Florence Cypert Spore Papers

Collection

Identifier: MC 799

Staff Only
Select files to request

Scope and Content Note

Letters, papers, scrapbooks, and photographs pertaining to the Seat-Cypert-Spore families of Searcy, Arkansas.

Series one holds papers pertaining to the Seat family, including an autobiographical sketch of Captain Benton Bell Seat and diaries kept by him after he moved to Arkansas in 1903. Series two holds papers dealing with the Cypert family, from Jesse Newton Cypert to the five children of Judge Eugene Cypert. Materials concerning the Hardy-Haymond-Crow families, relatives of the Cyperts, have been placed in series three. Papers pertining to other families whose relationship to the Cyperts is unclear are also in series three. Series four holds papers created or collected by Reverend Kenneth Spore, including many sermons preached during his career and research files concerning Arkansas Methodism. Series five, scrapbooks, and series six, photographs, hold materials concerning personalities represented in series one through four. Series seven, artifacts, includes medals, pins, and coins.

Dates

1854-1976

Creator

Spore, Florence Cypert (Person)

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Access Information

Please call (479) 575-8444 or email specoll@uark.edu at least two weeks in advance of your arrival to ensure availability of the materials.

Use Information

No Use Restrictions Apply.

No Interlibrary Loan.

Standard Federal Copyright Laws Apply (U.S. Title 17).

Biographical Note

THE SEAT-CYPERT-HARDY-SPORE FAMILY

Judge Eugene Cypert (1857-1955) was a Searcy, Arkansas attorney and County Judge of White County, Arkansas. An Arkansas native, Judge Cypert attended the Searcy Academy and was admitted to the bar in 1884. He formed a legal partnership with his father, Jesse Newton Cypert (1823-1913) which lasted until Jesse's death. Apart from his activities in the legal profession and real estate speculation, Judge Cypert was elected White County Judge for four terms, attended the Arkansas Constitutional Convention of 1917, and was an avid local historian. In 1897, Judge Cypert married Louise Iradel Seat(1877-1959) at Webster Grove, Missouri. The couple had five children, Sarah, Benton, Eugene Jr., Harriet, and Florence, the donor of this collection.

Louise Seat Cypert came from a pioneer southern family as well. Her father was Captain Benton Bell Seat (1830-1917) of Trenton, Tennessee. Seat left Tennessee for California during the gold rush of 1849 after studying law at Lebanon. He settled in Texas after his return and served in Sibley's Texas Brigade and the Fifth Texas Cavalry during the Civil War, participating in the ill-fated New Mexico Campaign. He was wounded in the battle of Valverde, New Mexico and finished the war fighting with troops in Louisiana. Seat resumed his legal career in Texas following the war and then moved to Nicaragua where he practiced law and speculated in the banana business. Aside from Louise, Seat had another child, William Haymond Seat, who remained in Nicaragua after the Captain left for Arkansas in 1901. Captain Seat lived the rest of his life in Searcy with his daughter and son-in-law.

Judge Cypert's children are also represented in this collection. Harriet Cypert graduated from Searcy High School in 1932 and attended college at a number of different institutions, including Galloway Woman's College in Searcy. She served as a medical technician in World War II at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. Florence Cypert married Reverend Kenneth Spore of St. Charles, Arkansas, in 1933. Spore was a Methodist clergyman who graduated from Hendrix College in 1927. He preached to congregations at Scott, Little Rock, and Hope, Arkansas during his lengthy career and was actively interested in the history of his denomination. Spore published numerous articles and a book on Arkansas Methodist History.

Extent

15.5 Linear Feet (32 boxes)

Additional Description

Arrangement of the Papers

The Florence Cypert Spore papers have been arranged in series based on family groups. The remaining series have been divided into subseries based on document type.

Series 1. Seat Family Papers, 1854-1950. Boxes 1-2.
Series 1. Subseries 1. Letters, 1854-1947.
Series 1. Subseries 2. Diaries, 1903-1913.
Series 1. Subseries 3. Literary works, ca. 1917.
Series 1. Subseries 4. Financial papers, 1901-1917.
Series 1. Subseries 5. Legal documents, 1859-1908.
Series 1. Subseries 6. Printed materials, 1890-1950.
Series 2. Cypert Family Papers, 1864-1975. Boxes 2-4.
Series 2. Subseries 1. Letters, 1891-1975.
Series 2. Subseries 2. Diary, 1932-1936.
Series 2. Subseries 3. Literary and research works, ca. 1950s-1970s.
Series 2. Subseries 4. Financial papers, 1874-1971.
Series 2. Subseries 5. Legal documents, 1864-1958.
Series 2. Subseries 6. Printed materials, 1880-1959.
Series 3. Hardy/Haymond/Crow and other family papers, 1849-1975. Box 4.
Series 3. Subseries 1. Letters, 1893-1967.
Series 3. Subseries 2. Financial papers, 1872-1910.
Series 3. Subseries 3. Legal documents, 1849-1975.
Series 3. Subseries 4. Printed materials, 1903-1952.
Series 3. Subseries 5. Sketchbooks and autograph albums, 1890-1911.
Series 4. Spore Family Papers, 1922-1975. Boxes 5-23.
Series 4. Subseries 1. Sermons, ca. 1920s-1960s.
Series 4. Subseries 2. Record books, 1922-1975.
Series 4. Subseries 3. Research and correspondence files, ca. 1940s-1970s.
Series 5. Scrapbooks, ca. 1890s-1970s.
Series 6. Photographs. ca. 1850s-1970s. Boxes 24-28.
Series 7. Artifacts, circa 1851-1960

Acquisition Information

The Florence Cypert Spore Papers were donated to Special Collections by Florence Cypert Spore of Fayetteville, Arkansas, on July 9, 1987.

Processing Information

Processed by Kim Allen Scott, April 1989. Special Collections Division, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville, Arkansas. An additional series (Series 7, Artifacts) was created by Katrina Windon in January 2021 to incorporate an additional box of collection materials not included during the original processing. An additional box of collection materials (Box 32) that had been separated to vault storage in June 1989 was incorporated into the collection by Katrina Windon in October 2022. Finding aid language was updated by Catherine Wallack in November 2023 as part of a project to update outdated or harmful description related to slavery or to enslaved persons.