James Hayden Van Hoose

James Hayden VanHoose, mayor of Fayetteville, was born near Paintsville in Johnson County, Ky. Jan. 8, 1830, the son of John and Lydia (Lewis) VanHoose, grandson of John VanHoose who was a native of Holland. The VanHoose ancestors, from far back, were honest God-fearing people. Valentine VanHoose, brother of John VanHoose, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and rendered honorable service under General Marion.

John VanHoose,father of subject, was a native of Montgomery County, N.C. Her father, Zachariah Lewis, was a native of Orange County, N.C. and died when a young man. His widow then married Peter Mankins, who was a native of the District of Columbia, and who, when a lad, saw the American army in its march to attack Cornwallis at Yorktown, and he, with other lads, followed the army some distance out of the city. He was a member of the Baptist Church, and died December 31,1881, at the great age of one hundred and eleven years, three months and ten or eleven days, and had been a deacon in his church for over seventy years.

James Hayden VanHoose came to Arkansas from Kentucky May 1839, and grew to manhood in what is now called White River Township. He followed agricultural pursuits until his twenty-first year when he went to Ozark Institute, and worked for Robert W Mecklin, founder of that institute, for $13 a month, to pay for his education, which had been sadly neglected.

March 8,1852 he came to Fayetteville and began clerking for James Sutton, with whom he remained until Sutton quit business and sold out to McIlroy in November 1855. August 9,1855, he married Melinda McIlroy, only daughter of William McIlroy, and after the bank failure of D.D. Stark & Co. in 1875, Mr. VanHoose, with Mr. McIlroy, took charge of that business, which he continued until 1877, after which he resumed merchandising, and continued this business until 1882, when he abandoned it, and has since engaged in the insurance line, severing his connection with the bank of William McIloy, of which he had been cashier for tow years previous to 1876.

In September 1864, Mrs. VanHoose died, and Mr. VanHoose afterward married Miss Martha W. Skelton, daughter of William Skelton Esq. Mr. VanHoose has reared two orphan girls, Mary Eaton, whom he educated at the University and who is now the accomplished wife of Samuel Jarman of Ark., and Minnie Brooks, which is now at home.

In 1880 Mr. VanHoose was elected to the same position, and is now filling it. He has always entertained  liberal views, and has acted as correspondent for several papers outside of his home town, and neverfailed to say something good for Fayetteville and for Washington County and in fact for all Arkansas, and contributed largely toward inducing immigration into his state and county.

In politics he is a Democrat; in religion a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He has written many sketches of early history, and graphically portrayed some of the scenes of pioneer life in Arkansas. He was a friend of education, and although having no children of his own, he willingly paid his school tax, that the rising generation might be educated. As there were no schools in the early days, when he was a boy growing up in the backwoods of Arkansas, he knew how to appreciate the need of them. He is the oldest notary public in this county, having been appointed by Governor Conway in 1857, and has held the position ever since.

He was made a Mason in 1853, and has since passed all the chairs in the several grand bodies in Arkansas. Mr. VanHoose is a man noted far and near for his many charitable deeds, and an appeal to him is never in vain. As one example of his many benevolent actions and his goodness of heart, the following may be mentioned.

Sometime in January 1884, he received a letter from a little orphan girl living in one of the southern counties in the State of Arkansas, of which this letter is a perfect copy, name and address only omitted.

Arkansas, January 13, 1884

Master of the granD log of Arkanas,
Dear Sir, I thought I would write and see if there wasent 
School funs to edg Massons offens that was not able to edg-
Cate theirselves, if so I wousht you would try and help us.
there are 3 of us an nun of us has any edgCation. We all
hafter work in the field to make a livin. I hav a Brother he
is 15 years old and a sister 17 I am 13 years old. If we
had a edgCation we could make a livin without any help.
I have Sumpthen to Show that my father was in good Standen
and if necessary to send it you can write and I will
send it to you. I think we oughter be helped for we are
young an cannot help ourselfs. 
We are the orphens of JohnT__________ he was in 
Good Standen till death.

Please write sune
I remain your Young frien
Minnie__________

Mr. VanHoose, whose kind heart was not proof against appeals far less touching than this, did "write sune" and gave her all the encouragement he could, but was compelled to tell her that there was "No funs" set apart by the Grand Lodge to educate Masons' orphans. He, however, corresponded with the girl for some time, and soon learned her family history. She was the youngest of three children, was born in Louisiana, and her father died when she was a babe. The widowed mother then moved to South Arkanas, where she died in 1881 of pneumonia. The children were thus thrown upon their own resources, and struggled long and hard to pay doctor's bills and funeral expenses. Mr. VanHoose was anxious to see this little girl, who was ambitious to learn, to receive a good education, and wanted to do something practical in the way of assisting her to gratify her laudable ambition, and wanted it done in the name of Masonry. He therefore appealed to every lodge in Arkanas, to every Mason, to their wives and daughters, to only give 10 cents each, and succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectations. The little girl was sent to school and received the much longed for education.

When it became certain that General Harrison had been elected President of the United States, Major J.H. VanHoose wrote him a letter of "best wishes" and received by return mail a kind and courteous reply. This congratulatory note of the most highly prized General Harrison received, and it's sincerity is the more appreciable as it comes from a Democrat, the Mayor of a Democratic city, in a Democratic State, and from one who (as Mayor VanHoose himself says) is "not an applicant for office."

Goodspeed Pub. Co. "History of Northwest Arkansas Counties"

More About JAMES HAYDEN VANHOOSE:
Burial: Evergreen Cemetery, Fayetteville, Washington Co., Ar.

More About MARTHA WALLACE SKELTON:
Burial: Evergreen Cemetery, Fayetteville, Washington Co., Ar.

48. viii. GEORGE WASHINGTON VANHOOSE, b. September 15, 1832, Floyd Co., Kentucky; d. October 13, 1909, Fayetteville, Washington Co., Ar..
ix. JACOB MONROE VANHOOSE, b. July 14, 1835, Floyd Co., Kentucky; d. 1915, Montana.

Notes for JACOB MONROE VANHOOSE:
Source: Joyce Lindstrom's book, died unmarried

49. x. ELIZABETH JANE VANHOOSE, b. November 24, 1837, Floyd Co., Kentucky; d. December 18, 1926, El Modena, Orange Co., Ca..
xi. HENRY BRACKEN VANHOOSE, b. 1840, Washington Co., Ar.; d. March 19, 1868.

Notes for HENRY BRACKEN VANHOOSE:
Source: Joyce Lindstrom's book, died unmarried
Military: Served in the Civil War in Co. D,17 Griffith's Ark. Infantry & Co. K,11th & 17th consolidated
Arkanas Infantry.

xii. LYDIA NARCISSA VANHOOSE, b. 1843, Washington Co., Ar.; d. 1846, Washington Co., Ar.