Brinkley Car Works & Manufacturing Company

Gunn & Black

The partnership of Gunn & Black was into several different businesses. By 1879, It owned a sawmill near Brinkley, Arkansas, and a door, sash and blind factory in Memphis, Tennessee. ^{101}

Brinkley—incorporated 6 August 1872—was a railroad town. It had been settled in 1852 by railroad workers on land granted to the Little Rock & Memphis Railroad at a point halfway between Little Rock and Memphis. As is common to Arkansas towns, it went by the charming name of “Lick Skillet” until its formal incorporation. ^{254}

On 1 July 1879, the partnership opened a three foot, six inch gauge rail line from its mill at Brinkley, 11 miles northwest to the town of Cotton Plant. Though it had no separate corporate entity, this private line was known as the Cotton Plant Railroad. ^{249}

Two years later, the three foot gauge Texas & St. Louis Railroad announced its intention to build northward from Texarkana, on the Texas/Arkansas border, northeast to Bird’s point, Missouri, opposite Cairo, Illinois, bringing this line through Brinkley. ^{250}

Gunn & Black reacted by incorporating its private railroad 16 Apr 1881 as the Cotton Plant Railroad. A few months later, they converted the line from three foot, six inch gauge to three foot gauge. ^{249}

A year later, on 22 June 1882, Gunn & Black organized the Batesville & Brinkley Railroad, with the stated intention of building north from Brinkley to Newton, Arkansas, on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern main line, and then up the White River to Batesville. The Batesville & Brinkley Railroad—known locally as the Gunn & Black Railroad—probably a carry-over from its private days—immediately bought out the Cotton Plant Railroad and extended its line north from Cotton Plant, reaching Colona (25 miles) 1 January 1883, Tupelo (40 miles) 1 January 1884, Auvergne (48 miles) 1 November 1885, and Jacksonport (60 miles from Brinkley and 4 miles past Newton) 10 November 1886. ^{249}

For what reason we don’t yet know, the partnership was apparently ended in 1882, and was succeeded by the corporate Brinkley Car Works & Manufacturing Company. A local history attributes the later success of this business to “Major Black,” with no mention of Mr. Gunn. ^{251}

We cannot determine from that history on what basis the one entity replaced the other. At one place it says the partnership “sold out.” At another it says the partnership “was dissolved.” And at another simply says it was the successor. [But see below.]

It is hard to determine from the local history which activities were attributable to Black himself and which to the Brinkley Car Works & Manufacturing Company, so we shall let it ^{252} speak for itself  —

The Batesville & Brinkley Railroad owned five or six locomotives, but we don’t know yet how many cars, nor of what type. ^{249}

By the time the Batesville & Brinkley reached Jacksonport, the Texas & St. Louis Railroad had built its line through Brinkley to standard gauge, so the Batesville & Brinkley converted its three foot line to standard gauge. ^[249]

The aforementioned local history, published in 1891, had this to say about the  Brinkley Car Works & Manufacturing Company ^{253}  —

In 1900, the line of the Batesville & Brinkley was leased to the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf , and four years later that line was leased to the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific. ^{249}

Cast of Characters —

William Black (1836-1889) was a native of Toronto, Canada, who came to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1856. He worked at ship carpentering for awhile before going into the grocery business. ^{251}

Black served in the Civil War, though with which side we haven't been able to determine. He participated in “all” the battles around Memphis, and apparently ended his service with the rank of Major. ^{252}

Soon after the war, he gave up his successful grocery business and went west across the Mississippi River about 65 miles into the Arkansas forests. There, in partnership with John Gunn, he set up a sawmill  just south of Brinkley. ^{252}

The mill was successful and was moved several times before becoming the Brinkley Car Works & Manufacturing Company in 1882. ^{251}

In 1884, he established the Brinkley Lumber Company in Memphis. ^{252}

At his death, Black was a director and stockholder in the Little Rock & Memphis Railroad, was president and principal owner of the Brinkley Car Works & Manufacturing Company, president of the Monroe County Bank, vice-president of the Brinkley Oil Mill Company, and principal owner of the business of T. H. Jackson & Co., “the largest mercantile firm in Eastern Arkansas.” ^{252}

John Gunn (1824?-1893+)  is a bit of a mystery. The only concrete evidence we have found to date is a blurb in the New York Times for 9 September 1893 that reports the following:

The Southern Business Guide for 1879-80 lists a Gunn & Black door, sash and blind factory. But it also lists a Gunn & Fagan foundry and machine shop. Could this have been the same Gunn? If so, our John Gunn may be the same as is listed in the 1880 census as running a paper factory and machine shop and in the 1890 census

Can you tell us more? Please do!