Tragedy In Heber Springs

It began as a lovely Friday in April, 1946 at Heber Springs, Arkansas.  Twenty six year old Viola Martin had baked a chocolate cake and two dozen oatmeal cookies earlier in the day. When husband Rufo returned to work on the Vincent Farm after a lunch of cornbread and beans with wild onions, she quickly washed up the dishes and took her two daughters on a walk to Spring Park, a short distance west from their small shotgun frame house on a sharecropper lot at Vincent Farms where Rufo had been employed since they moved down to Heber from Berryville a year earlier.  It was as sunny afternoon but Viola had the girls wear the sweaters that Grandma Walls had sent down from Green Forrest for Christmas.  There was a soft cool breeze from the south.  A mother never knew what to expect on a day in early April.

There were plans for a Saturday picnic at the park and fishing along the Little Red River.  Sunday dinner would be with local relatives after church.  Viola had caught, plucked and cleaned a chicken in the back yard, gathered some potatoes and onions from the cellar and taken a jar of green beans from the shelf that she had canned last summer.  Viola was well prepared for the weekend ahead. But this Friday afternoon had been too nice to be spent indoors with those energetic young girls.  Dolias was six and kid sister, Angelean, not quite three years old.

After an hour of fun in Spring Park, dark clouds gathered and a chill wind whipped up out of the northwest.  Viola called to the girls and coaxed them away from the teeter-totter where they were playing with some neighbor kids.  

Walking out of the park along the dirt road on the east end of town where Main Street bent northeast and became Wilburn Road, Viola saw a neighbor lady and stopped by the road to visit.  Suddenly a gust of wind blew Angelean’s red scarf off her head onto the road.  Angelean dashed onto the roadway after the scarf.  To Viola’s horror, a logging truck was baring down on Angelean.  Instinctively, Viola leapt out onto the road and threw Angelean back.  In doing so, Viola slipped and fell under the truck as it veered to avoid hitting her.  It was too late.  Viola lay crumpled in the road bleeding and covered in dirt.  The girls shrieked and cried.  The horrified neighbor called for her teenage son to run up to the Vincent Farm and find Rufo as she ran into her house to call an ambulance.

The ambulance from Estelle Hospital arrived 10 minutes later.  Dolais lay in the dirt beside the lifeless body of her mother,weeping inconsolably.  The neighbor lady held a trembling Angelean as others had gathered around aghast at the tragedy before them, some praying loudly, others screaming and weeping.  The truck driver was upset, pacing about and looking for solace himself.  The ambulance driver and his medic were not sure what to do.  Viola’s body was in such a twisted state that they were afraid to move her.  Red faced and bewildered, Rufo came running onto the scene.  He immediately gathered Viola up in his arms, crawled up into the ambulance with her, and commanded the driver to get them to the hospital.

At the hospital, nurses and a doctor worked to assess Viola’s condition.  Viola had suffered multiple fractures, lacerations, and head trauma.  Although the medical team did what they could, she never regained consciousness.  By the fourth day, infections and swelling of her brain had taken their toll.  On Tuesday morning, April 10, 1946, Viola Martin, a loving wife and mother, was pronounced dead at Estelle Hospital.  

Word was sent to Green Forest bearing the sad news to Viola’s family there as plans were being made with a Heber Springs funeral home and the family’s local Baptist pastor for her funeral and burial the following Friday afternoon.  After the services, a grief stricken Rufo was consoled by local friends and family as the Walls relatives offered to take the girls up to Green Forest in northwest Arkansas.  They felt this might help Viola’s grieving family to heal and would offer comfort to Dolias and Angelean while their father dealt with his personal loss and his own future.

The summer and fall of 1946 was a sad period of time for the two girls but Grandma Walls did her best to make them feel welcome in their mother’s home community and close knit family.  In time, Rufo met a somewhat younger woman, Helen Crawford.  She was attractive with black hair, brown eyes, and an enticing figure.  They were married in December, 1946 at White, Arkansas.   In Heber Springs, they rented an upstairs apartment in an old house across the street General Baptist Church.  Rufo and Helen enjoyed some time there as newlyweds.  Soon, Rufo longed to have Dolias and Angelean with him again in Heber Springs.  In April, 1947, just over a year after their mother’s death, Rufo drove 140 miles up to Green Forrest and brought the girls back home to Heber Springs.  Heading down Highway 65, the girls were very happy and looking forward to starting a new life with their father and his new wife.

It wasn’t long before that happy dream proved to be elusive.  The beauty and excitement Rufo had seen in Helen began to fade as Helen assumed the routine day to day role of housewife and step-mother of the two young girls.  

Dolias, about age 7, needed special attention due to physical and emotional conditions that had affected her for some time.  It is not certain if some of this was present at birth or if the severe fever she suffered around age two was the primary cause.  Dolias had beautiful dark eyes, natural curly hair, an olive complexion, and lovely full lips.  However, a spinal condition caused a slight hump high on her back.  This was often a source of teasing and insecurity for her and may have contributed to her frequent flashes of anger.

However, nearly 4 year old Angelean was a different story.  She was strong and energetic yet somewhat withdrawn, often playing quietly with a doll or a neighborhood kitten.  Local friends and relatives often commented about how much she had grown the past year and how she resembled her beautiful mother.  A child her age required a lot of supervision. Helen may have found it distracting to answer frequent questions of why to satisfy the rich curiosity of Angelean’s growing intellect. 

This disruption to their brief honeymoon life soon revealed the truly darker side of Helen’s personality.  She was no longer the center of attention in Rufo’s life.  In reaction to this change in status, Helen resorted instinctively by striking out against the one she felt most threatened by, the one with whom she fought for Rufo’s attention; Angelean.  Her resentment grew toward the child who reminded Rufo and others of the beloved mother and former wife to Rufo.  As her resentment grew, Helen began to dole out harsh punishments to Angelean for typical childhood behaviors.

At first the harshness was known only within the apartment while Rufo was at work.  Before long, Rufo began to feel the effects of Helen’s resentment when he was at home with the family.  He observed the insincere ritual that Helen demanded each night in which the girls were required to kiss her goodnight before going to bed.  He noted that on one occasion Helen was angry and refused to allow the goodnight kisses, sending them off to bed without a goodnight kiss.  To his dismay, Rufo soon heard Helen go to the girls’ bedroom to angrily spank and chastise them for not kissing her goodnight. Rufo also became the target of Helen’s angry outburstsand grew increasingly concerned at the mean spirited way she disciplined the girls for the slightest perceived misbehavior.

Soon the harsh discipline escalated into outright physical abuse.  Helen had lost control of her own emotions; leading her to beat the girls physically to such an extent that neighbors could hear what was going on.  The neighbors began to talk among themselves about the horrible things they were hearing from the Martin’s apartment.  One day a neighbor, by the name of Wincel Lacy, saw Angelean sitting in the yard under a tree. Mrs. Lacy went outside to check on Angelean and asked her to come inside out of the heat.  But Angelean told her no, that she had to sit right there and not get up.  Mrs. Lacy told Angelean it was okay and that she would see to it.  As they walked up onto the porch, Mrs. Lacy was shocked to see black and blue marks on Angelean’s legs.  This prompted what was likely the first time the abuse was reported to Rufo and to local authorities.  But it would not be the last.

Mrs. Hazel Jones, a neighbor and recent acquaintance of Helen, heard the angry voice of their step-mother chastising the girls almost daily.  The outbursts were often followed by the sounds of the girls being whipped.  The beatings were so loud at times that Mrs. Jones could hear them from her home, the second house away.

The abuse reached a critical point when Rufo arrived home from work one Saturday evening and found Angelean lying in bed with ablood stained bandage wrapped around her head.  Helen had boiled water and prepared a bath for Angelean.  But the water was steaming and Angelean, afraid of being burned, refused to get into the galvanized tub that sat on the kitchen floor.  Helen, who had been fixing supper, held the big hog knife in her hand.  In a fit of rage Helen swung the knife at little Angelean.  The sharp edge of the knife struck a glancing blow along the hairline separating a 3 inch portion of Angelean’s scalp from her skull.  Horrified and disgusted at this act of violence, Rufo demanded that Helen get out of the apartment and not return.  The permanent separation beganthe next day on Sunday, September 21, 1947. 

On October 6, 1947, Rufo filed for divorce from Helen in the Cleburne County Chaucery Court.  On the same date, Helen filed an Entry of Appearance and Waivers, determined not to submit to a deposition and requested she be restored to her former and maiden name of Helen Louise Crawford when the final decree would be entered.  The final divorce actions were completed on October 23, 1947.

With the help of his family and neighbors in Heber Springs, Rufo, Dolias, and Angelean experienced a brief holiday season as a small family unit that Christmas of 1947.  Finally there was peace on earth and peace at home. Another special woman appeared on their father’s arm soon after.  Rufo married Modean Jernigan on 1/22/1948.  This would be the beginning of a lasting and stable family.  Two years later, the family would add another daughter, Patsy.  The age difference between the two older girls and Patsy along with other family dynamics would see the girls’ lives move on in different directions.  But this new family unit was loving and strong, enduring through the many changes on the horizon.  

Rufo transitioned from sharecropping to retail operations when he went to work at Young’s Department Store in Heber Springs.  His military and C.C. Camp experience with store and supply management provided a solid foundation for the retail business he would pursue the rest of his life.  At last there was stability at home and the community was growing.  The scenic landscapes of historic Sugar Loaf would soon be transformed into one of Arkansas’ most popular recreation and tourist locations.  The beautiful Little Red River would be forever changed from the quiet fishing and boating stream long enjoyed by locals when construction of the Greer’s Ferry Dam began in 1959.  That project and the ensuing population growth would bring prosperity to Heber Springs and especially to the long suffering family of Rufo Martin.  In 1960, Rufo attained an important goal when he opened his own furniture store in town.  
This new status coupled with his natural leadership skills and supportive wife, provided a springboard that launched Rufo and Modean on the path to prominent community leadership roles.  

The new prosperity provided a much different school and life experience for Patsy.  She loved horses and was allowed to have one of her own.  She was very active, always on the go and popular at school, in church programs, and other social activities.

For Angelean, the transition of Rufo’s career was mainly a source of work and labor as she was expected to help him by working part-time.  When he started the furniture store, Angelean’s workload there became even more significant.  When she graduated from Heber Springs High School in 1961, she promptly went to Memphis and enrolled in Beauty College.  This would be her primary career work for many years before she parlayed her retail experience into a more rewarding career and her own business in the Pawn Shop industry.

Very soon after arriving in Memphis in 1961, Angelean fell in love and married.  To this brief marriage a daughter, Kim was born.  Her first marriage ended due to the husband’s mental illness. Her second marriage was to a man who liked to move frequently and often leave unsettled debts behind. They moved often during the early years but started a family.  There were two sons, Lance and Tommy.  Eventually the failure of her husband to consistently meet the financial and emotional needs of the family resulted in this marriage ending in divorce.  But Angelean’s strength of character, built through hard times of grief and abuse made her determined to make it on her own.  And she did just that. In time, she married a strong reliable man, Gene Fisher, who remained steady and loyal.

In Heber Springs, Dolias was well known by prominent professional families who relied on her kind steady nature and practical skills to provide child care and other household work.  Because of her sincere efforts in school, Dolias was allowed to walk with her graduating classmates and receive a complimentary certificate.  She later completed the GED certification.  Because she was ever dependent on the support of her parents, they too came to rely on her services at their home.  She cooked, cleaned and provided other important services for them in exchange for the shelter of their home and family support.

Sadly, in her late 30s, Dolias developed a form of cancer which would appear under the skin over various parts of her body and become horrible looking areas like dark moles.  Soon the cancer spread rapidly and took her life on 6/17/1978 at the age of 38.

As related to me by Angie Martin in 2021

James Middleton 

5/2/2021