Mary Lamb Rhodes shares family legacy

BEAUTY QUEEN TIMES TWO LAJUAN MOONEY PHOTO Mary Lamb Rhodes, a resident of the Benton Residential Care Center, stands before a portrait of her granddaughter, Brandy Rhodes. The younger Ms. Rhodes was Miss Arkansas in 1999 and was among the top 10 in the Miss America pageant. Mary Rhodes herself is a beauty queen, having competed in the Ms. Senior Arkansas Pageant at the age of 72.

With the fast pace life that Americans live the tradition of family reunions sometimes seems to get lost by the wayside.

The Lamb Family of Leola, Ark., will host their 60th Reunion on Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008.

The family of Lenne Lee and Alice Lamb started holding the reunions on Easter Sunday in 1948. As a family they have grown and come together ever since. The reunion originally started with Len and Alice's seven children and grandchildren.

The oldest son Duran had four children. The oldest daughter Lottie Lamb Tedford had two children. The second son Leland had two children. Coye Lamb Deere was the mother of two. Austin had three boys. Lyndon was the father of two and the youngest child Mary Lamb Rhodes has two boys and two girls.

Over the years, the Lamb reunion has frequently hosted well over 100 family members. Times change. This year Mary Lamb Rhodes will be the only surviving sibling in attendance.

Although Mary Rhodes was born and raised in Leola, she is now a resident of Benton, living at the Benton Residential Care Center. She has an interesting family legacy to share.

The Lamb and Reid families settled in Sandy Springs long before the name was changed to Leola. The Leola Missionary Baptist Church was one of four Baptist churches founded by her grandfather, the Rev. A.F. 'Frank' Lamb. Mary's mother, Alice Reid Lamb, was the aunt of Leola Cunningham, making Mary the first cousin of the little girl Leola, Ark., was named for. At this point in the history of Leola, Mary is the oldest and closest living relative of Leola Cunningham.

Leola; City for a Century

Across the United States there are three towns with the name Leola. All small. One in Pennsylvania and another in South Dakota.

The uniqueness of Leola, Ark., is the location and tradition. So how do you find Leola? First of all you need to know where you are going. There are four ways in and four ways out but Leola is not on your way to anywhere.

The Leola area was first settled in the mid 1800s. As was typical of that time in American history, life revolved around agriculture. In the beginning, the main crops were corn and wheat but soon moved to cotton. The old cotton gin was still standing well into the 1960s. The Leola Post Office now stands on that location.

During the 1800s the area was called Sandy Springs. The name came from dozens of sandy springs that sprang up all around what is now Leola. Some of those springs are still flowing.

Although there is no record of slaves living in southern Grant County (Saline County during the "War of Northern Aggression," aka the Civil War,) one of the major battles of the Civil War in Arkansas was fought three miles north of Sandy Springs, the Battle of Jenkins Ferry on the Saline River. South of town the "Old Confederate Hospital" stood until 1963. The old hospital was a hay barn at the time it burned.

During the 1940s and 1950s the city of Leola lead the state of Arkansas in lumber production. With three lumber mills in town and a pole yard, Leola had more jobs than residents.

The population of Leola reached its peek in the 1920s nearing 1,000. The population shrank to around 300 during the 1950s and '60s.

Sandy Springs was a common name for many communities throughout Arkansas and the southern states at the turn of the century. The Rock Island Railroad was building a depot and requested the community of Sandy Springs in Grant County change its name.

The chairman of the committee to change the name and incorporate the city was Rev. A.F. Lamb (Mary's grandfather). Committee member, William Henry Reid, was late on the day the committee was to vote on the town name. Reid's granddaughter, Leola Cunningham, had died tragically that morning. The committee voted, unanimously, to name the town Leola.

The people of, and with roots in, Leola are a proud group. Although no one would claim Leola, Ark., has changed the world, a study of "6 degrees" could make a good argument for influence.

An example: Mary Lamb was the babysitter for the future U.S. congressman, Arkansas Attorney General, president of Arkansas State University and the University of Arkansas, Raymond Hoyt Thornton Jr. Ray Thornton currently serves on the Arkansas Supreme Court. (Must have been that special baby sitter!)

Ray Thornton is a product of early childhood development in rural Leola. His mother, Wilma Stevens Thornton, was the elementary school teacher of Mary Lamb and two of her brothers, Lyndon and Austin.

In the late 1940s, Mary's father and his oldest son, Duran, invented extended axles for log truck trailers. The family mechanic, Austin, accomplished the axle construction. The extended axle enabled log trucks to haul logs up to 24 feet long, where the previous loads were limited to 12 or 14 feet.

Lottie Lamb Ledford (Mary's sister) lived in Dyess, Ark., in 1944, next door to JR 'Johnny' Cash and family.

Linwood Ledford (nephew of Mary) was vice president of the Cadillac division of General Motors when he retired. While attending Dyess Elementary School Linwood was the best friend of Jack "Coin" Cash, Johnny's older brother.

Lyndon Lamb (Mary's brother), a 1938 graduate of Leola, was the chief clight engineer on the XC-99. At the time the XC- 99 was the largest aircraft in the free world.

Bob Lamb (Mary's nephew) a 1949 Leola graduate revolutionized the way offshore oil wells were cleaned. Bob and a partner also invented a car that would get several hundred miles to a gallon of gasoline. The partner drove the car to Washington D.C. Mysteriously, neither the car nor the partner has been seen since.

Bill Lamb (Mary's nephew) a 1951 graduate of Leola changed the bookkeeping systems for small businesses across Arkansas forever. His system virtually eliminated bounced checks. (For those business owners who understand basic math).

Charles Lamb (cousin to Bob and Bill) a 1953 graduate forgot to take chemistry in high school but went on to earn a PhD in Chemical Engineering.

Montyne Lamb O'Dell (Mary's niece) a 1946 graduate became a teacher. For more than 30 years, she taught English and Spanish. Her son, David O'Dell, is now head of the Language Department at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. His areas of specialization are linguistics and Spanish.

Leola and Military Service:

Leola has been well represented in the service of our country. The branch of choice is the USAF, followed by the Army and Marine Corp. There have been only two known members of the US Navy. There have been no known generals but there has been at least one colonel.

Tossie Lamb (Mary's aunt) married George Deere of Leola. George graduated valedictorian of his class at Peabody Institute (now a part of Vanderbilt University). Dr. George Deere became head of the Department of Education at Vanderbilt. After retiring from Vanderbilt, he became the head of the Department of Education at LSU.

Not to be outdone by her aunt, Mary Lamb married a Rhodes scholar from Poyen, W.P. 'Dusty' Rhodes.

Leola and Politics and Royalty:

Leola has touched the King himself, Elvis Presley. Elvis' personal hairdresser was Travis Joe Johnson, Leola Class of 1949. You may be familiar with the "House of Travis" of Neiman Marcus in Houston, Texas. Yes, the same Travis of Leola, Ark. The former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, was also a regular at the "House of Travis."

The presidential advance security team for President Bill Clinton was lead by Steven Lamb (great nephew of Mary). He was also head of international security for Prince Charles after leaving the service of Clinton.

Controversies:

There were neighbors of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Hoyt Thornton Sr. who claim to have been present at the time of the birth of Ray Thornton Jr. in Leola not Ray Thornton Jr. in Leola, not Conway.

It is debated that prior to the Civil War Leola (Sandy Springs) was a part of Saline County or Hot Spring County.

Leola and International Marketing:

Ray Thornton's mother, Wilma, is the sister of Whit and Jack Stevens, founders of Stevens International Inc.

Leola and Sports:

Troy Reid (3rd cousin to Leola) a 1951 graduate of Leola was a head basketball coach in Arkansas for 39 years.

He coached for many years at Glen Rose and Harmony Grove.

Gary Crowder (Mary's nephew) Leola Class of 1974 is the head basketball coach at Ouachita Baptist University. OBU is the college home of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former U.S. Rep. Ray Thornton.

Basketball players from Leola have played for Henderson State University, University of the Ozarks, Arkansas Tech and the U of A.

Baseball has been well represented with Leola players going to OBU, HSU and the U of A.

Randy Lamb (Class of 1972) played and coached major/minor league baseball with the Houston Astros.

Gary Crowder was an honorable mention All-American pitcher at HSU.

Leola and Miss America:

Miss Malvern, 1971, Janice Floyd, was in the top 10 Miss Arkansas Pageant. Later that year she married Patrick Rhodes (Mary's son).

In 1972 Janice Floyd Rhodes crowned Mary Michelle Rhodes (Mary's daughter) Miss Malvern.

She was also in the top 10 of Miss Arkansas. Years later, not to be outdone by her daughter and daughter-in-law, Mary - at the age of 72 - entered the Ms Senior Arkansas Pageant, where she was second runnerup.

However, Miss Arkansas 1999 and Miss America top 10 was Brandy Rhodes (granddaughter of Mary and daughter of Janice and Patrick).

Not a bad track record for a little Arkansas town named for a little country girl that sits on top of a little sandy hill surrounded by little sandy springs.

(It's all right to be little bitty).