July 25, 2009

Nathaniel Matton “Preacher” Doke was a Benton County pioneer, evangelist, entrepreneur, and benefactor. A Union veteran of the Civil War, Doke moved to northwest Arkansas in the mid-1880s, where he officiated as a Methodist minister until his death in 1919. Known to walk down the railroad tracks reading his Bible, the partially deaf minister was struck by a train and killed. He is shown here with his third wife, Eliza, in about 1890.