Rev. Archelaus Turrentine
Note
From The Turrentine Family by George Ruford Turrentine:
Archelaus Turrentine, son of George Smith Turrentine and Zerelda Bradshaw, was born in Sevier County, Arkansas, January 16, 1851. He was named for his grandfather, Archelaus Turrentine, who was born in Orange County, N.C. in 1786, came to Bedford County, Tennessee with his family as a child and came to Arkansas in 1837 and settled in Sevier County.
George Smith Turrentine moved with his family from Sevier County and was living in Yell County at the time of his death during the Civil War. Conditions were so bad in Yell County due to local outlaws, called bushwhackers, that several families of refugees went to live with relatives in South Arkansas. Archelaus Turrentine, age 12, drove a yoke of oxen from Yell County to Sevier County, a journey of two weeks. The refugees were able to escape with little, but Archelaus arrived with his great grandfather's Revolutionary sword, a treasure he had clung to above all else.
Archelaus Turrentine and Frances Elizabeth Shannon were married in Sevier County on January 20, 1876. He was licensed to preach and joined the Little Rock Conference of the Methodist Church in 1879. At the time of his death he was the oldest member of that conference in point of service.
Archelaus Turrentine was a great man. (Perhaps he should be designated Archelaus Turrentine II to distinguish him from his grandfather.) He was a devout Christian, an able preacher, a wonderful father, and a devoted husband. He and his wife were sweethearts throughout a long and useful life. Nine children grew to manhood and womanhood. Others died in infancy. Of these nine, eight are living (as of 1964): Minnie Turrentine, Arkadelphia; Frances Turrentine, Arkadelphia; Mrs. W.B. East, Arkadelphia; Mrs. Kirk Dixon, Ft. Smith; Mrs. S.J. Dean, Forrest City; Dr. Percy W. Turrentine, Arkadelphia; Mrs. Ella B. Andrews, Little Rock; and Mrs. J.A. Day, Ft. Smith. Dr. Hugh O. Turrentine of North Little Rock died in recent years.
Archelaus Turrentine was a self-educated man. Son of a destitute refugee widow just after the Civil War, he had no opportunity for much formal school. He was a sound scholar, a fluent speaker, and a logical thinker. In spite of the meager salary of a Methodist minister of that day, he provided a college education for all nine of his children. A son, a PH.D. from Harvard, is author of the scholarly biography of Beverly Tucker of Williamsburg, Virginia. On this work he has spent years of research among the Tucker papers in Williamsburg and in the archives in other states.
A story is told that, as a mere lad, Archelaus defied the bushwhackers in Yell County who had ransacked the home and were about to depart with the cherished sword which had been handed down from father to son in the family since colonial days. It is more probable that the eloquent pleading of the mother preserved the heirloom. The bushwhackers finally returned the sword after stripping all the silver inlay from the scabbard. This sword was destroyed when the home burned in later years.
Archelaus Turrentine served many churches of the Little Rock Conference. When his children grew older, he and his brave wife were confronted with the problem of sending them to college. They solved this problem by moving the family to Arkadelphia and building a large home next to the Henderson College campus. This meant a painful separation for weeks at a time. While he was minister in a distant town, his wife supplemented their income by boarding college boys. It was my happy privilege to be one of the college students. each morning the entire family, including college students, assembled for morning devotions. Each stood behind his chair at breakfast and quoted a verse of scripture. Then the hostess designated the one to offer the prayer. Each night the entire family and the ten college boys assembled in the living room for evening prayer. A passage of scripture was read, and then all kneeled while the devote father prayed for blessings on each. I do not know where all those college boys are now, but I am certain that each recalls the blessings of sharing that home.
Archelaus Turrentine died in Arkadelphia on January 31, 1924, almost exactly two years after the death of his dear wife. Surely, there was a happy reunion for I have never known a more devoted couple.