James Houston Fretwell was born in Poteau, Oklahoma, on November 26, 1879, the son of William Nelson Fretwell, a farmer, and Mary (Gilmore) Fretwell. William Nelson Fretwell, born in Aberdeen, Mississippi, on 28 October 1846, died in June, 1917. Mary (Gilmore) Fretwell, born in Alabama in 1850, died in September, 1930. Other children born to the Fretwells were Viola, Lorena, Baxter, Andrea, Della, Jim, Era, Hugh, Roberta, Ghaska and Edgar - eleven in all.
James Houston Fretwell received his early education in the public schools of Scott County, Arkansas, and then attended Cauthron High School, at Cauthron, Arkansas. Determined to continue his education after graduation from high school, but lacking the necessary credits to enter an institution of higher learning, he took special exams to gain admission to Hendrix College, in Conway, AR. There he majored in mathematics and won high grades despite his early difficulties and was recommended as a teacher.
James met Mary Ann Harrod in 1902 and they were married on September 16, 1903 in Faulkner County, Arkansas. James and Mary were both teachers.
Their first teaching position was at Wheatley, St. Francis County, Arkansas in 1903. Their only child, James Harrod Fretwell, called “Harrod” by his parents, was born in Wheatley in 1904. In 1907, the Fretwells moved to Faulkner County, where both taught until 1912 when they moved to Levy (now North Little Rock), Pulaski County, Arkansas where James was principal of Levy School and Mary was a teacher. When the United States entered the First World War, James accepted an invitation to teach in Phillips County, on the Mississippi Delta. Returning to Levy in 1921, James and Mary entered business, building and operating a service station at 3400 Pike Ave., North Little Rock, Arkansas, in the “Y” created by the intersection of Pike Avenue and Camp Robinson Road.
James continued his interest in educational matters, specifically development of the Levy school system. He was also active in civic activities, in the Democratic Party, in the Levy Methodist Church, of which he and Mary were charter members, and Masonic affairs. Elected Levy City Clerk, James served four years as clerk and was then elected Mayor where he served three terms until Levy’s annexation into North Little Rock in 1946. In the Masonic order he was a member of the Blue Lodge, Plum Creek No. 357, the Arkansas Consistory and Sahara Temple at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, of the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Harrod Fretwell was killed in an apparent robbery gone bad while working the night shift at the Fretwell’s service station on Wednesday, 7 January 1925. He was 21. Harrod is buried alongside his parents in Edgewood Memorial Park.
In 1934- 1936 Mary and James built the Fretwell Building at 3400 Pike Avenue in Levy on the footprint of the former Fretwell Service Station that was destroyed by fire in 1927. The building, owned by the Fretwells, had retail space on the ground floor with apartments above and contained a service station on the southern end. Mary and James opened an ice cream shop and café in the southwest corner. The café was also a stop for over- the- road buses. In 1938 Mary and James built an apartment for themselves in the Fretwell Building.
Mary and James Fretwell made a donation to the Levy Methodist Church towards construction of a fellowship hall which was christened James Harrod Fretwell Hall in memory of Harrod Fretwell.
James Houston Fretwell died 25 April 1950 from an apparent heart attack and is buried alongside his wife of 47 years in Edgewood Memorial Park.
James Houston Fretwell received his early education in the public schools of Scott County, Arkansas, and then attended Cauthron High School, at Cauthron, Arkansas. Determined to continue his education after graduation from high school, but lacking the necessary credits to enter an institution of higher learning, he took special exams to gain admission to Hendrix College, in Conway, AR. There he majored in mathematics and won high grades despite his early difficulties and was recommended as a teacher.
James met Mary Ann Harrod in 1902 and they were married on September 16, 1903 in Faulkner County, Arkansas. James and Mary were both teachers.
Their first teaching position was at Wheatley, St. Francis County, Arkansas in 1903. Their only child, James Harrod Fretwell, called “Harrod” by his parents, was born in Wheatley in 1904. In 1907, the Fretwells moved to Faulkner County, where both taught until 1912 when they moved to Levy (now North Little Rock), Pulaski County, Arkansas where James was principal of Levy School and Mary was a teacher. When the United States entered the First World War, James accepted an invitation to teach in Phillips County, on the Mississippi Delta. Returning to Levy in 1921, James and Mary entered business, building and operating a service station at 3400 Pike Ave., North Little Rock, Arkansas, in the “Y” created by the intersection of Pike Avenue and Camp Robinson Road.
James continued his interest in educational matters, specifically development of the Levy school system. He was also active in civic activities, in the Democratic Party, in the Levy Methodist Church, of which he and Mary were charter members, and Masonic affairs. Elected Levy City Clerk, James served four years as clerk and was then elected Mayor where he served three terms until Levy’s annexation into North Little Rock in 1946. In the Masonic order he was a member of the Blue Lodge, Plum Creek No. 357, the Arkansas Consistory and Sahara Temple at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, of the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Harrod Fretwell was killed in an apparent robbery gone bad while working the night shift at the Fretwell’s service station on Wednesday, 7 January 1925. He was 21. Harrod is buried alongside his parents in Edgewood Memorial Park.
In 1934- 1936 Mary and James built the Fretwell Building at 3400 Pike Avenue in Levy on the footprint of the former Fretwell Service Station that was destroyed by fire in 1927. The building, owned by the Fretwells, had retail space on the ground floor with apartments above and contained a service station on the southern end. Mary and James opened an ice cream shop and café in the southwest corner. The café was also a stop for over- the- road buses. In 1938 Mary and James built an apartment for themselves in the Fretwell Building.
Mary and James Fretwell made a donation to the Levy Methodist Church towards construction of a fellowship hall which was christened James Harrod Fretwell Hall in memory of Harrod Fretwell.
James Houston Fretwell died 25 April 1950 from an apparent heart attack and is buried alongside his wife of 47 years in Edgewood Memorial Park.
James Houston Fretwell was born in Poteau, Oklahoma, on November 26, 1879, the son of William Nelson Fretwell, a farmer, and Mary (Gilmore) Fretwell. William Nelson Fretwell, born in Aberdeen, Mississippi, on 28 October 1846, died in June, 1917. Mary (Gilmore) Fretwell, born in Alabama in 1850, died in September, 1930. Other children born to the Fretwells were Viola, Lorena, Baxter, Andrea, Della, Jim, Era, Hugh, Roberta, Ghaska and Edgar - eleven in all.
James Houston Fretwell received his early education in the public schools of Scott County, Arkansas, and then attended Cauthron High School, at Cauthron, Arkansas. Determined to continue his education after graduation from high school, but lacking the necessary credits to enter an institution of higher learning, he took special exams to gain admission to Hendrix College, in Conway, AR. There he majored in mathematics and won high grades despite his early difficulties and was recommended as a teacher.
James met Mary Ann Harrod in 1902 and they were married on September 16, 1903 in Faulkner County, Arkansas. James and Mary were both teachers.
Their first teaching position was at Wheatley, St. Francis County, Arkansas in 1903. Their only child, James Harrod Fretwell, called “Harrod” by his parents, was born in Wheatley in 1904. In 1907, the Fretwells moved to Faulkner County, where both taught until 1912 when they moved to Levy (now North Little Rock), Pulaski County, Arkansas where James was principal of Levy School and Mary was a teacher. When the United States entered the First World War, James accepted an invitation to teach in Phillips County, on the Mississippi Delta. Returning to Levy in 1921, James and Mary entered business, building and operating a service station at 3400 Pike Ave., North Little Rock, Arkansas, in the “Y” created by the intersection of Pike Avenue and Camp Robinson Road.
James continued his interest in educational matters, specifically development of the Levy school system. He was also active in civic activities, in the Democratic Party, in the Levy Methodist Church, of which he and Mary were charter members, and Masonic affairs. Elected Levy City Clerk, James served four years as clerk and was then elected Mayor where he served three terms until Levy’s annexation into North Little Rock in 1946. In the Masonic order he was a member of the Blue Lodge, Plum Creek No. 357, the Arkansas Consistory and Sahara Temple at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, of the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Harrod Fretwell was killed in an apparent robbery gone bad while working the night shift at the Fretwell’s service station on Wednesday, 7 January 1925. He was 21. Harrod is buried alongside his parents in Edgewood Memorial Park.
In 1934- 1936 Mary and James built the Fretwell Building at 3400 Pike Avenue in Levy on the footprint of the former Fretwell Service Station that was destroyed by fire in 1927. The building, owned by the Fretwells, had retail space on the ground floor with apartments above and contained a service station on the southern end. Mary and James opened an ice cream shop and café in the southwest corner. The café was also a stop for over- the- road buses. In 1938 Mary and James built an apartment for themselves in the Fretwell Building.
Mary and James Fretwell made a donation to the Levy Methodist Church towards construction of a fellowship hall which was christened James Harrod Fretwell Hall in memory of Harrod Fretwell.
James Houston Fretwell died 25 April 1950 from an apparent heart attack and is buried alongside his wife of 47 years in Edgewood Memorial Park.
James Houston Fretwell received his early education in the public schools of Scott County, Arkansas, and then attended Cauthron High School, at Cauthron, Arkansas. Determined to continue his education after graduation from high school, but lacking the necessary credits to enter an institution of higher learning, he took special exams to gain admission to Hendrix College, in Conway, AR. There he majored in mathematics and won high grades despite his early difficulties and was recommended as a teacher.
James met Mary Ann Harrod in 1902 and they were married on September 16, 1903 in Faulkner County, Arkansas. James and Mary were both teachers.
Their first teaching position was at Wheatley, St. Francis County, Arkansas in 1903. Their only child, James Harrod Fretwell, called “Harrod” by his parents, was born in Wheatley in 1904. In 1907, the Fretwells moved to Faulkner County, where both taught until 1912 when they moved to Levy (now North Little Rock), Pulaski County, Arkansas where James was principal of Levy School and Mary was a teacher. When the United States entered the First World War, James accepted an invitation to teach in Phillips County, on the Mississippi Delta. Returning to Levy in 1921, James and Mary entered business, building and operating a service station at 3400 Pike Ave., North Little Rock, Arkansas, in the “Y” created by the intersection of Pike Avenue and Camp Robinson Road.
James continued his interest in educational matters, specifically development of the Levy school system. He was also active in civic activities, in the Democratic Party, in the Levy Methodist Church, of which he and Mary were charter members, and Masonic affairs. Elected Levy City Clerk, James served four years as clerk and was then elected Mayor where he served three terms until Levy’s annexation into North Little Rock in 1946. In the Masonic order he was a member of the Blue Lodge, Plum Creek No. 357, the Arkansas Consistory and Sahara Temple at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, of the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Harrod Fretwell was killed in an apparent robbery gone bad while working the night shift at the Fretwell’s service station on Wednesday, 7 January 1925. He was 21. Harrod is buried alongside his parents in Edgewood Memorial Park.
In 1934- 1936 Mary and James built the Fretwell Building at 3400 Pike Avenue in Levy on the footprint of the former Fretwell Service Station that was destroyed by fire in 1927. The building, owned by the Fretwells, had retail space on the ground floor with apartments above and contained a service station on the southern end. Mary and James opened an ice cream shop and café in the southwest corner. The café was also a stop for over- the- road buses. In 1938 Mary and James built an apartment for themselves in the Fretwell Building.
Mary and James Fretwell made a donation to the Levy Methodist Church towards construction of a fellowship hall which was christened James Harrod Fretwell Hall in memory of Harrod Fretwell.
James Houston Fretwell died 25 April 1950 from an apparent heart attack and is buried alongside his wife of 47 years in Edgewood Memorial Park.
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