Managing Real Estate Broker
James Dray
Call me for your real estate needs. 479-381-0550
Cell: (479) 381-0550
Office: (479) 381-0550
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Real Estate Agent
Barbara S. Duncan
By constantly working in the real estate market in Searcy AR and White County for over 35 years, I have become known as one of the most professional and knowledgeable brokers in the city and county.
Cell: (501) 278-6817
Office: (501) 268-1115
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All About Arkansas Real Estate

By James Dray, Exceptional Agents, Outstanding Results
(Fathom Realty)
Francis Marion was born in Berkeley County, South Carolina back in 1732.  When he was 15, he was hired on a ship bound for the West Indies, the ship never made it as it sank, but the crew escaped on a lifeboat.  He began his military career shortly before his 25th birthday to serve in the French and Indian War.In 1776, the Continental Congress commissioned Francis a captain in the 2nd South Carolina Regiment.  by 1776, he was a lieutenant colonel taking part in the siege of Savannah.  In 1780, he joined Major General Horatio Gates.  Gates sent Francis towards the interior to gather intelligence on the British Army.  The British Army hated Francis (more on that later).  They sent Colonel Banastre Tarleton out to either capture or kill Francis because of his fighting techniques.  It was T...
Comments 14
By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Memories!  You want memories!  We have found them!Let's assume you went to school in White County AR sometime from about 1950 to 1974.  W. E. Orr, from Judsonia, was instrumental in beginning and continuing a White County Girls' Basketball Tournament during those years.  It was called "The South's Most Spectacular Cage Tournament" with a new program made up each year. His daughter, Fonda McCarty,  has a wealth of not-used and saved programs from those years.  Go right now to That's Judsonia on facebook and find her comment and pictures about the programs.  Click here. She is selling the old memory books for $1 each!  They are SO interesting.  I was fortunate to have a few given to me earlier by friends and I treasure them and have done several blogs about the girls' teams that participa...
Comments 2
By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Benjamin Clayton Black House in Searcy ARFound!  Another old newspaper clipping that has interesting history about the house.  Problem?  No date.Solution?  I checked Google to see when it was placed on the Historic Register and found that it was done on 11-20-1974.  That still does not date the article but helps with reading it.  And please do read it.  It gives some history about the Benjamin Clayton Black family.  Once your interest has been revived, travel to the house and visit it.  It is now our art gallery and is open certain hours, owned by the city and needs attention.  For another view of it (when it was a real estate office)  Click here  
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Quilting BeeHere's a fun picture that was clipped and saved by someone in the past.  These Searcy ladies (who have no names except through husbands and we've complained about this in other blogs) are on the porch of the old house located in Pioneer Village in Searcy.  They have on period dress and are named.  It has no date saved so we can only guess about the time.  The one called Mrs. Jim Wilson is actually my sister-in-law with the nice name of Barbara and she was a Duncan before becoming Mrs. Wilson.  Some folks have said to me, "I know Barbara Duncan."  and they sorta disbelieve that I am now Barbara Duncan.  Look through them and see if you remember the ladies or the affair.
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
Homemade Hammer?  Weapon?I stumbled across this the other day at my own home!  Has it been here forever? Did it come from one of my daughter's estate sales?  A gift from above for my protection?  I don't know but it is definitely interesting.  It is definitely made by hand by some person who needed a tool.It looks old and weathered and perhaps the scraped bark was to keep the hand of the user from bruising.  Looks like a tiny hole with perhaps a nail to keep the handle secure is on both sides. Searcy Sleuths may be able to add info......... 
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
 Silver Dining Car in BackgroundA few days ago we did a blog with a picture of a 1940's parade in Searcy AR.  In the background of that blog (click to see) were some old buildings that included our still existing Legion Hut and two other businesses.  This picture shows the buildings in better detail.  You can see the shorter one and it is called Silver Dining Car, Ralph's Place.  It was so like one that was in another blog that we need to show it to you also.  Click here to see it. In it we see Corinne Hart and her friend at the door.  When you go to it you MUST read the comments that tell all about the diners and where they were.  Some great Searcy Sleuths told us all about them back in 2008 when we started doing some blogs.In this picture I wonder what the cover on the car represented...
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By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
1890 Built Kerr-Booth home on West CenterIt is worth a drive by to see the new look of a Searcy AR historic home.  The home is located at 611 W Center and sold recently.  It is on the Historic Register of Homes and is Victorian in style, located on a shaded (as this picture shows) corner with a big porch and a sidewalk.  Modern houses may not need huge porches but they could sure use more sidewalks in our subdivisions.Lots more pictures and information can be found at facebook Kerr-Booth House.  Try going there. https://www.facebook.com/611WestCenter/
Comments 3
By James Dray, Exceptional Agents, Outstanding Results
(Fathom Realty)
Thomas Mapother IV was born in Syracuse, New York back in 1962 to Thomas and Mary.  He spent his childhood in Canada before moving to Beacon Hill, Ottawa where he attended the Robert Hopkins Public School.  He returned to the United States when he was in the sixth grade.  He attended the St. Francis Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. The family moved again and he graduated from Glen Ridge High School in Glen Ridge, New Jersey.When he was 18, he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.  That didn’t work out so he moved to Los Angeles to try out for a television role.  He first landed some minor roles but his first lead was in 1985.  If I named the films you would know who I’m writing about immediately, so I’m avoiding that.  He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  He has three...
Comments 26
By James Dray, Exceptional Agents, Outstanding Results
(Fathom Realty)
Belle Aurelia Babb was born in Benton Township, Iowa back in 1846 to Miles and Mary.  Her father left for California in 1850, where he was superintendent of the Bay State Mining Company, where he was killed in the collapse of a mining tunnel in 1852.  After her father’s death the family moved to Mount Pleasant, Iowa where the children attended the local schools.In 1862, she attended the Iowa Wesleyan College.  As the men were leaving to fight in the Civil War, universities were admitting women students, then hiring them as teachers.  She graduated as valedictorian in just three years.After graduation, she taught school at Des Moines Conference Seminary in Indianola, Iowa for a year.  She returned to Mount Pleasant to marry her college sweetheart John.  She taught college at Wesleyan fol...
Comments 16
By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
 Chubbys Sandwich ShopWho remembers this?  Chubbys Sandwich Shop, with address of 2801 E Race, Searcy AR.   This advertisement was in the 1978 Harding College yearbook and I don't remember it.I checked to see what is located there today.  The location is at the entrance to Cloverdale Subdivision and now has First Community Bank on the corner.It looks interesting so do any of you Searcy Sleuths remember it or anything about it? P. S.  Are you aware of the huge controversy going on right now regarding the sign on S Main welcoming folks to Obecity USA?  The name Chubbys  might not be a good one for the present time! 
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By James Dray, Exceptional Agents, Outstanding Results
(Fathom Realty)
George William Manby was born in Denver, Norfolk, England back in 1765 to Matthew and Mary.  He was educated at the Free Grammar School in King’s Lynn.  He volunteered to fight in the American War of Independence at 17.  He was rejected due to his youth, instead he was sent to the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich.  In 1788, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Cambridgeshire Militia reaching the rank of captain before resigning in 1793.  He married the daughter of Reverend Preston but left her in 1801 after being shot by her lover moving to Clifton, Bristol.  In 1807, he witnessed a Royal Navy ship carrying French prisoners run aground killing 214 people including women and children.  With that embedded in his mind he invented a mortar call the Manby Mortar.  It fired a thin rop...
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By James Dray, Exceptional Agents, Outstanding Results
(Fathom Realty)
Effa Louise Manley was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania back in 1897 to John and Bertha.  She graduated from Penn Central High School.  After graduation is worked in the hat making business.  She married Abe in 1935 after meeting him at a New York Yankees game.  Abe owned and operated the Newark Eagles in Newark, New Jersey.She took over the day-to-day operation of the team, arranged playing schedules, planned the team’s travel, managed and me the payroll, bought equipment, negotiated contracts and handled publicity and promotions.  By the spring of 1981 her health had deteriorated to the point that she could no longer live in her apartment. She had colon cancer which progressed into the peritonitis after surgery.  She never recovered and died in 1981. Don Tate wrote a children’s book...
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By James Dray, Exceptional Agents, Outstanding Results
(Fathom Realty)
Abdul Malik was born in South Surma, British India back in 1929 to Molvi and Syeda.  He attended the Sylhet Government Pilot High School in 1947.  After graduation he was admitted to the Dhaka Medical College passing in 1954 with a MBBS. In 1955, he joined the Pakistan Army Medical Corps.  He continued his education at the Royal College of Physicians and at the Hammersmith Hospital, his Post Graduate Medical School, London.  He returned to Pakistan in 1966.  In 1966, he established the first cardiac unit in Pakistan at the Military Hospital, Rawalpindl.  He served as Professor of Cardiology at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University from 1970-78. In 1978, he founded the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Dhaka.  He worked there as director cum professor until 1989, t...
Comments 18
By James Dray, Exceptional Agents, Outstanding Results
(Fathom Realty)
Joy Mangno was born in Brooklyn, New York back in 1956.  As a teenager she began working at an animal hospital in Huntington, New York.  She dreamed up a fluorescent flea collar to keep pets safe.  She graduated from Pace University with a degree in business administration in 1978.  After graduation she had a variety of jobs, including a waitress, an airline reservations manager while raising her three children.  She is alive and well from what I’ve read.  What you may not know about Joy is that she is also an inventor.  She holds 71 patents and 126 patent publications.  Maybe you’ve heard about a few of them, I’ll save the best one for last, so let’s go.  Huggable Hangers, Forever Fragrant, Clothes It All Luggage System, Performance Platforms, Comfort & Joy Textiles, Shades readers and...
Comments 18
By James Dray, Exceptional Agents, Outstanding Results
(Fathom Realty)
Theodore Harold Maiman was born in Los Angeles, California back in 1927 to Abraham and Rose.  Still a youngster the family moved to Denver, Colorado.  In his teens he earned money by repairing electric appliances and radios.  At 17 he was employed as a junior engineer with the National Union Radio Company.During World War II he served in the United States Navy.  After being discharged, he earned a B.S. in engineering physics from the University of Colorado, Boulder.  He continued his education at Stanford University earning a M.S. in electrical engineering in 1951 and a Ph.D. in physics in 1955.  In 1956, he started working for the Atomic Physics Department of Hughes Aircraft Company.  he died in 2007, he was 79.What you may not know about Theodore is that he was also an inventor.  In 1...
Comments 19
By James Dray, Exceptional Agents, Outstanding Results
(Fathom Realty)
Mary Eliza Mahoney was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts back in 1845.  At a young age she was a devout Baptist and churchgoer.  When she was 10 she was admitted to the Philips School in Boston.  She never completed school and left in the fourth grade.  When she was 18 she started a 16-month training program at the newly opened New England Hospital for Women and Children.Out of all the students there was only three women to pass and Mary was one of them.  After graduation, she worked for many years as a private care nurse, earning her a distinguished reputation.  From 1911-12 she served as director of the Howard Orphan Asylum in Kings Park, New York.  In 1896, she became one of the original members of the Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada.  She was also a strong ...
Comments 16
By James Dray, Exceptional Agents, Outstanding Results
(Fathom Realty)
Thomas Buchanan McGuire Jr. was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey back in 1920.  He graduated from Sebring High School in Sebring, Florida.  After graduating from high school, he enrolled at the Georgia Institute of Technology.  He left after his third year to enter the U.S. Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet in 1941.He reported to the flying school in Corsicana, Texas for further training.  He was commissioned a second lieutenant receiving his pilot winds in 1942.  His first combat assignment was later that year in the Aleutian Island.  In 1943, he was sent to the Southwest Pacific with the 9th Fighter Squadron based in New Guinea.  During august 18-19 he shot down 5 aircraft of the enemy making him as ace in two days.  By December of 1943 he was promoted to captain and in 1944 became the comma...
Comments 18
By James Dray, Exceptional Agents, Outstanding Results
(Fathom Realty)
Adolph Gysbert Malan was born in Wellington, Cape Colony in South Africa back in 1910.  At the age of 14 he joined the South African Training Ship General Botha as a naval cadet in 1924.  In 1932 he joined the Royal Naval Reserve as an acting sub-lieutenant, by 1935 he was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant.Later on, that year he volunteered for the Royal Air Force in its rapid expansion of the pilot corps.  He received his wings in March of 1936.  By 1939, he was promoted to flight lieutenant just six months before the outbreak of war.  Just 15 hours after war was declared he saw his first action during the Battle of Barking Creek.  He was involved in the evacuation of the British Army from Dunkirk.  For his actions, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.   In August of 1940 he w...
Comments 15
By Barbara S. Duncan, GRI, e-PRO, Executive Broker, Searcy AR
(RE/MAX Advantage)
1954 Basketball Tournament Fun Contest!I have been given several tournament programs from the 1950's in White County AR by Pat Holloway, a friend from way back.  They were of girl's tournaments that were very popular before some no-fun characters cut out all girl's sports! (Don't get me started on that!) We had no girl's basketball until Title IX changed that.Glancing through them, I saw this unusual page and thought how much fun this would have been.  I can't offer a prize but I will say that Miss Mystery still lives in Searcy and is actually giving me permission to share this.  Someone had written the name of the winner so I covered it with the yellow paper! Searcy Sleuths, let's see if you remember who Miss Mystery was! 
Comments 10
By James Dray, Exceptional Agents, Outstanding Results
(Fathom Realty)
Rowland Hussey was born in Nantucket Island, Massachusetts back in 1822 to a Quaker family.   By the age of fifteen he was working on a whaling ship.  He had a red star tattooed on either his hand or forearm, the exact location has not been verified.  He had a brother Charles and together they opened a dry goods store in Marysville, California in 1850.The store failed, Charles stay in California but Rowland moved east.  By 1858, you could find him in New York City, New York where he established another store.  On the first day of business the store’s total sales were $11.08.  That dismal sum did not deter him and he opened several more stores.  The stores produced their own made-to-measure clothing for both men and women, assembled in an on-site factory.  He died in 1877 in Paris of Bri...
Comments 17
By James Dray, Exceptional Agents, Outstanding Results
(Fathom Realty)
Juliette Magill Kinzie Gordon was born in Savannah, Georgia back in 1860 to William and Elanor.  When she was six months old her father joined the Confederate States Army in the American Civil War.  When she was four the family moved to thunderbolt, Georgia.  In 1865, the family moved again to Chicago.  As a young child she was accident-prone suffering numerous injuries and illnesses.   She suffered from frequents earaches and recurring bouts of malaria.  She spent her time pursuing art and poetry, she also performed plays and started a newspaper called The Malbone Bouquet.  At the tender age of 12 she started a boarding school.  She met William in 1880, they married in 1886.  William was unable to father children which caused a strain on the marriage.  In 1901, the couple while still m...
Comments 14
By James Dray, Exceptional Agents, Outstanding Results
(Fathom Realty)
Helen Magill was born in Providence, Rhode Island back in 1853 to Edward and Sarah.  She was brought up to believe she deserved the same education as a man.  All five of the Magill daughters were educated to become college teachers.  In 1959, the family moved to Boston, Massachusetts where she was the only female student in the Boston Public Latin School.  My guess would be it was because her father taught French and Latin there for three years, being promoted to submaster.In 1869, her father joined the faculty of Swarthmore College.  she entered as an undergraduate.  In 1871, her father was selected as the second president, a position he held for the next 17 years.  Helen served as principal for a private school in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.  In 1883, she was chosen to help organize Holl...
Comments 14
By James Dray, Exceptional Agents, Outstanding Results
(Fathom Realty)
Andrew Donald Magee was born in Paris, France back in 1962.  His father was a Texas oil man, he grew up in Dallas, Texas.  After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Oklahoma from 1981-84.  While in college he distinguished himself as a member of the golf team.  We won All-American honors three times.In 1984, he turned pro and joined the PGA Tour in 1985.  During his career he won four PGA Tour events.  The first on in 1988 at the Pensacola Open.  His best finish in a major was tied for fifth at the 1992 British Open.  He is featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings. In 1999, he won the Southern Company Citizenship Award for his work with charities.  He now resided in Paradise Valley, Arizona.  His last PGA Tour cut was in the 2006 Southern Farm Bu...
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