Reports were made on two recent meetings of the David O. Dodd Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
The most recent meeting was held at the UDC monument in Bellwood Cemetery to celebrate Confederate Memorial Day.
The service began with a prayer by Chaplain MarJo Dill followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and salutes to the flags, led by President Lela R. Murray.
According to a brief history of the cemetery lot by Murray, the UDC purchased the property Sept. 8, 1902, for a final resting place for the Daughters of the Confederacy who might not otherwise have a place designated for them to be buried.
There are two Confederate women buried there, Jennie Barksdale Hearne and Josephine Robinson Boone. A celebration of the life of Hearne was given by Sharon Wyatt and Glennda Fread gave a celebration of the life of Boone.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The meeting closed with a poem, “Confederate Memorial Day,” author unknown, by Murray, and a prayer by Dill. Members attending were Murray, Wyatt, Dill, Fread, DeeLois Lawrence, and Jerrie Townsend, and two guests, Jerry Lawrence and Bobby Wyatt.
David Trulock discusses “Free Bridge”
Meanwhile, the David O. Dodd Chapter 212 UDC met March 26 in Murray’s home. Murray introduced the speaker, David Trulock, a native of Jefferson County, who gave the history of the “Free Bridge.”
“The Free Bridge, the third bridge built in Arkansas spanning the Arkansas River, opened in 1915, as a toll-free bridge. The cost of the bridge was $215,000. There were no roads to the bridge until October, 1916, when a contract was awarded to build a gravel road leading to the bridge. The Free Bridge was torn down in 1972 and replaced with a new bridge,” he said.
David Trulock is the great-grandson of Walter Trulock, who was the manager of the Hotel Pines for many years. David Trulock has had approximately 20 freelance articles and book reviews published, and he writes regularly for the Jefferson County Historical Quarterly. He is president of the Jefferson County Historical Society and is a member of the Pine Bluff Downtown Historic District Commission.
Also at the meeting, Secretary and Treasurer Wyatt read the minutes and gave the treasurer’s report. Murray gave the highlights of the President General Pat Bryson’s message. DeeLois Lawrence gave a summary of the Spring Board which was held March 25, 2017, in Searcy, which was attended by Lawrence, Murray, Wyatt, KarLynn Roberts and Sue Smith.
Those attending the meeting were Wyatt, Lawrence, Dill, Roberts, Smith, Murray, Jerrie Townsend, Sandy Poore, Dorothy Wilks, Glennda Fread, and Jean Pollard. David Poore was a guest.