Our Arklahoma Heritage: The story of Lucy and "Rosie" Abbot and a Fort Smith train engineer with a big heart

By Dennis Mccaslin - Editor and Publisher

As I walk into the past with my frequent trips to cemeteries throughout the region, I sometimes uncover intertwined stories of individuals who lived out their lives in separate geographical settings while having or creating common bonds

The stories of Arnold Jackson Strong (1881–1953) and Lucy Mae Abbott (1919–1932), is such an instance-- two individuals whose lives briefly crossed in a heartwarming moment in rural Arkansas.

Their stories, preserved through family memorials, census records, and a touching narrative about a cherished doll, reflect the kindness, and community spirit of early 20th-century America.

Arnold Jackson Strong was born on January 12, 1881, in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, a region shaped by its Creek and Cherokee heritage and the legacy of the 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson.

The son of George W. Strong (1857–1934) and Julia I. Winslett Strong (1858–1930), Arnold grew up in a large family of nine siblings, including James Franklin "Frank" Strong (1879–1949), Columbus Almond Strong (1883–1956), and Lucy Elmira Strong Burns (1894–1972).

Life in Tallapoosa County was agrarian, with families like the Strongs tending to the fertile lands along the Tallapoosa River.

On October 20, 1898, Arnold married Martha Jane Cardin (1881–1971) in Tallapoosa County, a union that would last over five decades. The couple welcomed two children: Julia Amanda Strong Henry (1899–1995) and Verlon Strong (1906–1908), who tragically died at age two.

By 1910, the family had relocated to Redland, Hempstead County, Arkansas, where Arnold worked as a farmer, as noted in the U.S. Census. By 1930, they had settled in Fort Smith, Sebastian County, where Arnold would spend his later years.

Arnold’s life was not only defined by his work on the land but also by a remarkable act of kindness that left a lasting impact on a young girl and her family in Ursula, Arkansas. This moment, preserved in a family memoir, reveals a side of Arnold that went beyond the fields and into the heart of a community.

Lucy Mae Abbott

Lucy Mae Abbott was born on June 22, 1919, in Casa, Perry County, Arkansas, to Seth Abbott (1884–1961) and Della Edwards Abbott (1881–1944). The family later moved to Ursula, a small settlement in Franklin County, known for its general store, post office, train station, mill, and two churches, one of which doubled as a school.

Lucy, described as a "cute, friendly, outgoing" girl, was one of four siblings, including Raymond Parker Abbott (1910–2006), Ralph Clinton Abbott (1911–1929), and Lena Lureney Abbott Cory (1916–1997).

Lucy’s brief life was marked by a charming ritual: she would run out to wave at the train engineer as the locomotive passed her family’s home near the tracks in Ursula.

That engineer was none other than Arnold Jackson Strong, who, by the early 1920s, was working as a train engineer out of Fort Smith. Arnold came to look forward to Lucy’s daily wave, a small but meaningful connection in the rhythm of rural life.

The train connecting Fort Smith to Paris in Franklin County , operating as the Arkansas Central Railroad, had completed the 47-miles of track between Sebastian and Logan County in April 1897.

A few years later the passenger and freight concern had been renamed the Iron Mountain Railroad and by 1923 the rails, which ran through Ursula, would eventually become the property of the Missouri-Pacific Railroad.

In the summer of 1923, when Lucy was four, she fell ill and was absent from her usual spot by the tracks. Concerned, Arnold inquired about her through her sister, Lena. On his next run from Fort Smith, Arnold stopped the train and delivered a special gift to the bedridden Lucy: a beautiful doll named Rose Mary, a rare and modern toy for the time, capable of saying “Mama.”

Lucy named her cherished doll "Rosie".

The doll, presented in a box and later dressed in a handmade dress and bonnet sewn by Della Abbott in 1926, became a treasured symbol of Lucy’s spirit and Arnold’s kindness.

Tragically, Lucy’s life was cut short on August 30, 1932, when she succumbed to malaria at age 13 in Franklin County.

She was laid to rest at Nixon Cemetery in Charleston.

The story of Lucy Mae Abbott lives on through Rose Mary, the doll gifted by Arnold Strong. In a memoir penned by Lucy’s sister, Lena, in 1995, Rose Mary narrates her own journey, edited for clarity in September 2024.

The doll, a Christmas gift in 1923, traveled in the cab of Arnold’s “big black freight engine” rather than Santa’s sleigh. Rose Mary’s ability to say “Mama” was a novelty among the modest families of rural Arkansas, making her a cherished possession.

After Lucy’s passing, Rose Mary was kept by Della Abbott until her death in November 1944 in Fort Smith. The doll was then passed to Lena’s niece, Mary Louise, who was eight years old at the time.

Rose Mary endured the Great Depression, wars, floods, and countless moves, her face cracked and voice silenced by time. Yet, she remains a poignant reminder of Lucy’s warmth and the generosity of a train engineer who stopped his locomotive to bring joy to a sick child.

Arnold Jackson Strong passed away on September 25, 1953, at age 72, and was buried at Forest Park Cemetery in Fort Smith

Arnold’s life as a farmer and engineer, coupled with his act of kindness toward Lucy, paints a picture of a man who quietly helped shape his community.

The connection between Arnold and Lucy, though brief, captures the essence of early 20th-century rural life: neighbors looking out for one another, small gestures carrying profound meaning, and communities bound by shared struggles and joys.

Ursula, with its train station and one-room school, was a microcosm of this world, where a little girl’s wave and an engineer’s gift could create a story that resonates a century later.

Today, as we look back, we honor Arnold Jackson Strong and Lucy Mae Abbott—not for grand achievements, but for the humanity they embodied. Rose Mary, now a weathered but beloved keepsake, stands as a testament to their story, preserved in the hearts of family and the pages of history.

Rosie's Story (written by a family member of Luck Mae Abbott in 1965)

"If I remember correctly, my name is Rosie May. I was a Christmas gift in 1923, to a little four-year-old girl, that lived beside a railroad track, in a small town in Arkansas. I didn't ride in Santa's Sleigh, nor go down a chimney. I rode in the cab of a big black freight engine. The old time cho-cho kind, that had a beautiful hi-lonesome whistle. Really the Santa that brought me was a plump, red faced engineer. A lot like Santa, except for the beard, in looks, and more like him in heart, I'm sure. 

I was an unusual doll in those days, among the poorer people. I could say "Mama," which was pretty new in those days.

I would like to finish my story in make believe, or shall we say the play world, and call this little girl, whose name was Lucy May Abbott, my "Mummy." She was a sweet, friendly, well liked person. However she went to Heaven, in 1932. 

Since then life has been a bit lonely for me, I've spent a lot of time in my Grandma & Grandpa's trunk, and later my Uncles. I have lost my voice and can't say "Mama" any more. And the 42 years have cracked my face, and my painted eyes have really failed. Even though the years have been lonely, I feel I have been loved all along, maybe because of my Mummy.

Now, I would like to live with my cousin, a real person. Where there is the laughter of children, other dollies and toys. Surely I wouldn't be lonesome there."