Lorenzo Jackson and Eleanora Bible SPEEGLE

"Eleanora's husband, Lorenzo Jackson Speegle, cut the stone and chiseled out the lettering for his wife's tombstone at Speegle Cemetery near Bloomer, Arkansas, in the Fort Chaffee Reservation."

A brief autobiography by Lorenzo Jackson Speegle:

"Thinking that I may be the oldest man in the county, I will give you a short sketch my life. I was born in Buncombe County, North Carolina, February 18, 1815, just after Jackson's great victory at New Orleans. A man by the name of Lorenzo Dow was preaching in the neighborhood at the time, and in deciding on a name for me, they gave me the name, Lorenzo Jackson. When I was nine years old, my parents moved to Habersham County, Georgia, remaining there until I was fourteen years old, when they moved to Marion County, Tennessee. When I had a family of my own I moved to Jasper County, Missouri. I lived there fourteen years. I then moved to McLennan County, Texas. When Southern Congress passed the Conscript Law that all able-bodied men under fifty years of age should go to war, I was just 48 year old, so that took me into war. When my company was ordered out, they had orders to take their own guns. When we got to Houston, there were more than half of the guns to be repaired. The Captain wanted to know if there was any one in the company that could work on guns. I offered my services. Two more men and myself loaded the old guns in a wagon and took them to the gun-shop and fixed them. When we got through, the Captain had lots more guns to repair. Seeing that I was pretty handy in the work, he went to Magruder and had me detailed to stay there. I served until the war was over, and in 1866, I moved to Crawford County, Arkansas, and in 1869 I moved to Sebastian County, Arkansas, where I am now living. I have always been a farmer and a blacksmith. I always was a natural genius; could make nearly anything I wanted to, from a saw mill down to a Jew's harp. My children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren number sixty-nine. This day, June 18th 1899, I am eighty-four years and four months old. (Signed) Lorenzo Jackson Speegle" [He died on June 21, 1899, three days after he wrote his story.

The family sent the article to the county paper in Greenwood, Arkansas and it was printed in the paper the following week.]

"Lorenzo Jackson Speegle was known to his friends as Uncle Jackie Speegle. His grandchildren and his descendants called him Grandfather Speegle. In the article he wrote a few days before his death he stated he was a genius and could make anything from a saw mill to a Jew's harp. This was really true. He made a self-serving table. The only one we have ever heard of. The table was a tier table, the center was higher and served as a revolving table to hold the food. The lower table held he plates, silver etc. It would seat 10 people. I was really a modern day Lazy Susan only on a larger scale. The ones at the table were served their milk, water or coffee by the hostess pouring and turning the table. His daughter Mrs. Sue Campbell inherited it and the last know existence of it was at the home of her son, Jack Campbell at Poteau, Oklahoma. He also made all their tubs, buckets and dough trays and other small items. He called them Keelers, which means a shallow tub or container that holds water. They were made of cedar. He made each of his children two poster beds (Note: The poster bed was also called the corded bed because it had a cord or rope woven across the bed-stead to support the mattress or bed.), other items included chairs, rocking chairs and many pieces of furniture including trundle-beds. This is a low bed that can be rolled under the regular bed during the day and pulled out at night to serve as an extra bed. Other items were spinning wheels and looms. The spinning wheel that Grandmother Alice Lairamore inherited was the one that many of her grandchildren saw her spin on. Aunt Hester Williams inherited it. It was destroyed by fire in a storage building, while she was living at Cavanaugh near the school. Two of the chairs with bottoms of woven cowhide are known to be in the Lairamore family, given to Mrs. Grace Jetton and Mrs. Hester Williams by Harris Speegle. He made an extra low buggy which was horse drawn, so his invalid wife could be lifted in and out easily. He was an excellent Bible student and was a Baptist in belief. He was a gunsmith and tailor. His shop which also included a blacksmith shop was still standing when his former property was taken into Fort Chaffee in 1941."

[The above information was given to me, Aileen Dobson Speegle, by Grace Lairamore Jetton, a great-grandaughter of Lorenzo Jackson Speegle]