Claude Nimmo on this list sent me pages of this book, concerning the Desha line (one Desha descendent married an Egner of Arkansas). A long but interesting read. All typos are mine. All comments in [ ] are mine. ---Celia :o) >From the book: Pioneers and Makers of Arkansas by: Mr Josiah H Shinn 1849-1917. Published 1908 Little Rock Ar pages 331 - 337 Chapter XXXIX The Deshas [skipped: several paragraphs on population, which mentions no surnames] Influence of a Name It is interesting to note not only the trend of population, but the influence which a single name often bears upon the community to which it attaches. The Huguenots were a wise, temperate, frugal and most accomplished set of people in south France, who contributed most largely to the glory of France, and who attached themselves to the Protestant cause. Catholic France made a great mistake in so prosecuting these Huguenots as to force them to leave their native home for a refuge in the wilds of America. Persecution always reacts upon itself and the Catholics have not been the only persecutors. Protestant New England drove the Baptists from their midst; Protestant Virginia persecuted Quakers, Methodists, and Baptists, and so on to the end. One body of these thrifty and cultured Huguenots from France found a home at Manakintown, Viriginia, and developed a community from which some of the ablest men and families of the United States have sprung. It gave the Deshas, Duvalls, Jordans and others to Arkansas, families which have at all times been a decided acquisition to territorial and State growth. Old Ben Desha of Manakintown, was a refined industrious and learned man, descended from an illustrious line of French-men. His sons and daughters became Americans in every sense of the word, and a grandson, Joseph Desha, a general in the United States army and governor of Kentucky. This grand old man sent four sons and daughters into the territory of Arkansas, every one of whom was a tower of strength in the community to which he or she went. His oldest son was named Benjamin, Kentucky born, who in 1812 was made a first lieutenant in the Seventeenth Infantry, which appointment was not confirmed by the United States Senate. In the next year he was confirmed as a third lieutenant in the First Regiment of Light Dragoons; in the next year he was advanced to the grade of captain in the Second Regiment of the United States Rifles. The traditions of Captain Ben Desha are still cherished by Kentuckians, who are descended from soldiers of these regiments. He resigned in 1815 to accept a seat in the legislature of Kentucky, where he won a position almost as distinguished as that of his illustrious father. In 1822 President Monroe offered him the receivership of public moneys of the terrritory of Arkansas, which position he accepted, and whose duties he performed honorably and well for many years. The thrift of the Huguenots never deserted him, nor did their refinement of manners. Deshas of Arkansas Old Captain Desha of early Arkansas history was a man of whom all Arkansans were justly proud. He was a Whig of the most pronounced type, but was universally admired by the Democrats. In the unfortunate duel between Crittendon and Conway, Desha acted as second for Mr. Crittendon, and no man exhibited a more genuine grief for the death of his friend than did Captain Desha. He acquired wealth in the territory of his adoption, and died November 21, 1835, universally respected and admired. A county in the State, in whose confines he lived an honored man when it was a territorial part of another division, bears his name today. Of a second son, Robert Desha, also a captain in the United States army, we have already given a partial account [must be in a different part of the book]. While stationed at Norfolk, Viriginia, with his regiment he became acquanted with Frances Ann Ferebe, a daughter of one of the most aristocratic families of that city. Captain Robert Desha was soon tranferred to the Marine Corps, with headquarters alternating between Helena, Arkansas and New Orleans, Louisana. His accomplished wife came with him to the territory in 1819, and the thrift of the family was never better exemplified than in the case of Captain Robert Desha. He died November 6, 1822, one of the richest men in the territory. George Ferebe, brother of Mrs. Robert Desha, moved to Helena in 1820, and for many years was one of the leading citizens of that pioneer town. A sister of Captain Desha, coming to Arkansas from Kentucky to visit her brother, was wooed and won by George Ferebe, and one child Richard Montgomery Ferebe, blessed this union. This boy died in early manhood, and the name Ferebe became extinct in Arkansas, and is almost extinct at its old seating place, Norfolk, Viriginia. Such is the fate of individuals and such is the fate of names. They rise, are glorified and then sink into oblivion and decay. The widow of Captain Robert Desha, within two years after the death of her husband, was married the second time to Captain Hartwell Boswell, one of the most distinguished men of Batesville, Arkansas. Another daughter of Captain Robert Desha of Kentucky, while on a visit to Mrs. Boswell at Batesville, captivated the affections of Joseph Egner, a pioneer of Batesville from 1818. Four children blessed this union, Elvira Fowler Egner, Henry Egner, Viriginia Egner, and Cornelius Egner. These and their descendents contributed largely to the wealth and refinement of early Independence County, and are now scattered through seven or eight counties of the State. Captain Robert Desha, who married Frances Ann Ferebe, left two children, Franklin W. Desha and Margaret Frances Desha, whose descendents ramify all eastern Arkansas, and whose life work has contributed largely to the better interests of the State. Franklin W. Desha at Batesville, married Elizabeth Searcy, the sister of Richard Searcy, one of the best lawyers of early days. The children of this marriage where Robert, Benjamin, Stonewall, Mary and Lizzie, all of whom lived to be men and women, doing a great life work, but only one of them, Lizzie, became entangled in matrimony. Robert was sheriff of the county in later days, as was his uncle, Joe Egner, in early days. I believe that all these children are dead, except Ben, and the name Desha, so far as Arkansas is concerned, has also become extinct. The blook of Franklin W. Desha, however, is carried down to posterity through Lizzie, who married a prominient citizen of Independence County. State's Most Beautiful Woman. The second child of Robert and Frances Ann Desha was a daughter, Margaret Frances, who married twice, each time to a distinguished citizen of Batesville. Margaret as well as her brother, Franklin W. Desha, was born at the Washington Navy Yar. She was educated at Ellicott City, Maryland, the seat then of the greatest female educational institution of the State. She was a most accomplished woman, as was her classmate, Lucretia Ringgold, the most beautiful woman of early Arkansas history, daughter of an accomplished jurist, Judge Ringgold, and wife of that greatest of early Arkansas writers, Fent Noland, the wandering comet of the literary sky. When Margaret Frances Desha returned to Batesville, the most accomplished woman of the town, she was wooed and won by William French Dention, a distinguished lawyer of Batesville, and a gift of Tennesse to Arkansas growth. Several children followed this marriage, namely, Frances Jane, Franklin Desha, Elvira Fowler and William French. Of one of these children, Franklin Desha, Arkansas may well be proud. For years he was the central figure in the newspaper life of the State, and no one has contributed more to its development than F. D. Denton. He established the Batesville Bee, which had a long and successful existence, and then the Batesville Guard, now controlled by that accomplished gentleman Edward Givens. not to have known F.D. Denton from 1870 to 1890 was to acknowledge yourself comparatively unknown. William French Denton, his brother, dedicated his young life to the Southern cuase and was killed at his post. Margaret Frances (Desha) Denton took for a second husband that distinguished gentlemen, Judge Buford H. Neely of Batesville, and had several children. The first child, Mary Euphenia Neely, married Mark Wycough, well known throughout Independence COunty and the adjacent counties. The second child was Elizabeth Egner Neely, who married J. D. Vance, an accomplished scholar from Tennesse, now engaged in literary work in Washington, D.C. There is no better woman living than Elizabeth Egner Vance, and in her advanced age she remains a distiguished example of the refinement, the courtesy and the intelligence of the old Huguenot Deshas, with the strength which has come thorugh the new lines of blood, the Ferebes and Neeleys. The third child of Margaret Frances Neely by her last marriage was Esther Ann, who at Batesville made two ventures in matrimony, her first husband being James Ellis, and her second, George Emmert. Absalom Fowler, a Viriginia lawyer, moved to Little Rock in the twenties, and acquired a position second to that of no lawyer of early Arkansas days. He ranked with Chester Ashley, and was a tower of strength to any cause to which he lent his influence. He held legislative positions and was one of the most prominent members of the Arkansas Constitutional Convention. Colonel Bowell, by his first wife, had a daughter named Elvira, who became the wife of Absalom Fowler, but was never the mother of children. In this way the name Fowler, so far as it pertains to this distinguished line, became extint in Arkansas. Thus three names, the Deshas, the Ferebes and the Folwers have come into Arkansas life, have entangled themselves with all its stupendous problems, have contributed manfully to their solution, adding dignity and grace to its social institutions, and have passed out without leaving the name as a present inheritance to the State. These names, so far as their relations to these lines are concerned, are extinct, but the blood of the Deshas still runs in the veins of hundreds of Arkansas men and women, and to the last drop, wherever it may be found, carries an assurance of honesty, refinement, energy and intelligence. In these devious ways and by these tortuos methods is the great problems of civilization carried forward to mastery. A Bad Year for the Deshas November 6 will ever be remembered sorrowfully by the Desha family. On that day in 1822 Captian Robert M. Desha of the United States army, and a native of Kentucky, living at Helena, died of yellow fever at New Orleans. On November 6, 1823, Mrs. Rachel Harriett Boswell, wife of Colonel Hartwell Boswell of Batesville, and daughter of General Joseph Desha of Kentucky, died at her home in Batesville. Robert M. Desha was a most excellent army office and also a splended business man. Administration was granted his wife Frances Ann Desha, and George N. Ferebe, at Helena, in February, 1825. He owned ninety lots in Helena, besides about an equal number in Davidsonville, Batesville and Little Rock. His inventory took a column in the Gazette. He was also the owner of large bodies of land in several counties of the State. Colonel Boswell was the appointee of President Monroe to the Lawrence Land Office, which position he held for many years. He was also a member of the Arkansas legislature and a most capable man. He was for years colonel of the Seventh Arkansas regiment of militia and an honor to the position. On July 1, 1829, Colonel Boswell took a trip to Kentucky and for the second time carried away from the residence of General and ex-Governor Joseph Desha a wife. The first time he took the general's daughter; the second time, his daughter-in-law. He married Mrs. Frances Ann Desha, widow of Captain Robert M. Desha, of the United States Marine Corps, and returned to Batesville, where his wife formed one of the leaders of early Batesville society, at that time the most exclusive society in the State. Colonel Noland had lived there for many years with his Viriginia wife, imported a refinement and courtesy which attracted to Batesville some of the best people of the early days. Colonel Boswell died January 13, 1833. ========== end excerpt from Pioneers and Makers of Arkansas