Jacob L. Shinn
Jacob Lawson Shinn (October 3, 1826—August 17, 1899)[1] was a prosperous and influential mid to late-nineteenth-century leader in Russellville, Pope County, Arkansas.
A successful merchant who established his first store in about 1852, Shinn was instrumental in bringing the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad (LR&FS) through town and moving the county seat from Dover to Russellville.
After financial setbacks that reduced his wealth drastically, Shinn continued his service to the community until he died in office months after being elected mayor of Russellville.
Shinn, established a farm and, in 1840, one of the first circular sawmills in Pope County, working as a farmer and lumber dealer until his death.
[2] Following the outbreak of war with Mexico, Jacob Shinn enlisted as a corporal in a company of mounted infantry volunteers from Pope County organized under Captain James S. "Symp" Moffit,[3] in Archibald Yell's Arkansas Mounted Rifles, the unit mustering into federal service at Washington, Arkansas on July 1, 1846, as Company A.
[7][8] Local tradition holds that the naming of the community came down to a choice between Shinnsville, after merchant Jacob Shinn, and Russellville, after Thomas Russell.
While he was gone, Jacob managed the family farm,[7] where he is recorded living with his mother and eight siblings in 1850's census, owning real estate valued at $200.
[24] Shinn opened a larger store in a new two-story brick building on Main Street in 1876, with other businesses occupying offices on the second floor,[25] The older, smaller store stayed open during construction after being "rolled back" on the property to make room for the new building on the original location.
[29] One of the earliest promoters and, in 1867, one of the directors, and vice-president in 1868,[7][30] of the LR&FS Railroad, Shinn donated land for a railway station and right-of-way through Russellville.
In 1877, a temporary injunction was granted in Shinn's favor restraining another business from Dardanelle from operating a competing ferry.
[34] Jacob Shinn bought out the entire interest of the other company the next year, eliminating the competition,[35] The steam ferryboat Oasis, built in Little Rock,[36] went into service between Dardanelle and Norristown in August 1878.
[37][38] A notice in The Russellville Democrat of September 30, 1880, announced that Shinn would "soon start the steam ferry again between Dardanelle and Norristown.
[40] That same issue of the paper reported that a license granted by Pope County had reduced the ferry rates to Shinn also invested in a railroad venture that would have run between Russellville and North Dardanelle.
[46] Another new steam ferryboat, Martha, at that time one of the largest in Arkansas and captained by Shinn's son, Edgar, was built in Murraysville, Ohio,[47] and arrived at Dardanelle on September 26, 1883.
[55] Russellville's First Christian Church sits on land that was once owned by Shinn where the congregation had enjoyed picnics in a grove of trees.
"[56] The unassuming church building that exists to this day began as a single-story wooden structure built in 1885 after the congregation had met in the Masonic Hall for three years.
After the construction loan was paid off, Jacob and Martha Shinn turned the deed to the property over to the congregation on February 28, 1889.
[64] While the mill operated for several years, interest accumulating on a large debt incurred by construction and equipment purchases consumed the plant's profits and sapped its financial strength.
Shortages of fuel for the steam boiler[65] and barrels for shipping its products of rope and twine[66] halted operation several times.
[68] With the failure of the Melrose Cotton Milling Company, Jacob Shinn suffered a financial loss of nearly $60,000, with a continuing decline in his wealth in subsequent years.
Nominated mayor of Russellville on March 6, 1899—and subsequently elected—Jacob L. Shinn died at the age of 72 of typhoid fever just five months later.
