My grandparents were Jesse W. Hesterly and Martha Elizabeth Evans Hesterly. They lived in Sayre, AR from around 1900 until their deaths in 1973 and 1970 respectively. My Great Great Grandfather, James McEwing Douglas, Grandmother's grandfather, was postmaster at Sayre and also the mayor for awhile in the 1890's. Sayre was established around 1886 when the St. Louis and Iron Mountain Railroad, later the Missouri Pacific RR, built a branch line from Gurdon, AR down to Camden, AR. I remember asking my grandparents before they passed away who Sayre was named for, and they both said they didn' t know. As far as I know, there was no family named Sayre living in the area. It was my guess that Sayre was named for somebody involved with the railroad, or had some connection with the sawmill that was established in Sayre back in the 1890's. This is only a guess. If anyone has information that establishes who Sayre was named for, I would like to know, because it has been a mystery for years and years, and all the history of Ouachita County that I looked through has never given any clue towards solving this mystery. Keith Whitman, Texarkana, TX

-----Snip----- > line from Gurdon, AR down to Camden, AR. I remember asking my grandparents > before they passed away who Sayre was named for, and they both said they > didn' t know. As far as I know, there was no family named Sayre living in > the area. It was my guess that Sayre was named for somebody involved with > the railroad, or had some connection with the sawmill that was established in > Sayre back in the 1890's. This is only a guess. If anyone has information > that establishes who Sayre was named for, I would like to know, because it > has been a mystery for years and years, and all the history of Ouachita > County that I looked through has never given any clue towards solving this > mystery. > Keith Whitman, Texarkana, TX > Well, from this link: http://www.pcfa.org/community/?number=315 we learn that Sayre was originally a post office, near Reader's Mill. (This page is a fascinating story of the Possum Trot Line (the Reader Railroad), which still operates today, I gather, with its 1907 wood-burning steam engine, for tourists.) And we find a mention of the Wallace burial plot in Sayre at this link: http://www.rootsweb.com/~arcemete/ouachita/ouachita.htm This, btw, is the Ouachita county, Arkansas, Cemeteries page of the Arkansas Cemeteries website at http://www.rootsweb.com/~arcemete/arcem.htm Here's a little geographic data from the "Places Named" website (I believe Places Named was covered in the second or third issue of The Electronic Genealogist...:>) Sayre, Arkansas, United States [Place] is in Ouachita County; location is 33°45'7"N 93°5'31"W; elevation is 206 feet [SourceGSP] I did NOT come up with any history on Sayre, however, other than the fact that it started as a post office. That being the case, I'd look for a family named Sayre near reading Mill prior to 1891. I'd bet you'll find them - and find they were the original postmasters... trapper John Lancaster, author of The Electronic Genealogist The FREE Weekly Genealogy Site Review Email Letter http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jclancaster/teg/index.html Email: mailto:jclanc@swbell.net