David Evander Shapard (Chapter 15) 1910-1911 Bachelor Years

 Chapter 15

BACHELOR YEARS

1910-1911

 

At 23 years of age, David was orphaned by the death of his parents. He had suddenly become the sole occupant of his family’s once lively home. In the unfillable absence of his mother, David luckily had his brothers nearby. Sumner and his family lived next door, and his brother Edwin and his wife May were only a few blocks away. David and his brothers, and his brother’s families, came together for one another, displaying the beautiful bond of unity characteristic of the Fort Smith Shapard family.

Although David’s mother was in constant debt after the death of her husband, she did have the two homes on Lexington Avenue as part of her estate to be settled. On April 25, 1910, Lizzie, Sumner, Edwin Jr., and David came to an agreeable settlement on the division of the property, that allowed a residence for Sumner and a residence for David. First, Sumner sold to Lizzie, Edwin and David, for $1725, all of his interest, as an heir, in the house and property at 511 Lexington Avenue, being the house at which David lived. In return, Lizzie, Edwin and David sold to Sumner, for the same amount of $1725, all of their interest, as heirs, in the house and property at 513 Lexington Avenue, being the house at which Sumner lived. The only obstacle was that Sumner’s property was encumbered by a mortgage, from May of 1909, that Mrs. J. H. Shapard owed to the Union Trust Company in the amount of $2,250. By whatever means the heirs undertook, the loan was eventually satisfied in full on September 11, 1914.

David occupied the majority of his days traveling for his job. However, during the summer and fall of 1910, David joined the Commercial College baseball team as an enjoyable social outlet for the weekends. Taking him back to the glory days of high school, David took to the field as a second baseman. Throughout the season, the College team, in good fun, challenged teams from firms around the city, such as Eads Brothers Shoe Company, First National Bank, and Atkinson-William Hardware Company. Although David mostly played second base, he did umpire a game or two.

A major disruption occurred in late September of 1910, when it was announced that the Webber-Ayers Hardware Company, for which David worked, was being bought out by the Speers Wholesale Hardware Company. The financial benefit of consolidating the two companies, was that half the salesmen could be removed from the payrolls. Unfortunately for David, in October of 1910, it was announced that his employment with the company was at an end. Never idle, David immediately found employment as a traveling salesman with the Atkinson-Williams Hardware Company of Fort Smith.

The Atkinson Hardware Company was established in Fort Smith, circa 1843, by Mr. J. C. Atkinson and was continued by his son, Col. Ben F. Atkinson, Sr. In 1901, “Buck” Williams joined as a partner and the name was changed to Atkinson-Williams Hardware Company. The firm was the general agent for selling the famous John Deere agricultural implements, Oliver Chilled Plows and Studebaker and Moline wagons. By 1902, it had grown to occupy two buildings and three large warehouses, whereby the company decided to erect a 100 by 132 foot four-story brick building, with a basement and 70,000 feet of floor space, at the corner of Rodgers Avenue and Fourth Street. In May of 1907, construction was finished and the company moved into the new brick building. The grounds were well planned for shipping and moving merchandise, with a 28 foot wide alley behind the building and a private railroad switch across the entire property. The firm also acquired an adjoining lot for storage and future growth. By 1910, when David joined the firm, the Atkinson-Williams Hardware Company had expanded their inventory to include iceboxes, razors, lawn mowers, cutlery, etc. The company was operating so well in 1912, it was regarded as ‘the model wholesale hardware company of the South.’ The firm’s main territory covered Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas.

Since David had been selling hardware for years, he was able to comfortably acclimate to his new environment. David’s salesman territory was traveling the Frisco railroad from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Paris, Texas. At each town stop on the railroad, he would then travel by horse and buggy soliciting his wares to the shops and houses. As it came to pass, David was a young man, full of ingenuity and vigor and saw opportunity in adventure. Circa 1911, David abandoned horses and buggies, for a more modern mode of transportation befitting of a young single traveling man, and purchased a motorcycle for about $200. The motorcycles of the 1910s, by today’s standards, were not much more than motorized bicycles, outfitted with headlamp and perhaps a small saddlebag. However, the genius of this purchase, was that, although Fort Smith saw its first ‘motor cycle’ in May of 1902, they were very strange in most places, especially in the smaller towns. Whenever David rode into a rural town, a crowd of curious onlookers would form wanting to examine the loud, smoky and speedy contraption. Never to miss an opportunity, David then introduced himself, displayed his products, and made new clients for his hardware company. As a result, his sales for the company boomed, and his commission more than paid for the expense of his motorcycle.

Although the motorcycle was a boom to his business, it was not without problems. Once while riding his motorcycle in Paris, Texas, after a rainstorm, he came to a large mud pit encompassing the whole of the road. Although David wore outerwear to protect his business suit from the elements, he obviously desired to avoid intentional mess. The only way around the mud pit was to ride up on the footpath. He did so, and was promptly arrested for riding a “bicycle on the sidewalk.”

The same noisy reason why a motorcycle drew a crowd, was also the same reason why many despised these novel machines. This was the era of transitioning from horse to motor and those two societies often clashed. City horses had been ‘educated’ to not fright at the sound of street cars, automobiles and motorcycles; whereas, rural horses were often spooked by the machines from scarcity of exposure. David was arrested for a second time, on account of his modern way of travel, in rural Crawford County, Arkansas, a few months after his Texas incident. Apparently, while visiting a small town, his motorcycle made so much noise that a deaf and dumb man filed charges against him for startling his horse.

Despite its issues, David’s new contraption made him quite popular among the young men of Fort Smith, and that popularity was not lost on the young women of marrying age. Like most young men in their early 20s, David enjoyed socializing with his friends, going on dates, attending dances, sporting events and dinners. He also remained a steadfast member the U. C. T., as well as, an active member of the Central Methodist Church.

In June of 1911, David represented the Central Methodist Church of Fort Smith as their delegate to the thirteenth International Sunday School Convention held in San Francisco, California, from June 20 to June 27. The convention, being touted as the greatest religious gathering ever held west of the Rockies, was held every three years, and rallied an attendance of well over 15,000 men and women from all over the United States and Canada. Many of them being the foremost leaders and educators of their cities. The program dealt with the most modern and advanced work and problems of moral and religious instruction. The ten day conference, hosted hundreds of speakers discussing the topics of bible study, elementary school Sunday School, home missions, foreign missions, temperance, etc.

On Wednesday, June 14, 1911, David and 39 other delegates from all over Arkansas left for the convention, from a meeting at Little Rock, Arkansas, at 5:15 in the evening on a special Rock Island railroad train car. They traveled west through Oklahoma City, then El Reno, and arrived at Los Angeles, California on Saturday, July 17, in the evening. David spent Sunday touring Los Angeles with the delegates. On Monday, the group ventured to the famous Catalina Islands, before arriving in San Francisco the following evening. David stayed at the Normandie Hotel with the other delegates from Arkansas. One of the special features of the convention was the opening concert on the evening of June 19, whereby 1,500 singers gave rise to a spectacular concert at the coliseum to over 8,000 spectators. On the evening of June 23, David congregated with 15,000 other men in front of St. Francis, Union Square, assembling into six or seven divisions, for the great men’s parade. The men then marched through the streets of San Francisco to the coliseum to attend a massive men’s meeting, where they were addressed by some of the leading statesmen of the country. At the conclusion of the convention, many of the Arkansas delegates returned on July 5; however, it appears that David stayed longer, vacationing out west through the month of July, before returning to Fort Smith via Salt Lake City.

Upon his return, David was hit with the bitter sweet news that his brother Sumner had accepted a significant job offer with the William R. Moore Dry Goods Company of Memphis, Tennessee, sellers of hosiery and knit goods, as their main buyer. In mid-October of 1911, Sumner, Benetta, Dorothy and Jane left Fort Smith for a Memphis, where they made their new home. Being twelve years his senior, Sumner had always been the father figure to David. Although it was an emotional goodbye, Sumner and his family would return to Fort Smith on vacation a few times a year to visit David and Edwin. Before departing, Sumner rented his house to Mr. and Mrs. Ed Smith.

With the absence of Sumner’s counsel, David wisely migrated to other elders for meaningful guidance and advice. One particularly fruitful mentorship developed with Mr. Benjamin F. Dansby (1864-1934), or “Uncle Dan” as he was affectionately known. Mr. Dansby was born in Mississippi, yet came to Fort Smith as a boy. In 1896, he began a lifelong career as a traveling salesman in western Arkansas and eastern Indian Territory, for the W. J. Echols Wholesale Grocery Company. His energetic personality, witty sense of humor and honest trade dealings made him legendary as a salesman. He was a favorite with everyone and, for a long while, was the best-known salesman in the region. His ‘secret’ method for selling was to authentically make his clients his friends, know their name, look them straight in the eye, energetically tell them about the truth about the goods he sold and never promise anything he couldn’t fulfill.

Later in life, Mr. Dansby was interviewed about his extensive career as a knight of the grip and recalled; “I traveled the loop every 20 days, made the trip in two weeks…we used to go from town to town behind a high stepping horse, and stop at a real rooming house where they had feather beds to sleep on, and ham for breakfast. Now we travel in these ‘gasoline wagons,’ miss all the scenery, sleep in a hotel noted for hard beds, and couldn’t sleep anyway for thinking of the terrible breakfast we’ll probably be served in the morning… Of course, we had some hard experience, but they all went to make the game more interesting, one night…I drove [my buggy] into a flooded creek and nearly drowned. The next day the sales manager advised me I had better be careful, that I almost drowned the horse! I didn’t always travel by buggy though. Much of the time I used my bicycle. It was fitted with an umbrella over it and I could make more territory on that than in any other way. I used to go everywhere on that bicycle, even over railroad bridges, and I was known as the bicycle man.”

The Shapard family likely made their first meaningful connection to Mr. Dansby, in 1898, when Edwin, Jr., became employed at the W. J. Echols Wholesale Grocery Company. When Edwin was promoted to salesman, the two men would have traveled the railroads together, along with Sumner and eventually David. “Uncle Dan’s” wit and wisdom was not lost on David and the two men developed a lasting friendship. In fact, their bond advanced to the extent that Mr. Dansby was honored to be one of only three groomsmen in David’s wedding. It is also quite possible that David’s motorcycle purchase was inspired by Mr. Dansby’s bicycle story.

For David, Thanksgiving and Christmas, of 1911, were not as traditional as in years past. He spent Thanksgiving with friends, as the guest of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Wilmans’ daughter Louise. And Christmas was spent with Edwin and May, when it was joyfully announced that David was going to be an uncle again, as May was pregnant with her first child. She would deliver a daughter, named Barbara Shapard, on July 13, 1912.

During the holiday season, David and Edwin had gone to Oak Cemetery to tend to their parent’s graves. The brothers became disheartened by the poor maintenance of the cemetery. Roads were rough, surplus dirt from the graves were not removed but left to disfigure the grounds, tree debris was not property removed and many gravestones were uncared for, either fallen over or tipping. In addition, in November of 1911, it was announced that the City of Fort Smith had purchased ten additional acres adjoining the cemetery to the east, that was to be used exclusively as a colored burial ground, since all the designated colored gravesites at Oak Cemetery had already been occupied. David and Edwin were troubled by what they perceived as the decline of cemetery and began to discuss options with Sumner and Lizzie. On March 1, 1912, the four siblings purchased a large family plot for $175 from the Forest Park Cemetery Association, and David was designated as the Trustee.

Forest Park Cemetery was a nearly new burial ground located on the northern edge of Fort Smith, in a natural grove of forest on the banks of the Arkansas River. It was north of Electric Park, near the Country Club, and was beautifully landscaped with over 6,000 decorative shrubs. On May 4, 1912, the bodies of Rev. E. R. Shapard and his wife Jennie H. Shapard were exhumed from the ground at Oak Cemetery and reinterred in the Shapard family plot at Forest Park. Four additional gravesites remained available in the family plot, so that Lizzie, Sumner, Edwin and David could eventually be buried next to their parents.