Mount Sequoyah Woods

Mount Sequoyah Woods
History

Methodist Assembly:

Mt. Sequoyah - The Golden Years (1923-1973): The Story of Mt. Sequoyah Assembly's First 50 Years by J.C.Montgomery, Jr. "Mt. Sequoyah's early history is that of financial difficulty, although the commissioners had expressed their hope to the annual conferences that the new conference grounds might stay out of debt, it soon was apparent that solvency would be a great worry."
Methodist Assembly to be Built on East Mountain: An article about the City of Fayetteville being chosen as the site of the Methodist Assembly. Fayetteville's offer included "the gift of 400 acres of land, including the top of East Mountain, $35,000 cash, a road from 1/4 to 1/2 mile in length to be built from the intersection of Maple Street and Jefferson Highway to the north entrance of the proposed Assembly grounds, and a water main piped from the city water supply and electric light connections to the top of the mountain." Fayetteville Daily Democrat March 16, 1922.
Half of Assembly Bonus Pledged at First Rally, Believed: An article about the rally held to launch the campaign to raise the necessary money for the Assembly. Each citizen was asked to "subscribe no less than four percent of the assessed value of his property, both real and personal." Fayetteville Daily Democrat March 27, 1922.
This is your town --- Boost it!: A series of four full-page ads that appeared in the Fayetteville Daily Democrat March 28 - 31, 1922 that encouraged the community to pledge money for the establishment of the Assembly.
Excerpt from "One Hundred Years of Fayetteville, 1828-1928": Information about the early history of the Assembly written by William S. Campbell. Includes a discussion about the amount of money spent on improvements to the grounds and surrounding area.
July 6, 1922 Memorandum of Agreement: Contract between the Methodist Western Assembly Association and the Citizens of Fayetteville (represented by J. H. McIlory, J. Fulbright and Art Lewis) for "propositions, donations and gifts" related to the establishment of the Assembly on Mt. Sequoyah.
Western Methodist Assembly Plat: Plan filed February 16, 1923. Proceeds from the sale of lots around Sky Line Drive helped finance the Assembly.
Warranty Deed for lot sold in 1923 by the Western Methodist Assembly: Western Methodist Assembly was the Grantor and James A. Ward Sr. was the Grantee. The first covenant reads, in part, "The party of the second part and those holding under or thourh [sic] him shall not sell said land or any part thereof to any person of negro blood". (182K)

Happy Hollow Farm:

The Story of An Arkansas Farm: A 1910 article about Happy Hollow Farm published in the Saturday Evening Post. The 120 acre farm was part of the original 400 acre land donation given to the Assembly by the Citizens of Fayetteville. The farm property was eventually sold by the Assembly and is now the site of "The Cliffs" - a multi-family housing development involving Jim Lindsey and Bill Underwood.
Early Images of Happy Hollow Farm: Images from the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Special Collections at the Univ. of Arkansas and "Happy Hollow Farm", a book by W. R. Lighton.
Happy Hollow Farm Placed on Register: Newspaper article from 1986 about Happy Hollow Farm being inducted into the National Register of Historic Places. "[The] farm was rebuilt in the early 1900's by William Lighton, a nationally read author and product of the Progressive Era who bought the 120-acre farm outside Fayetteville in order to implement the "gospel of efficiency" on a subsistence farm level."
William Rheem Lighton: Brief biography of the author of "Happy Hollow Farm" and other works. Information made available by Special Collections, University of Arkansas Library.