Editor’s Note: The following is Part 2 of a 4-part article
LONOKE COUNTY, AR—The community centered on the crossroads of U.S. Highway 70 and what is now State Highway 15. This intersection was affectionately known as “the corner.” On “the corner” was Phillips General Store, a white-owned grocery store with gasoline pumps in front. Just across the highway was a black-owned store/café. Charlie Parker was the proprietor of this business. At some point in time, Parker leased the business to younger African Americans. Joe Bryant and his older brother, Robert, enhanced the café but they were also sharecroppers on a neighboring white-owned farm.
Union Valley Baptist Church and Union Valley Grade School was about a hundred and fifty yards away. Union Valley Baptist Church was established in November of 1867. During the 1940’s and 1950’s Reverend Cornelius Holmes was the pastor, whose cup of old-time religion was overflowing. Decades after the church was established, Mr. Buck Fletcher, a prominent white landowner and farmer who was concerned about the social and educational opportunities of African-American children helped establish Union Valley Grade School. He was a benefactor of the school throughout its existence and he was a man that Black people held in high regard. Mr. Eddie Brown, an African-American, served as principal or supervisor of the school during the time the school operated. For a long period of time Mr. Brown served as Sunday School superintendent of the church. He was highly respected by Blacks and whites and he unequivocally filled the role of counselor/advisor for many in the area. Another Black school,
Martin Grade School, was approximately two miles west of “The Corner,” and Furlow Grade School was approximately a mile and a half north of “The Corner.” St. Matthews Baptist Church and Zion Chapel Baptist Church were both within two miles west of “The Corner.” Belle Grove Baptist Church and Turner’s Chapel CME Church were within two miles north of “The Corner.” Green Olive AME Church, Pea Ridge Christian Church and Walnut Grove Baptist Church all were within two miles south of “The Corner.” Sometimes churches got together for joint revival services. Baptisms were always held together at Bearskin Lake or Bayou Meto. They supported each other when one had a musical (singing) program and when the other hosted a picnic (box supper). Samuel Moragne and a few of his siblings formed one of the more popular singing groups.
Carvings on gravestones in the cemeteries tell us that there were several fraternal organizations which were active in the community. Stories passed down through the generations provide details of how all of the churches worked together to sustain harmony and cooperation throughout the population. Young men of the area formed baseball teams and during summer months competed on Sunday afternoons in fun and wholesome games. Brothers Joe and Robert
Bryant and their brother-in-law, Joseph Brown, were some of the players on the Union Valley Team. Joe and Robert would have hot dogs, candy and cold drinks from their café to sell at the games. Others from the area would fry fish and sell dinners during the exciting games.
