Starting Sept. 30, 2014, Genealogy.com will be making a big change. GenForum message boards, Family Tree Maker homepages, and the most popular articles will be preserved in a read-only format, while several other features will no longer be available, including member subscriptions and the Shop.
 
Learn more


Home Page |Surname List |Index of Individuals |InterneTree |Sources


View Tree for Louis Wellington MunroeLouis Wellington Munroe (b. August 29, 1828, d. March 25, 1911)


Picture of Louis Wellington Munroe

Louis Wellington Munroe (son of David Munroe and Mahala Dowdy) was born August 29, 1828 in Cumberland County, Virginia, and died March 25, 1911 in Lonoke Arkansas. He married America Thompson on February 17, 1858, daughter of William Thompson and Mahala Daudy.

 Includes NotesNotes for Louis Wellington Munroe:
Louis Wellington Munroe was born in Virginia August 28,1829. He was one of three sons and three daughters of David Wellington and Mahala Dowdy Munroe. I know the name of one sibling and that was David Munroe. He remained single. His father, David W. Munroe was born in Marlboro, Massachusetts. His wife, Mahala was born in Cumberland County, Virginia. They were married in Virginia. The Munroes moved to Tennessee when Louis was a young boy. Satisfying an ambition of his boyhood, Mr. Munroe made a trip across the Mississippi River and like the west country so well that he sent later for his family and made a home for them in Brownsville, the originial county seat of Lonoke County, Arkansas. He engaged in the mercantile business and was very successful financialy. After the Civil War Mr. Munroe loaned money to many families that needed aid to recoup their livelihood. In 1880 Mr. Munroe and family moved to Lonoke, where he again owned a mercantile business and at one time was associated with his son-in-law the late W.H. Eagle. He was known for his fair and just dealings in business.

He married America Thompson, the daughter of William and Martha Farmer Thompson of Kentucky. Mrs. Munroe was born January 2, 1836 in Moscow, Tennessee. Her marriage to Mr. Munroe was February 17, 1858.

Mr. Munroe died March 25, 1911.

I have visited their graves in Lonoke, and I am attaching the photo of their graves. I also have attached a scanned photo of Mr. and Mrs. Munroe, taken sometime in the early part of the 20th century.

There's a lot of folklore I grew up with over the years when I visited my family in Lonoke. I knew that he held large tracts of land. I've gone through microfilms of Lonoke's newspaper as early as 1885 and he is seldom mentioned in the gossip section that was so much a part of the news at the time. He was held in high esteem, perhaps in awe. He's referred to and known to this day in Lonoke as
Major Munroe. I suppose it was an honorific title. He didn't fight in the Civil War due to some minor physical ailment. I heard that in the early days after his death he was known as "Old 10 Percent". When he was buried and before the permanent monument was installed, some kids scrawled on his grave "Here lies Old 10%
The more he made
The less he spent,
And when he died
to hell he went."

I don't think he was bad as the kids made him out to be, but having money when others struggled was a classic case of the Have and Have Nots.

All 13 children were girls. He blamed the water in Brownsville. He's jokingly tell people that if they want daughters, move to Brownsville!
His daughters were:

Martha Jane Munroe 1/3/1866 4/20/32
Ada Munroe 6/121859
Estella Monroe 12/11/1866 8/3/1868
Emma Munroe 3/25/1862 1/26/37
May Munroe 1873 1960
Lillian Munroe abt. 1871
Allie Munroe
Alvista Munroe abt. 1869
Bertie Munroe abt 1875

I have the other names somewhere and will look for them if you wish.

His family lived in Hickory Withe (Fayette County), Tennessee. He lived here before his move to Arkansas.
I have visited the Town of Hickory Withe, Tenn. a couple of years ago. The town is no more, but an old church dating to 1820's is there with a cemetery. I did find L.W. Munroe's mother's grave (Mahala). His father, David, contracted pneumonia when visiting his son in Arkansas some time in the mid-1800's. He died and was buried in the old Brownsville Cemetery in Arkansas. He's buried alongside 3 of his children that died at an early age or infancy.

Keep me posted as to your progress. Do you have a web page with the Munroe genealogy?

Kind regards...

William


1. Boyhood nickname "Well"

2. Died at his home in Lonoke., buried in the city cemetery.

3. Probate records found in Book F, pgs. 420, 440, 450, 487, and in Book G, Page

4. Obit. found in the Lonoke Democrat, front page, March 30, 1911

5. At the age of seven he moved with his parents, David Wellington and Mahal Dowdy Munroe to West Tennessee where he grew to manhood.

6. Though he was known by all as "Major Munroe" he never served time in the military service. Officer's rank was often given to the well-to-do, or those of some social or bussiness standing.

7. In 1865 he moved to Brownsville, Ark. where he engaged in the mercantile business for a number of years.

8. In 1880 he moved to Lonoke where he lived until his death.

9. He was a member of the Lonoke Baptist Church.

10.

Not mentioned in the 1852 tax records for Prairie County


Prairie County Tax records of 1856

Value of all goods: $1700
Value of gold watch: $75

Total taxable: $1950
State: $3.44
County: $5.25


Prairie County Tax records 1861-1866
Munroe, L.W. North 1/2 lot 6, Blk. of Brownsville
1 to pay poll tax
year taxable 1861
Number of acres: 1
Hundredths: 50
Total value of land and improvements: $1500
Number and value of town lots: 1, $1000
Number and value of slaves over 5 and under 60: 2, $100
Number and value of pleasure carriages: 1, $50
Number and value of horses and mares over 2 years old: 1, $100
Value of gold watches and jewelry: $50
Total taxable property: $4240
County tax: $7.07


Prairie County Tax records of 1866-1868

Acres: 168 Value: $504
" 20 " $60
" 20 " $60
" 560 " $1680
" 120 " $360
" 1 50/100 " $7


Total Value: $7611
State Tax $83.35
County Tax $44.68





1. Munroe family were originally in Lexington, Ma. then moved to Tennessee.
2. Major Monroe was from Tn. then eventually moved to Arkansas.
3. He met and married America Thompsom in Brownsville where her father was the preacher. They lived in Brownsville and had 9 daughters, seven of whom lived.
4. He told D.R. Boone that all he had to do was drink the water in Brownsville to have daughters.
5. He didn't want his daughters to marry for what ever reason. It is said that the Major would walk from his work to his house for lunch at the same time everyday. It was said you could set your watch by the lunch schedule of the Major and D.R..Martha Jane (Mattie) married D.R. when the Major was at home for lunch. They gathered at the home of (on tape) and were married before Major Munroe returned from lunch.
6. His father was David Munroe. He died in Arkansas while he was visiting and is buried in the cemetery in Brownsville.
7. He was known as a "tight" wealthy man. He would loan money at a high 10% rate. He had a notorious reputation in Lonoke. When he died someone left a derogatory poem on his grave (on tape).
8. He owned large tracts of land and left 600-1000 acres to each daughter.
9. Allie Mae Abraham had his walking stick before she died.
10.The tree that Lonoke got its name was in Munroe's front yard, near the school. The town was named when a rail line was being built between Memphis and Little Rock. A train engineer was looking for a landmark and noticed the lone oak tree in the field. Brownsville came close to being the capitol of Arkansas, but was by-passed when lonoke was founded. The town died when many residents left for Lonoke.

10. An endowment given to the Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, TN.

More About Louis Wellington Munroe:
Burial: March 25, 1911, Lonoke City Cemetery.

More About Louis Wellington Munroe and America Thompson:
Marriage: February 17, 1858

Children of Louis Wellington Munroe and America Thompson are:
  1. +Martha Jane Munroe, b. January 03, 1866, Brownsville, Arkansas, d. April 20, 1932, Lonoke Arkansas.
  2. +Ada Munroe, b. June 12, 1859, Bronsville, Arkansas, d., Brownsville, Arkansas.
  3. Estella Monroe, b. December 11, 1866, Brownsville, Arkansas, d. August 03, 1868, Brownsville, Arkansas.
  4. Emma Munroe, b. March 25, 1862, Bronsville, Arkansas, d. January 26, 1937.
  5. +May Munroe, b. 1873, Brownsville, Arkansas, d. 1960, Lonoke Arkansas.
  6. +Lillian Munroe.
  7. Allie Munroe.
  8. Alvista Munroe, b. Abt. 1869.
  9. Bertie Munroe, b. Abt. 1875.
Created with Family Tree Maker


Search for Family - Learn About Genealogy - Helpful Web Sites - Message Boards - Guest Book - Home
© Copyright 1996-99, The Learning Company, Inc., and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved.
© Copyright 1995-97 by Matthew L. Helm. All Rights Reserved.