DAIRYMEN'S DIGEST, AUGUST 1991, SOUTHERN REGION EDITION

In Their Blood; Story by Raymond Crouch

Lawrence Lenington was likely the oldest active dairyman in Arkansas. He died January 7, 1991, at age 89.

Outliving his wife, Pearl, by almost 30 years, Lenington could have lived a lonely life in his twilight years.

Forget loneliness. Five of his seven children stayed with him on the farm, never marrying. And a close family it was. The Lenington children worked on the family dairy with their dad.

Today, two sons and two daughters live in the Lenington farm home and keep the dairy going. Edward, Billy, Peggy and Sharon run the dairy the "old fashioned" way. The way daddy taught them.

The eldest child, Mary, and fourth son, Paul, married and pursued careers off the farm. Second son Robert, did most of the milking until his death in 1985.

The Lenington family has been in the dairy business in western Arkansas as far back as anyone can remember. Curtis Lenington milked cows and sold his cream in Fort Smith before the turn of the century.

Curtis handed the tradition to son Lawrence, who was already earning his living as a dairyman when he married Pearl, June 24, 1924, in Sebastian County, Arkansas. Lawrence was age 23, and Pearl was age 19.

The couple was married after a brief courtship. One hot afternoon in June they drove to the home of a Methodist preacher (Charley F. Heinly, pastor of Midland Heights Methodist Church) and found him hoeing his garden. After hearing their request, the preacher put down his hoe, wiped the sweat from his brow and married Lawrence and Pearl with his wife acting as a witness.

The couple started their life together with three milk cows and $25.00. Lenington added to his heard and began a retail milk route. He sold milk for four cents per quart in reuseable glass bottles that cost more than the milk inside. In those days, a dozen milk bottles cost 90 cents.

The family photo album contains an old photograph that pictures Lenington proudly seated behind the steering wheel of his 1926 Ford Model A soft-top pickup truck. He would ice down the bottled milk in the pickup's bed and make his daily deliveries in nearby Fort Smith. He counted the hospital and a number of diners amoung his customers. The old photo album contains cherished pictures of the Lenington children at work on the farm. (End of partial story)

Researched by: Cindy Brisco Wheeler


Tuesday, January 8, 1991, TIMES RECORD Obituary:

Lawrence Lenington departed this life on January 7, 1991, in a Fort Smith hospital. He was a self-employed dairyman and member of the First Baptist Chruch. He was the son of Curtis H. Lenington and Lilley A. (Taylor) Lenington. He was born on March 24, 1901, in Barling, Arkansas.

Services were held on Thursday, January 10, 1991, at 10:00 a.m. at Edwards Funeral Home Chapel, Fort Smith, Arkansas, with Dr. Allen Thrasher officiating. Burial was at The Garden of Memories Cemetery in Charleston, Arkansas.

Lawrence Lenington was preceded in death by his wife, Pearl Marie (Brisco) Lenington; and his son, Robert Curtis Lenington and his parents, Curtis H. and Lilley A. (Taylor) Lenington;

Survivors at the time of his death included: his daughers, Mary Elizabeth (Lenington) Taff of Booneville, Peggy Marie Lenington, and Sharon Kaye Lenington both of Lavaca; his sons, Lawrence "Edward" Lenington and Billy Carroll Lenington, both of Lavaca and Paul Raymond Lenington of Norman; four sisters, Pearl Cantwell, May Bell and Helen Corbit, all of Barling and Grace of Tulsa; three brothers, Arthur of Fort Smith and Arlie and Curtis, both of Roland; six grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandson.

Pallbearers were Warren and J.C. Taff and Robert, Raymond Kenneth and David Brisco. (End of Obit)