Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 08/02/06
SUMMARY
Constructed prior to 1861, the Hampton-Kervin Homestead is being nominated to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places with local significance under Criterion C as a good example of a Plain/Traditional log dogtrot house in the Rock Island Community, north of Fordyce in Dallas County, Arkansas. Contributing to the nomination is a Plain/Traditional-style cotton seed house built in the early 1900s. The property evolved during the period prior to, and after, the Civil War. Because of the homestead’s association with Rock Island’s early settlement, the property is also eligible for nomination under Criterion A. The property has remained in the Kervin Family for over 100 years.
ELABORATION
Town and County History
The Hampton-Kervin House is located in the Rock Island Community, which got its name from the Rock Island Railroad. The railroad came through the area as it traveled from Fordyce to Carthage in Dallas County, Arkansas.
Dallas County was formed in on January 1, 1845, taking parts of Clark and Bradley Counties. It was named in honor of George M. Dallas, who was elected Vice President of the United States in 1844. Princeton was selected as the county seat, with the site being selected by Hawes Coleman, Albert Phillips and Squire Ramsay. The town was platted by Joseph Gray for the commissioners.
The first courthouse was a log structure, erected at a cost of $300.00, and was used from 1844 until 1852. During those years, Princeton grew rapidly. However, after the building of the Iron Mountain and St. Louis Southwestern Railroad, several of the leading businesses moved to Fordyce and Malvern, Hot Spring County, in order to take advantage of the rail system. This shift in business locations was a major factor in the county seat being relocated to Fordyce. This transition was the major cause in the decline of Princeton’s population until only 191 people resided in the town in 1920.
Dallas County is in the south central part of the state, bounded on the north by Grant and Hot Spring Counties; on the east by Grant and Cleveland Counties; on the south by Calhoun and Ouachita Counties and on the west by Clark County. It has an area of approximately 679 square miles
Many families resided in the Rock Island Community and most were farmers. There were no businesses or post office in the community, but there was a local school. The school remained open until 1948, when it consolidated with Fordyce School District. At that time 20 people lived in the community.
Hampton-Kervin House History
The Hampton-Kervin Homestead was constructed prior to 1861 in the Rock Island Community, north of Fordyce, Arkansas, during the early settlement period of Bunn Township in Dallas County. In 1990, Bunn Township’s name was changed to Southall Township.
The house was crafted with hand-hewn log construction methods, and employed early carpentry techniques. Despite modifications over the years, the core structure has maintained its original craftsmanship and appearance. It represents a typical functional home of the time of its construction, circa 1861. Additions were constructed onto the house as the growing family necessitated, and funds and materials became available.
This house is one of the oldest structures extant in Dallas County, and has been occupied as a principal residence until 1981. When the structure ceased to function as a primary residence, it was, and still is, used as a deer camp. The area where the property is located survived as a working family farm from its inception until the late 1970s. The home stands a legacy to the central Arkansas settlement process.
The area where the Hampton-Kervin House is located is known as the Rock Island Community and is about 11 miles north of Fordyce. Rock Island got its name from the Rock Island Railroad passing through the area on its journey from Fordyce to Carthage, Arkansas.
Daniel Kervin was the son of Morris Watson and Elizah Vinnie Pouncey Kervin, from Red Level, Alabama. Daniel served in one of the Alabama regiments in the Civil War, fighting for the Confederacy, and was granted a Governor’s Pardon after the war. Working as a horse trader, he migrated to Arkansas sometime prior to the mid-1880s. He supposedly was one of the Kervins who rode with Newt Knight’s Outlaw Gang in Mississippi.
Kervin married Emma Green on April 25, 1886. Emma’s parents were Baylor and Elvira Green, from the Bucksnort Community in Dallas County, Arkansas. Shortly after their marriage, they began to purchase real property in Dallas County. On January 31, 1887, Daniel and Emma purchased 320 acres from the State of Arkansas for back taxes. Even though the property was purchased on the same day, the purchase was recorded in two separate deeds, one 160 acre tract was deeded from the State to D.D. Kervin and recorded in Book “P”, Page 223, and the other 160 acre tract was deeded from the State to Emma Kervin and recorded in Book “P”, Page 222. This seemed unusual, but it has always been family lore that Emma was the business woman of the family, and her descendants believes it was her idea to purchase, deed and record the property as two separate tracts of land.
Daniel & Emma lived on this property until 1902 when they purchased another 160 acres, upon which the log dogtrot rests, from J.E. Hampton and his wife, Helen, and G.M. Hampton and his wife, Anna. The land and dogtrot was purchased on January 2, 1902, but the deed was not recorded until August 11, 1924, in Record Book 4, Page 115, in the office of the recorder of Dallas County, Arkansas. In 1980, the Kervins began selling the original 320 acres that they purchased in 1887. They sold the property in smaller acreage plots until it was all sold. The only land they would own from then until their death would be the 160 acres they purchased in 1902, upon which the log house was built.
Daniel and Emma had five children: Cattie, Lena, Jimmy Daniel, Morris B. and Willie G. Kervin. Daniel Kervin was a farmer and the large family was utilized in operating the family farm. Livestock was raised on the land, and many crops were planted to feed the livestock. Cotton was the family’s cash crop, and a variety of vegetables were farmed for the Kervins’ consumption.
Daniel Dozier Kervin died in 1940, at the age of 90. Emma Green Kervin died in 1945, at the age of 80. After their death, the property was inherited by their children. In 1952 and 1953 the children deeded in several deeds, the property to Reece Kervin, who was the son of Jimmy Daniel Kervin. These deeds are recorded in the following books and pages of the office of the recorder of Dallas County, Arkansas: Book 39, Page 437; Book 39, Page 451; Book 41, Page 231; Book 41, Page 233. After 1953, Reece Kervin sold 120 acres, while retaining the log house and 40 acres. After Reece’s death in 1993, Reece’s widow, Mary, sold 36 acres to Jimmy and Pam Kervin (great-grandson of Daniel and Emma) on January 31, 2003, recorded in Instrument 2003-149. The remaining 4 acres, and the log house, was deeded to Dana Kervin Hardman and Ann Kervin
Davis (daughters of Reece Kervin) on January 31, 2003, recorded in Instrument 2003-150. Dana and Ann are the current owners.
The Hampton-Kervin House is well known throughout the county. The current owners plan to keep the property in the family and preserve it.
During the construction that took place in the 1960s, there was a double barrel, double hammer shotgun found hidden in one of the walls of the house
that at that time was approximately 100 years old. The gun was displayed over the mantle of the fireplace in the log house for years, but was stolen
sometime in the 1980s.
Several members of the Kervin Family were very interested in the politics of the State and County. A political gathering was held in the form of a barbeque in the 1960’s at the Kervin Home for Sid McMath, who was running for the office of Governor of the State of Arkansas against the incumbent Governor Orville Faubus.
Reece’s daughter, Dana Kervin Hardman, who is now the owner of the Hampton-Kervin House, is the Dallas County Tax Assessor. She has served in that capacity since 1993.
SIGNIFICANCE
Constructed prior to 1861, the Hampton-Kervin House is being nominated to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places with local significance under Criterion
C as a good example of a Plain/Traditional log dogtrot house, located in the Rock Island Community, north of Fordyce in Dallas County Arkansas. Contributing
to the
nomination is a nice Plain/Traditional-style cotton seed house built in the early 1900s. Because of the property’s association with the early settlement
of the Rock Island Community, the property is also eligible for nomination under Criterion A. The property has remained in the Kervin Family for over
100 years.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Articles from the archives of the Fordyce News Advocate, Fordyce, Arkansas
Interview of Lois Kervin Faucett, the granddaughter of Daniel Dozier and Emma Green Kervin on March 18, 2006 at her home. Interview by Dana Kervin Hardman.
Interview of Sue Kervin Freer, the granddaughter of Daniel Dozier and Emma Green Kervin on March 20, 2006. Interview by Dana Kervin Hardman.
Journal of the History of the Kervin Family, written by many members of the Kervin Family, provided by Lois Kervin Faucett
Records of the Clerk of Dallas County, Arkansas:
Warranty Deeds
Deed Book P, Page 222, dated January 31, 1887, from The State of Arkansas to Kervin
Deed Book P, Page 223, dated January 31, 1887, from The State of Arkansas to Kervin.
Deed Book 4, Page 115, dated August 11, 1924, from Hampton to Kervin
Deed Book 39, Page 437, dated February 16, 1952, from Conrad to Kervin
Deed Book 39, Page 451, dated February 27, 1952, from Kervin to Kervin
Deed Book 41, Page 231, dated October 20, 1952, from Rogers to Kervin
Deed Book 41, Page 233, dated October 20, 1952, from Kervin to Kervin
Instrument #2003-149, dated January 31, 2003, from Kervin to Kervin
Instrument # 2003-150, dated January 31, 2003, from Kervin to Hardman/Davis