Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 12/04/96
SUMMARY
The Rison House is being nominated under Criterion A to the Arkansas Register. Located in Perryville the house was built by John William Rison in 1844. John Rison, early settler of Perry County, was a locally prominent attorney, county clerk, State Legislator, and businessman.
ELABORATION
John W. Rison was born in Amelia County, Virginia in 1820. After attending college in Virginia and then spending two years in Missouri, Rison finally settled with his wife Harriet C. Clifton Rison. In Perry County John W. Rison bought 160 acres of farmland approximately one mile southwest of Perryville and constructed the current dogtrot in about 1844.
During Rison's residence in the dogtrot house, he served his community in many ways. Rison served as county clerk of Perry County for eighteen years and during the Civil War he was an enrolling officer for the Confederate Army. According to David Rison, John Rison actually recruited the soldiers right in front of his home. He was twice elected to serve Perry County in the state legislature and practiced law in the first courts of the county as well. Rison also was a Royal Arch Mason and Knight Templar. John Rison's wife, Harriet, organized the first Methodist Church in Perryville which met in the Rison home until the funds were raised to build a proper church.
John Rison set aside land for a cemetery on the far western end of the property where he is buried along with his wife and son. Although the cemetery has been well maintained, it has not been an active burial ground for many years.
In 1884 the Rison House was inherited by John’s son Richard Rison who lived in the house until his death. Richard's son, Joe Percy Rison bought the house from Richard's other children, and in the 1950s he and his wife Edna Miller Rison decided to remodel to add modern conveniences. This is when the extensive restructuring on the building was done.
This house has been in the Rison family since it was built in 1844. The original dogtrot was the center of many Perryville activities. The Rison House is the oldest structure in Perryville, although it has been remodeled and additional rooms have been added. It is being nominated under Criterion A.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Information supplied by David Ellery Rison.
The Goodspeed Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Central Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., pp. 692, 693.