The Mysterious Benjamin Franklin Donathan Benjamin Franklin Donathan is the earliest ancestor that we can prove a direct link with. He is a mystery in many respects, as much of what we know about him is strictly oral tradition and much of that varies in details, depending on who you happen to be talking to. Let us examine the information at hand and attempt to sort out what can be proved within reasonable limits from what is supported only by tradition. This is not at all intended to downgrade oral tradition, as most of it is likely for the most part to be true. We begin our search for the facts in a beautiful spot on a high bluff overlooking one of the most picturesque streams in Arkansas. You can almost, at least in your mind's eye, see the old wagon road that lead southerly from the area of Magazine to a point below where Sugar Creek runs into another stream, and then followed Sugar Creek going upstream. The location is south-east of Booneville, Arkansas and the last leg of the pilgrimage is a rough, rocky, one- way road that dead ends here, on a high place, at an old, small cemetery. One can hardly fail to notice almost immediately, a Masonic marker about four feet high, rich in Masonic symbolism. Lettered on the gravestone are the words, "B. F. Donathan, Died Nov. 1, 1864, Aged 54 Y. 7 Mo. 4 Ds." Who was this man? What kind of person was he? The gravestone with its symbols gives us a clue. In the old days, to be a Master Mason meant more than it does now. It means something now, but then the Lodges exercised stricter discipline and if a man proved to be unworthy, he found himself expelled in short order. Generally, a Mason could be counted on to be a cut above average in honor and integrity. So far as is known, Ben has no relatives buried here, yet here he rests. This disturbs the inquisitive mind. Why? How? It is generally known that he was murdered on the wagon road alongside Sugar Creek. Four others were present besides the killers. These were his son, Jerry (Jeremiah); Jerry's wife, Mary; Jerry & Mary's baby; and a black slave who was a housekeeper. But what of the killers? Who were they? Some knowledge of Arkansas history gives some insight. When States were pulling out of the Union in order to form the Confederacy, Arkansas held an election to decide what to do. By a very narrow margin it was decided that Arkansas should stay in the Union. As it turned out, thousands of Arkansas men and boys joined the Confederate armies and large numbers joined the Union armies. After a short while, it became obvious that the Union was not going to win quickly or easily. Pressure was brought to bear on Arkansas to put forth more effort in materials and manpower to defeat the South. Resentment of the pressure led to another election and the decision to leave the Union and join the Confederacy was made. Most of the able-bodied men and many who were not yet men went away to fight on one side or the other. This situation left the countryside wide open to thieves and scavengers. To a great extent, the defense of the home was left to the women and children, along with those who were too old or sick to fight. No patriotic cause, no political reason, not even a difference of opinion led to the murder of Ben Donathan. He was killed because of the greed of scavengers and opportunists. Now we come to the details of Ben's death. Here we get into areas that cannot now be proven or disproven. The general drift of the story is this. Ben was helping Jerry move his family and some belongings to a safer place. Ben was driving a wagon loaded with household goods. Jerry was on horseback driving some livestock. Mary was on a horse helping Jerry, and the black woman was on a horse and carrying the baby. Some men rode up. Ben recognized them as outlaws and he told the others to run for their lives. The others escaped but Ben was killed. Ben was buried not far away, on the high bluff overlooking Sugar Creek. This much of the story is generally accepted as true and there is nothing here that should not be accepted as fact. But this is a bare skeleton of a story, and when we go about putting meat on that skeleton, that is, supplying the details, we get into some variations in the oral tradition. Where, exactly, did Jerry live at the time? We don't know. Exactly where was the place of more safety they were headed for? We don't know. There is one view that Jerry was moving his family and belongings closer to Ben and the others. The more widely accepted view is that he was moving to Texas until the war was over. This view is supported by the story that Sarah, Ben's wife, had refused to go with them. She is reported to have taken the attitude that Yankees and thieves were not about to drive her out of her home. How many killers were there, and what became of them? Here again, we find variations in the tradition. One story says there were seventeen, and another says there were five. Both stories state that Jerry killed every man involved. Is this human imagination adding color to the story? Perhaps, to some degree, but there is reason to believe it is at least partly true. Ben did recognize the men involved and thus was able to give warning to the others, possibly hoping to be able to handle the situation himself. Again, we cannot know for sure about such details. There is a story that the killers asked Ben to remove his hat before they shot him. It was a good hat and they did not want to spoil it. As stated before, the ones with Ben escaped with their lives, but the killers did catch the horses carrying Mary and the black woman who was carrying the baby. Mary was asked to dismount, but the black woman was knocked from her horse, even though she was carrying the baby. Of course, the horses were stolen, among other things. The women were not harmed. There are some differences in the details of Ben's burial. We know for sure that he was not buried in a cemetery. He was buried and some time later others used the place to bury their dead. The place became a cemetery after the war. It is called the old Davis Cemetery. We have been told recently that the Davis family lived nearby and assisted in the burying of Ben. One story says that his slaves buried him, and another says that the women buried him. It is likely that both were involved. We must remember that transportation being what it was, and considering the dangers of travel, it was logical that Ben was buried there rather than attempting to take him home. I suppose that the thieves took the wagon. We are told that the body was carried by wheelbarrow to the place where it was buried. But another, and perhaps more likely story, is that it was carried on a stretcher, perhaps constructed hastily from two poles and a blanket or quilt. Had other events caused the Donathans to fear for the lives of their families? Arkansas was ripped apart by the fighting and ravaged by scavengers. In 1862 Daniel, the oldest of Ben's several children, had been brutally murdered and his home ransacked. Dan was stood up against a tree and shot in the presence of his wife and children. It is reported that Ben had the tree cut down, because he could not stand to see it when he passed that way. It is very understandable why some of the family decided to move away from the terrible conditions that existed there. What were some of the events leading up to Ben's being in Arkansas in the first place? Again, some things we know for a fact, and others are only family tradition with varying details. We know from an old county record that he came to Arkansas in 1851. We know that he was a landowner, preacher, and probably owned a few slaves. (note the black housekeeper at the killing.) Records indicate that all his children were born in Alabama. The 1850 Census of Jackson County, Alabama indicates that he was a Baptist minister. Some of the stories hold that he was Cumberland Presbyterian. At times there was considerable fellowship between some churches of different denominations, so it is not impossible that he preached at times in both. We do not know where Ben and Sarah (Lloyd) were married. We do not know for sure where Ben came from. The same Census mentioned above, states that he was born in Tennessee. Here we have a problem. We have found absolutely no information as to who his parents were. We have the statements of his grandchildren that he came from Germany, along with two brothers. He was supposed to be Irish and his family was supposed to have been moved from Ireland to Germany to escape a bloody war going on in Ireland. The two brothers are said to have been named Wesley and Dan. The three are supposed to have stowed away on a ship to come to America while they were teenagers. One branch of the family has the tradition that Dan settled at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, served six years as sheriff of Franklin County and was killed in an arrest of some horse thieves. The third brother is said to have had a falling out with the other two and took off for Texas. All this may be true, or the generation it happened in may have been a different one, or it may be at least in part the product of colorful "doctoring up" of the story. I leave it to the reader. We have on the one hand the Census report that says Ben was born Tennessee, though this may have been reported because someone did not wish to explain the truth. We have the fact that Donathans had been in America since the sixteen hundreds and Ben lived among other Donathans. Of course, the presence of relatives in America could have been a reason that Ben came to America. There is evidence that Ben had a sister who lived in Alabama. How did she get into the picture? Of course, there is no reason she could not have arrived at an earlier or latter date. The argument for the "three brothers from Ireland via Germany" is strengthened by the firm convictions of near relatives. Much is not known about Ben's origin and life, but what about this clan called Donathan? Where did the name come from? What facts do we have? Without going into a dry series of "so-and-so begot you- know-who", here is a general outline. Roger Donathan, a grandson of "one arm" Henry Donathan found a reference in a genealogy journal that stated that the name "Donathan" comes from a Spaniard of the fourteen hundreds by the name of Don Alphonse. Don Alphonse was a general who fought the Moors at the Battle of Grenada. This is the battle that finished the Moorish occupation of Spanish territory. Ferdinand and Isabella decorated Don Alphonse for his services. Later, Don Alphonse got into trouble over his opposition to the Spanish Inquisition and had to flee for this life. He went to Ireland and there the family name was corrupted to "Doniphan". "Doniphan" later became "Donathan" in various parts of the family. Doubtless, several other near spellings are of the same roots. There was a General Alexander Doniphan who was very prominent in Ireland and in America. There was another Alexander Doniphan who was famous for military leadership in the Mexican War. It seems that in America there was quite a group of the family in Kentucky and Tennessee. Eventually the ones in Kentucky wound up for the most part with the spelling Doniphan. Most of the ones in Tennessee used the Donathan spelling. Ben was associated with the southern group.