Charlean Moss Williams (1868–1958)

Author and local historian Charlean Moss Williams was a preservationist, civic leader, and booster of her hometown of Washington (Hempstead County).

Charlean Louise (Charlie) Moss was born on December 15, 1868, in Washington to Matthew Moss and Evelyn Herrin Moss. Her paternal grandfather was James Moss, who served as one of the original Hempstead County commissioners.

On September 7, 1887, she married Thomas Yancey Williams, a native of Bingen (Hempstead County), who was an assistant auditor for the railroad and grocery merchant. The couple had two daughters: Jennie June, born in 1889, and Charlean, 1891.

Besides being a homemaker, Charlean Williams worked at various times as a music teacher and telephone operator. She was best known for her interest in Hempstead County history. Her husband died in 1924, and a few years later she undertook a project that started the preservation movement in Arkansas.

Though her father had been too old to enlist during the Civil War, he provided aid to the Confederacy by supplying troops with flour from his grist mill. This connection to the Confederacy later played a part in Williams’s work for historic preservation. It was upon her father’s record of giving material aid to the Confederacy that Williams was accepted into membership of the C. E. Royston Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) in Fulton (Hempstead County) in 1912. She later transferred her membership to the Pat Cleburne Chapter in Hope (Hempstead County).

In 1927, Washington’s mayor, William H. Etter III, wrote a bill to secure funding for the restoration of the former Hempstead County Courthouse, which was built in 1836 and briefly served as the Confederate State Capitol of Arkansas (1863–1865) after Union troops took control of Little Rock (Pulaski County). When Etter’s initial measure failed to pass in the Arkansas General Assembly, he suggested to Williams that the Arkansas Division of the UDC should be solicited to help obtain statewide support. Williams’s connection to the UDC helped him gain support, and a bill was reintroduced and passed. Arkansas Act 247 of 1929 became the first instance in which state funds were allocated for historic preservation in Arkansas.

Sometime before 1933, Williams joined the Washington chapter of the Business and Professional Women’s Club (B&WPC), and the state organization appointed her as state historian in May 1933. On April 3, 1934, she was elected mayor of Washington and led a “petticoat rule” all-women city council. Several of the councilwomen were fellow members of the B&WPC. The council met with some criticism, and a committee of men made the complaint that “nothing has been accomplished by the all-women council.” They recommended electing a young man who could give them a “he-man administration.” The criticism failed to convince voters during that term, and in 1935’s election, Williams was the only member of the council who had an opponent. She was reelected by a two-to-one margin. The “petticoat rule” ended in 1936 as a full slate of male candidates was elected, one of whom was William H. Etter IV, who had married Charlean Trimble, a granddaughter of Williams, and who was the son of the previous mayor.

In 1936, Williams wrote a series of articles for the Hope Star that were featured in a special Arkansas Centennial edition of the paper. The Arkansas Pioneers Association also named her state historian for the organization during that year, and she served as the Hempstead County chair of the centennial observance. Due to her efforts, the Arkansas History Commission (now the Arkansas State Archives) placed three centennial historical markers in Hempstead County—two in Washington and one in Fulton.

By 1940, Williams had moved to El Dorado (Union County) to live with her daughter Jennie June. During her time in El Dorado, she wrote The Old Town Speaks: Washington, Hempstead County, Arkansas; Gateway to Texas, 1835, Confederate Capital, 1863. Though written in a style that would not be considered scholarly, it is one of the earliest compilations of Washington history in book form and contains references to various issues of the Washington Telegraph, oral histories, and other original sources that have been lost over time.

Williams died on November 25, 1958, in El Dorado at her daughter’s home. Her funeral service was held at the Washington Presbyterian Church, of which she was a lifelong member. She is buried in the Old Washington (a.k.a. Presbyterian) Cemetery.

For additional information:
“Arkansas Centennial 1836–1936.” Hope Star, June 26, 1936.

Charlean Moss Williams Papers, MSF 082. Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives, Washington, Arkansas.

Williams, Charlean Moss. The Old Town Speaks: Washington, Hempstead County, Arkansas; Gateway to Texas, 1835, Confederate Capital, 1863. Houston, TX: Anson Jones Press, 1951.

Melissa A. Nesbitt
Texarkana, Arkansas