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From: "Rebecca Millet" <>
Subject: Sanford C. Faulkner Bio
Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2004 13:28:57 -0500


From Faulkner County Its Land and People, p.354-355

SANFORD C. FAULKNER

"In 1829 Sanford C. Faulkner, age 26, came to Arkansas from Kentucky. He settled in Chicot County where he operated a large cotton plantation. He was a wealthy Southern planter, having inherited two or three moderate fortunes.
Sandy, as he was known, loved to hunt and would sometimes wander through the woods for days and weeks. He was endowed by nature with a keen sense of humor, originally, and ready wit, and was a born entertainer. Therefore, he was greeted with enthusiasm when he would visit any public gathering in the various settlements and villages. He must indeed have been a bright spot in the usually drab life of the frontier.
Goodspeed says that Faulkner moved his family to Little Rock in 1844. He kept the Chicot County plantation and acquired another one near Little Rock. He spent the rest of his life in the capitol city.
It was about this time that Sandy Faulkner gained immortality through his connection with the now famous "Arkansas Traveler" folk tale. His authorship has been frequently disputed, but Arkansans generally give the honor unquestionably to Faulkner.
During the political campaign of 1840, Faulkner toured the state with A.H. Sevier, Archibald Yell, Chester Ashley, and William S. Fulton. Some authorities say the incident occurred on the Illinois Bayou near Russellville; others say it took place in the backwoods region of Chicot County. As Goodspeed describes it: Faulkner happened upon the dilapidated shack of a squatter. The man was playing on a three-stringed fiddle the first part of a particular tune - over and over - the last part of which he longed to hear. The man exhibited no hospitality as Faulkner quizzed him, so taking the battered old fiddle in his own hands, Sandy proceeded to play the rest of the tune. This so intrigued the backwoodsman that he changed to and elaborate show of friendliness toward the stranger. He gave Faulkner the only dry spot in the kitchen, fed his horse, and even gave him a turn at his whiskey jug.
After returning to Little Rock, Faulkner attended a banquet at the Anthony House barroom on Markham Street where he gleefully told the story for the first time in public. The dialogue with its violin accompaniment captured the fancy of the people and it soon became quite famous. Everywhere he went Faulkner was asked to perform it - even as far as New Orleans. This was at a banquet at the request of the governor of Louisiana.
In spite of the merriment and success of the "Arkansas Traveler" folk tale, trouble had caught up with the carefree Sandy Faulkner. Financial worries had hovered over him for some time, but the first major disaster which came to him was the death of two of his children which occurred only a week apart. The Arkansas State Gazette of September 8, 1841 carried this announcement: "Died in this city, of worm fever, on Sunday morning, August 29, Laura, age two years and a half, and on Sunday morning last, the 5th of September Mary Gene, aged five years, daughters of Col. Sanford C.and Eveline Faulkner." The little girls were buried in the old town cemetery at the present site of Peabody School (now Federal Building).
Sanford Faulkner had been a wealthy man, but he was a generous fun-loving spendthrift and blithely squandered his money. When his fortune was dissipated, he borrowed heavily from both the Real Estate Bank and State Banks. When he could not repay these debts, he voluntarily surrendered to the banks all of his 37 slaves, plus his plantation property in December of 1851.
On May 30, 1855, tragedy struck again with the death of his daughter Bettie who had married John C. Peay. Her grave in Mount Holly Cemetery is the only Faulkner grave that is marked. Her simple tombstone is inscribed: "Bettie, daughter of Sanford C. and Eveline Faulkner and wife of John C. Peay, June 22, 1833-May 30, 1855." The words, "To my wife and little babe" on the back of the marker indicate that she died in childbirth and that her child was buried with her.
Sandy and Eveline Faulkner had at least nine children: Sally A., Elizabeth (Bettie), Mary Jane, William H., Laura, Sanford C., Jr., and Matilda J. We find mention of two others, Phillip and Minnie, as the "children of our old age."
In 1858, Col. Faulkner announced his candidacy for Pulaski County representative to the General Assembly. It was his first and last venture into politics, and was a dismal failure.
In 1859 the "Arkansas Traveler" was again prominent on the Little Rock scene when the Arkansas True Democrat announced that the painting by Edward P. Washburn had been lithographed in Boston and would be offered for sale at $2.50 each. A copy of the story as told by Faulkner, with the music, came with the picture, if desired. The original painting, an illustration of the Faulkner story, measured about 18 by 24 inches and for many years the unframed canvas hung on the wall of Faulkner's parlor. The traveler in the painting is said to be a remarkably good likeness of Faulkner.
When the Civil War began in 1861, Sandy Faulkner became the military storekeeper at the arsenal in Little Rock. His son William H. Faulkner, was killed in the war. Sandy's wife, Eveline, died on June 2, 1871, and was buried at Mount Holly Cemetery. Her name appears in the record book of the cemetery but there is no marker.
On April 12, 1873, Sanford Faulkner, who had done nothing particularly noteworthy except to originate the most famous bit of folklore, received an honor that had been coveted by legislature from land in Conway and Pulaski counties and named Faulkner County in his honor.
He died on the afternoon of August 4, 1874, at his home in Little Rock. His funeral was held at the Christian Church on the following day and was called by the Gazette "one of the largest ever witnessed in the city." The legislature adjourned for the day and members marched from the state house to the funeral in a body. The grave of Sanford Faulkner in the Mount Holly Cemetery remains unmarked today, but Pulaski County Historical Society recently voted to erect a marker at his grave.
The grave of Edward Washburn, painter of the "Arkansas Traveler," also is in Mount Holly and is also unmarked. Washburn and his father, Rev. Cephas Washburn, died within a few days of each other and were buried side by side."

Source: Facts and Fiddlings, Vol IV, No. 3, 1961.


Becky

"The best measure of the future is the record of the past."
-Benjamin Franklin

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