The Archeology of the Peel Mansion Ice House

HISTORY AT THE PEEL MANSION

In the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Samuel West Peel, 1831-1924, is listed as:

a Representative from Arkansas; born near Batesville, Independence County, Ark., September 13, 1831; attended the common schools; clerk of the circuit court of Carroll County, Ark., 1858-1860; entered the Confederate service in 1861 as a private; elected major of the Third Regiment, Arkansas Infantry, and later colonel of the Fourth Regiment, Arkansas Infantry; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of his profession in Carrollton, Ark., in 1865; moved to Bentonville, Benton County, in 1867 and continued the practice of law; prosecuting attorney of the fourth judicial circuit of Arkansas 1873-1876; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-eighth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1883-March 3, 1893); chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs (Fiftieth and Fifty-second Congresses); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1892; resumed the practice of law in Bentonville, Ark., and before the Court of Claims at Washington, D.C., until 1915; died in Bentonville, Ark., December 18, 1924; interment in Bentonville Cemetery.

Samuel Peel contracted what soon became known as the Peel Mansion to be built on 134 acres of orchard land on the west side of Bentonville. The house was completed in 1875 and not only served as a residence for Martha, his wife, and family, but also as a setting for Peel's many meetings as a politician and for various social gatherings (Guendling 1993:1). Martha E. Berry, born in Alabama in 1834, married Samuel Peel on January 3, 1853 and the couple had nine children, of which eight lived to adulthood (Plat Book of Benton County 1903:73). In 1903, the living children of Martha and Samuel and their birth dates are noted in the Plat Book of Benton County as Alice 1856, Fannie 1859, David 1861, Mittie 1863, Kate 1867, Minnie 1870, Frank 1873, and Rusie 1876. Martha died on December 22, 1902. The Peel's moved out of the house in 1904 but it was not sold until 1910. It was vacant until 1914 when it was sold yet again, this time to the Ammon's family who lived there for many years.