Arkansas Division History

The Pat Cleburne Chapter No. 31 in Hope, Arkansas was chartered on March 7, 1896. This was the first chapter to be chartered in the State of Arkansas, and second west of the Mississippi, with Mrs. C. A. Forney elected Chapter President. She caught the vision in 1894 at the organizational meeting of General in Nashville, Tennessee, and brought the idea to Hope; so, in February of 1896, seven Southern women and three veterans of the War Between the States met at the old Presbyterian Church to organize a chapter of United Daughters of the Confederacy. Sponsors were the three Confederate veterans: Captain C. A. Bridewell, Mr. B. P. Haynes, and Mr. Henry Black.

Having served under General Patrick Cleburne, Captain Bridewell asked the members to name the chapter--Pat Cleburne Chapter--which was granted. On March 7, 1896, Charter No. 31 was received listing the seven ladies who organized the chapter: Mrs. C. A. Forney, Mrs. Mary T. Bell, Mrs. Thomas H. Simms, Mrs. Nannie J. Bridewell, Mrs. Mary Davis Haynes, Mrs. W. W. Flake, and Mrs. Robert Penny inscribed on the charter.

The first annual convention in Arkansas was a call to Hope, Arkansas, on October 14, 1896, for the purpose of organizing an Arkansas Division. By this time there were four chapters with three required to organize. No one attended from Little Rock Chapter No. 48. Other than the Hope chapter, the others were: Hot Springs Chapter No. 80 sent its delegate, Mrs. J. M. Keller, and the Mary Lee Chapter No. 87 in Van Buren, sent its proxy The primary purpose of organizing was to be recognized at the General Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1896, where it was organized on September 10, 1894. Officers elected for Arkansas Division of United Daughters of the Confederacy were: Mrs. C. A. (Forney) Smith, President; Mrs. J. M. Keller, Vice President; Mrs. S. W. Franklin, Recording Secretary; Miss Maggie Bell, Corresponding Secretary; Mrs. Sally Hicks, Treasurer; Mrs. William Barry, Historian; and Mrs. S. E. Clegg, Registrar. Delegates appointed to the 1896 General Convention in Nashville were: Mrs. C. A. Smith and Mrs. Sally Hicks.

The UNITED DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY was incorporated January 21, 1952, under the laws of the State of Arkansas.

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