Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 12/04/13

SUMMARY

The home of Ira E. Moore in Rison is the remaining property most associated with the life of the noted Cleveland County farmer and planter. Ira E. Moore, who built the house in 1917, reportedly owned more than 20,000 acres of farmland at the time of his death and he also built Rison’s first electric-powered cotton gin. However, in addition to farming, Ira E. Moore was influential in many other parts of Cleveland County affairs. As his obituary states, “Mr. Moore, with his far-flung farming and financial activities has for many years been an outstanding resident of this section of the state and was doubtless Cleveland County’s most widely known citizen, playing an important part in the business, farming, financial, and political affairs for a long period of years.” As a result of his importance in the history of Rison and Cleveland County, the Ira E. Moore House is being nominated to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places under Criterion Bwith local significance. Although the replacement of some windows, partial enclosure of the side porch and the apparent rebricking of parts of the outside of the house preclude its listing on the National Register, it still retains enough integrity to be eligible for the Arkansas Register.

ELABORATION

What is now called Cleveland County was formed on April 17, 1873, by an act of the Arkansas legislature. Originally, it was called Dorsey County and named after Stephen W. Dorsey, a chairman of the Republican county and state committees and a U.S. Senator. However, the name of the county was changed to Cleveland County in 1885 in honor of then president Grover Cleveland. In its early years, much of the land was heavily timbered so there were lumber mills throughout the county and only a small portion of it was under cultivation with cotton and corn being the principal crops.[1]

The founding and development of Rison was a direct result of the construction of the railroad through that part of Arkansas. The town was named after William Richard Rison of Huntsville, Alabama, friend and banking partner of Samuel Wesley Fordyce. Fordyce was the construction superintendent for the Cotton Belt Railroad between Texarkana and Birds Point, Missouri, and asked that a town be named after his friend when the line was completed in 1882.[2]

Although Rison’s first settler, J. M. McMurtrey, built a home in the area in 1880, settlement and development of Rison did not take off until 1883. In December 1883, a subsidiary of the Cotton Belt, the Southwestern Improvement Association, set aside a parcel of land for the City of Rison and lots were put up for sale. In 1890, Rison was incorporated and J.T. Renfrew was elected the first mayor.[3]

Once Rison was established, the city’s residents soon got services. By the late 1880s, for example, long distance telephone service was available in a phone booth at the City Hotel, although residential telephone service did not arrive until 1905. A post office was established in 1883 and electricity came to Rison in 1915-1916, although it was not until 1917 that it was supplied 24 hours a day.[4]

From the time of its earliest settlement, cotton was an important cash crop in the Rison area. Since the land was not as fertile as the land in the Delta, upland short staple cotton was the type that was grown. Most farming in Cleveland County was subsistence in nature so the cotton that was grown was grown for its cash value in addition to regular crops grown for food for the farmer and their family. The prevalence of cotton production in Cleveland County meant that three gins operated in the Rison area: the Rison Gin Company; Farmers Gin and Seed Company; and Moore’s Gin, which was owned by Ira Moore.[5]

Although cotton was the main cash crop in Cleveland County, other crops were also raised. Vegetables, including tomatoes, peas, corn, and sweet potatoes, were also grown, and it led to the establishment of a canning plant in Rison that canned several types of vegetables in the late 1930s and the 1940s. [6]

One of the people in Rison who took full advantage of the importance of agriculture in the Rison area was Ira Elisha Moore. Ira E. Moore was born on March 23, 1862, in Calhoun County, Arkansas. Moore’s father was killed in the Battle at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1863, so Ira was mainly raised by his mother, Pauline Searcy Moore. At age 16, Moore began working for six dollars a month and after a year he had saved enough money, $30.50, to buy a pony, which he had described as “the very prettiest one I ever had.” Moore used the pony to grow cotton on a small plot of land that he had rented. By the time of his death, Moore owned 22,000 acres of land in Cleveland, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Dallas counties, and 8,500 acres were annually planted in cotton.[7]

On November 11, 1883, Ira E. Moore married Martha Elizabeth May, and their first home was located in Pansy. Ira and Martha had eight children although only five survived: Victor Vance Moore, James Leon Moore, Iris Moore (Mrs. W. E. Clark), Eva Moore (Mrs. Fred Morton), and Vivian Moore (Mrs. Sam Mann). Martha died in Pansy, although the date is unknown, and Ira and the children moved from Pansy to Rison when he was elected Cleveland County Sheriff. Ira never remarried and Miss Alice Searcy, a cousin, helped to raise the children.[8]

Although Moore was heavily involved in agriculture, it was by no means the only activity that he engaged in. His business interests included Moore’s Hardware; Moore’s Store, a mercantile and grocery; Moore’s Wholesale, the I. E. Moore Gin, the local Ford dealership, and the local mortuary. Moore was also very involved in civic affairs in Rison, having also served as Mayor of Rison and on the board of alderman. In addition, at the time of his death on October 23, 1934, Moore was also president of the Bank of Rison, president of the Rison School Board, a director of Arkansas Power and Light Company, and a member of the Board of Directors of Simmons National Bank of Pine Bluff.[9]

When Moore moved to Rison, he needed a large home for his family, and the house that was built on Amis Street fitted his needs perfectly. The house was built in 1917 and was located on a large lot south of downtown. The large lot would have given the family plenty of outdoor space, and the large size of the home would have given plenty of space for Moore and his children. The servant’s quarters behind the house would have also been useful for Moore, and it is possible that it is where his cousin Alice Searcy lived while helping to raise the children.

The house that was built for Ira Moore and his family was mainly Plain-Traditional in style, although it did exhibit some influences from the Colonial Revival and Craftsman styles, both of which were popular in the late 1910s. The front and side porch columns show the barest hint of the Colonial Revival, while some of the windows, notably the casement windows and the windows in the second-floor sleeping porch show some influences of the Craftsman style.

After Ira E. Moore’s death in 1934, the house passed through a succession of owners until it was purchased by Arthur and Loletia Terry in 2003. Since that time, Loletia has been trying to restore the house to its former glory during the time that Moore and his family lived there.

[2] Cleveland County, Arkansas: Our History and Heritage. Volume I. Rison, AR: Cleveland County Historical and Genealogical Society, 2006, p. 21-22.

[3] Cleveland County, Arkansas: Our History and Heritage. Volume I. Rison, AR: Cleveland County Historical and Genealogical Society, 2006, p. 22.

[4] Cleveland County, Arkansas: Our History and Heritage. Volume I. Rison, AR: Cleveland County Historical and Genealogical Society, 2006, p. 22.

[5] Cleveland County, Arkansas: Our History and Heritage. Volume I. Rison, AR: Cleveland County Historical and Genealogical Society, 2006, p. 23.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Cleveland County, Arkansas: Our History and Heritage. Volume I. Rison, AR: Cleveland County Historical and Genealogical Society, 2006, p. 294.

[8] Cleveland County, Arkansas: Our History and Heritage. Volume I. Rison, AR: Cleveland County Historical and Genealogical Society, 2006, p. 294.

[9] Cleveland County, Arkansas: Our History and Heritage. Volume I. Rison, AR: Cleveland County Historical and Genealogical Society, 2006, p. 294, and Obituary of Ira E. Moore found athttp://files.usgwarchives.net/ar/cleveland/obits/1934obit.txt. Moore’s daughter-in-law, Lois Bailey Moore was involved in the formation of the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas in the early 1980s.

SIGNIFICANCE

Ira Elisha Moore was a tremendously influential person in Rison and Cleveland County. Through his work in civic affairs of the community, his business interests, and his agricultural pursuits, Moore had a tremendous impact on Rison and Cleveland County. Moore’s obituary called him “an outstanding citizen of Cleveland County and one of south Arkansas’ leading business men…” In addition, the obituary states: “Mr. Moore, with his far-flung farming and financial activities has for many years been an outstanding resident of this section of the state and was doubtless Cleveland County’s most widely known citizen, playing an important part in the business, farming, financial, and political affairs for a long period of years.” Moore’s importance in the community is further bolstered by the fact that schools in Rison closed on the day of his funeral.[1]

Although Moore’s grave exists in the Searcy-Moore Cemetery near Pansy in Cleveland County, the Ira E. Moore House in Rison is the surviving property most closely associated with his productive life. As a result, the Moore House is being nominated to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places under Criterion B with local significance.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890.

Cleveland County, Arkansas: Our History and Heritage. Volume I. Rison, AR: Cleveland County Historical and Genealogical Society, 2006.

Obituary of Ira E. Moore found athttp://files.usgwarchives.net/ar/cleveland/obits/1934obit.txt.