachel, after graduating from Magnolia A&M in 1930, took a BS in home economics at Oklahoma A&M.  Instead of a formal career, however, she opted to be a homemaker, marrying Glen Beecham in 1936.  Now widowed, she lives in Oklahoma City.

 Ida Irene (now deceased), received her AA from Magnolia A&M in 1936 and went on to study home economics at Oklahoma A&M, receiving her BS in 1938.  She returned to school and earned her MS from the University of Arkansas in 1961.  She taught home economics for six years and chemistry and biology for 23 years in the Prescott, Arkansas schools before retiring and was named Outstanding Biology Teacher in the State of Arkansas in 1972 and Outstanding Teacher in 1977 by the Prescott Chamber of Commerce.  She married Sidney Purtle in 1938, was widowed while her three children were still quite young and successfully raised her family while pursuing her teaching career. Her oldest son David was a senior executive with Tyson Foods and later of the Retail Poultry Sales division of ConAgra.

 Izora Pauline (now deceased) pursued the same academic course as her twin sister Ida through her BS at Oklahoma A&M in home economics and subsequent graduate work in the field of elementary education.  She taught for 18 years in various Arkansas schools before retiring in Camden, Arkansas, where she lived with her husband E. A. Wilson until her death in 1990.

 Joe Dean, the last of the McCollums of his generation to attend Magnolia A&M, obtained his AA in 1937 and went on to earn his BS in agronomy at the University of Arkansas in 1939.   After serving with the US Army in World War II, he moved to Twin Falls, Idaho and started Simplot Soil Builders Inc. in 1947, later to merge into the J.R. Simplot Company.  He retired from Simplot in 1982, maintaining, with his wife Jean, a home in Twin Falls and one in Sun City, Arizona.

 Ben Donald, the youngest of the McCollum children, was the only one who did not attend the school his father and grandfather had such a key role in establishing.  But he did go on to college, nonetheless, graduating from the University of Arkansas in 1943 with a BS in agriculture.  After serving with the US Army in the European Theater during World War II and upon recovering from a severe mortar wound incurred during that service, he returned to the University where he furthered his education and student assistant work.  He then joined his brother Joe at Simplot in Idaho in 1949.  In 1971 he completed the Stanford Executive Program in Business.  Before retirement in 1985, he rose to the position of President of the Simplot Mineral and Chemical Division.  Ben and his wife Ruth live in retirement in Sun City West, Arizona.

 From the late teens into the forties, there was always at least one McCollum and usually more attending TDAS or one of its later manifestations at any given time, whether they be children of Newton and Daisy, grandchildren or collaterals.  Certainly, it cannot be denied that Mr. Newton’s and his father’s efforts ultimately paid major dividends to the McCollum family and to Southwest Arkansas in general.

 In commemoration of their roles in promoting the education of their children and in the establishment of what is now known as Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Arkansas, the McCollum family has established seven fully funded scholarships at the school, two of which are in the names of the progenitors of the clan, Daniel, Newton and Daisy McCollum.

 Through the foresight of Mr. Newton's son Charlie, the family farm in the Walkerville Community remains intact, in production as a timber farm and in the possession of the family to this day, more than 140 years after the first elements of it were acquired by Martha and Daniel McCollum.  This achievement has been recognized by the Arkansas Farm Bureau in Columbia County in designating the McCollum farm as an “Outstanding Century Farm,” the first so recognized in the State of Arkansas.  This farm is responsible for perpetuating the annual reunions of the I. N. McCollum Clan eight generations after it was initially acquired by the family, in the 19th Century!

Dr. James T. McCollum