Unknown token found in Arkansas

[steve797]

Here is a token I found a few years ago in Old Reyno, which is in Northeast Arkansas. It's very light, and says RJ GREEN and 5 (cents mark). I found that there was an RJ Green saloon in St. Louis, but that is quite a way away. DOes anyone have any more info, or know where I can find out anything about it?

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Upgraded Night Vision Monocular Digital Infrared Monocular Telescope for 100% Darkness with 8X Zoom - Grab it through Amazon!

[nhbenz]

There's a saloon listed here under that name in Paragould County Arkansas: 1894 Directory

 

[villagenut]

Here is a token I found a few years ago in Old Reyno, which is in Northeast Arkansas. It's very light, and says RJ GREEN and 5 (cents mark). I found that there was an RJ Green saloon in St. Louis, but that is quite a way away. DOes anyone have any more info, or know where I can find out anything about it?

View attachment 1082437View attachment 1082438

I think I found your guy in Corning Arkansas, Clay County. This is just a real short drive from where you found the token. In this link, the newspaper describes him as Reuben and that he is a hustler in his "business house" in the town and he was making improvements to it as well. This was in 1889.

RootsWeb: ARCLAY-L [ARCLAY-L] "All Around Clay Co. in Years Past.....1889"

 

[nhbenz]

I dunno, it seems like tokens would be more likely issued from:
R. J. Greens , Saloon 1894

 

[villagenut]

I dunno, it seems like tokens would be more likely issued from:
R. J. Greens , Saloon 1894

I would not reserve tokens from being from saloons only, Steve's token does not state what type establishment it was issued from. For whatever a definition one would attribute a "business house" to is subjective, could be about anything I suppose....but he was a hustler, whatever that implied. But taking into account where he found it and the close proximity of where this particular R.J. Green was located, it felt like a good candidate or at least one worth considering.Here is a link to support that a "business house" offered tokens for their redemption.At the end of the day, it may be neither one of our Greens...that is sometimes how it all works out.

http://tokencatalog.com/token_recor...38728&attribution_id=365892&td_create_uid=252

 

[steve797]

Corning is only a few miles from where I found it. The next time I'm down there, I will talk to a few old timers to see if they have any info. Thanks guys!

 

[villagenut]

after a little more digging I did find something more interesting about the man R.J.Green(Reuben) that very well may indicate him being the same one that both nhbenz and I pointed to.According to the 1880 census for Corning, he was a retail grocer, born about 1849 in Kentucky, his parents both were born in Indiana. In 1882 he married a Mattie J .The R.J.Green from Paragould was also a Reuben, born about 1848 in Kentucky,both parents born in Indiana, married in 1882 to a Martha J.The 1900 census for Paragould lists him as a saloon keeper, as nhbenz suggested.(Keep in mind that census records often misspell names of persons like Mattie and Martha and birth dates may fluctuate as well.)So I now think that the two are one in the same. He probably had his business house in Corning where he married in 1882 and moved to Paragould by at least 1894 as brought out by nhbenz, where he began keeping a saloon, without the competition there would have been in Corning.He probably saw the profit others were making in Corning and decided to move a little farther south, not too far to Paragould and named his saloon after his birthstate, the Kentucky Saloon.After all, according to that newspaper from Corning, he was a hustler.So where did the token originate from, the retail store or the saloon? Anybodies guess could be right, but based on location, I would bank on the retail grocery, the business house.

 

[nhbenz]

I was just getting ready to suggest the same thing (that the man is one in the same), as the below articles show him to be very involved in the liquor business before the opening of the saloon. These are in Clay county, rather than Paragould:

RootsWeb: ARCLAY-L [ARCLAY-L] "All Around Clay Co. in Years Past.........."

RootsWeb: ARCLAY-L [ARCLAY-L] "All Around Clay Co. in Years Past.....1889"

 

[villagenut]

RootsWeb: ARCLAY-L [ARCLAY-L] "All Around Clay Co. in Years Past.........."

I wonder if the anti-whiskey folks put a hamper on his as well as other's businesses there in Corning, forcing some to relocate. Maybe it became a dry County??

 

[steve797]

I wonder if the anti-whiskey folks put a hamper on his as well as other's businesses there in Corning, forcing some to relocate. Maybe it became a dry County??

Corning is in Clay County and is still a dry county to this day. But the state line is only a few miles away.