Kinfolks
by Evelyn Flood

James Chism Chaney was born in 1804 in Wayne County, Kentucky.
His parents William and Sarah Scott Chaney were from Randolph
County, North Carolina. They had migrated into Wayne County.

In the 1820's the Chisms moved to Overton County, Tennessee.
From Tennessee, James, his father William, and his brother-in-law rode
West in search of horses to be driven back and sold.
There was new land to settle out west.
Treaties with the Indians opened the Arkansas Territory and in 1834
the Chaney family settled on Osage Creek in what later became
Carroll County, Arkansas. This area was the former hunting grounds
of the Osage Indians.

The earliest Carroll County tax records for 1835 show James Chaney
being assessed $5 for a stallion. This horse was only one of two in
the entire Carroll County.
Brothers F.S., John and William Chaney are listed on the 1840 Carroll
County, Arkansas Census.
Apparently the father William Chaney was deceased by this time, as
James' mother Sarah Chaney is listed on the 1835 Carroll County tax
records.

James Chism Chaney sent back to Tennessee for his wife,
Nancy Seahorn Chaney and their three eldest children sometime before
1840.
Several other related families came with the Chaneys to settle on
Osage Creek. Such names as Seahorn, Scott, Sneed, Wilson, Usrey, Sisco
and Hittson were near neighbors to the Chaneys.
Going by the age of the children on the 1850 Carroll County, Arkansas
census, the first child born in Arkansas was John Seahorn Chaney, born
in 1835, but he could have very well been born in Tennessee.

It is thought that James Chism Chaney built what is now called
"The Chaney House" sometime between 1836 and early 1840's on Osage
Creek in what is now Carroll County, Arkansas.

This house was handcrafted from wooden pegs and had a whip-sawed floor.
Homes were usually built of puncheon floors, but this house had board
floors. The joists were whipsawed and measured 1-3/4 x 5 inches.
The door frames were hammered on with thumb-sized wooden pegs.
This house was crafted with skill and artistry and pride.
The logs were oak. They formed 19 foot square double pens with a
"dog trot" or open passage between the first floor and a covered passage
ornamented with lattice work on the upper floor.
The logs were half dove-tailed and the house stood 15 logs high. It
rested on a continuous fieldstone foundation. At each end was a stone
fireplace.
The builder of this house was a master craftsman who created a building
both functional and beautiful. There were incised ogee wooden window
crowns and turned posts and balusters.

In 1992 Dr. Dave Staley of the University of Arkansas took core
samples of the logs to determine their age according to an article
in the Newton County Times Newspaper.
This first picture shows the condition of the home before restoration
was started on the Chaney House.

This house could well have been standing on Osage Creek in 1838-39 when
the Cherokees passed on the Trail of Tears.

James was a livestock trader who drove horses to Southern Arkansas to
sell to planters and he also drove livestock to Springfield, Missouri.

By 1856, his son John, still living at home, was appointed the
postmaster of Carollton.
It was the custom of the time to have the postoffice at a person's
home. The Chaney House was undoubtedly used as the postoffice. The
house was probably used as a stop for the stagecoachs going to
Carrollton. The home was probably located near the main traveled
road in that area.

The 1840 Carroll County, Arkansas census shows:
Chaney, F.S., Upper Osage
11000---2110100001
Chaney, James C, Upper Osage
11001--120001 (James had 5 childen at this point)
Chaney, John, Sugar Loaf
00001---1001
Chaney, Sarah, Osage
0002..00011001
Chaney, William, Osage
10001...0001

Nearby Carrollton was the county seat and James Chaney built the first
jail, a two story log structure which was burned to the ground during
the Civil War.
James and his brother-in-law donated the land for the town of Osage and
by 1840 Osage had a school, store, churches, mills and several doctors.

In the 1850's it was a prosperous community with several merchants,
the Fairview Academy and well-to-do farmers who owned slaves.
James Chaney's wealth is indicated in the growth of his holdings.
In 1844 he filed on his 40 acre homestead. By 1854, he owned 200 acres.
James was also a blacksmith in addition to being a farmer and
livestock dealer.

1850 Carroll County, Arkansas Census, Visit 34
Chaney, William H..34...farmer..Tenn
........Martha.....28...Tenn
........Gilford.....9...AR
........Robert L....7...AR
........Tennessee...5...AR
........Thomas S....2...AR
........Arthur H....9months..AR

Visit 35
Chism, G F..........28....Farmer..Tenn
.......Elizabeth....65.............SC

Visit 227, Osage Township
Chaney, James C.....46......farmer....KY
........Nancy D.....36......TN
........Sarah E.....19......TN
........Mary G......17......TN
........John S......15......AR
........Henrietta M.11......AR
........Margaret C...8......AR
........Columbus.....5......AR
........Susan........2......AR
........George Ann...1......AR

Visit 228, Osage Township
Chaney, John D.......38 Farmer..Tenn
........Elendor......28...Tenn
........Arminta J....12...AR
........Mathew........9...AR
........James C.......6...AR
........Francis M.....4...AR
........William E.....1...AR
By 1860 James Chaney was the owner of one slave and his tax bill was
the highest in Carroll County.

This house was standing when Captain Alexander Fancher organized the
westward-bound wagon train that ended tragically in what is known
as the Mt. Meadows Wagon train Massacre in Southern Utah in September
1857.

This house withstood the ravages of the Civil War.
When the Civil War started James Chism Chaney was too old to serve.
His son John Seahorn Chaney entered the Confederate Service.
The Confederate Soldier Index shows a John S Chaney in Co. E, 16th
Arkansas Infantry. John lost his life at the battle of Fort Hudson,
Louisiana. He was buried where he fell.

Son Christopher Columbus Chaney entered Co. E, 27th Arkansas Confederate
Infantry on 9 August 1862 at Carrollton. He was captured and paroled
on 8 June 1865 at Shereveport, Louisiana.

Christopher returned home from the Civil War to find that his father
James C Chaney had been murdered in Dallas County, Arkansas and buried
in an unmarked grave. James had driven a herd of horses into the
war-ravaged southern part of the state. He had undoubtedly been murdered
for the money he was carrying from the sale of his livestock.

Information from Patty Egerer:
Below is some census information, it includes Columbus Chaney.
Source Information:
Census Place Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona
Family History Library Film 1254036
NA Film Number T9-0036
Page Number 91B
------- Household Record 1880 United States Census
Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation
Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
Ethan A WASHBURN Self M Male W 42 OH --- OH
Millie WASHBURN Wife M Female W 36 MO,MO,MO
Susan M.A. WASHBURN Dau M Female W 21 TX,OH, MO
James WASHBURN Son S Male W 19 TX,OH,MO
Rosetta CHANEY Dau M Female W 17 TX,OH , MO
Martha CHANEY Dau S Female W 13 CA,OH,MO
Ethan A CHANEY Son S Male W 11 CA,OH, MO
Addie M RICE GDau S Female W 3 CA, TX, TX
Lillie V RICE GDau S Female W 11M CA,TX, TX
Columbus CHANEY SonL M Male W 26 AK --- ---
Noah RICE SonL M Male W 24 TX --- ---
John RICE Other S Male W 22 TX --- ---

==================================================================
Goodspeeds History of Northwest Arkansas tells of Christopher Chaney
returning home where he was born and became a well-to-do landowner.
Perhaps Christopher did some renovations on the Chaney House in 1867.
At that time the eastern hewn stone chimney was installed to replace
an earlier chimney. Also, the interior wall planking was added at that
time, along with the exterior decorative crowns over the windows.

In the late 1930's an ell was added to one end of the house. Perhaps
at this time the house was covered with weatherboarding and interior
paneling. The massive hand-hewn logs were covered and this helped to
preserve them.

In tracing the history of the Chaney House, Christopher Chaney sold
the house in 1890 to Grover Seals. Seals sold the house to J.P. Sisco and through the Sisco descendants,
the house was purchased by Don and Beverly Stanley.

The house was inhabited until sometime in the 1980's but was then
abandoned and the roof began to deteriorate. The structure was in danger
of being lost until Don Stanley came along, dreaming of restoring it.
In 1989 the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Stanleys began to take the house apart, carefully tagging every
rock and log. They sorted the layers of fireplace rock onto separate
pallets. They marked the numbers not only on the stones and logs but
on a drawing as well. Stanley found the date "1847" chiseled into one
of the fireplace stones. They hoped to use the building commercially
in their canoe rental business.
The house is shown as it was being dismantled.

The Stanleys decided to sell the historic Chaney log house. In order
to keep the Chaney House from being sold to an out-of-state buyer,the
Newton County Historical Society offered to purchase the building.
The Society was able to purchase the Chaney House using monies given
to the Society by Bill Stiritz (Jasper native and President and CEO
of the Ralston-Purina Company.) The money the Society used had been
ear-marked for refurbishing the Bradley House for a museum.
Mr. Stiritz gave the Society the okay to use the money to purchase the
Chaney House
The Historical Society greatly needs contributions so they can complete
the restoration and refurbish Bradley House Museum which houses the
Historical Society.
Visit their website.
Newton County Historical Society

Donations can be sent to:
Newton County Historical Society
P O Box 360
Jasper, Arkansas 72641

Once the remodeling of the Bradley House Museum and the Chaney House
reconstruction is complete, Newton County, Arkansas will have the most
impressive county museum anywhere in the state.
This next picture shows the Chaney House in 2001 when reconstruction
work had resumed. The reconstruction is under direction of Chris Carron
of Ozark Restorations.
Yolanda Martin is the coordinator of donations and purchases for
the project.

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Evelyn Flood
Rkinfolks@aol.com
Write me if you have any questions
Rkinfolks@aol.com