Robert
Stark Ligon
was
the first of three sons
born
to Thomas Claude Ligon
and Annie Lou Cargile Ligon
|
|
|
 |
Annie
Lou Cargile's first husband died
in the Spanish Flu
pandemic of 1918,
less
than one year into their marriage.
In
1920, she began married life again with
Claude Ligon. |
|
|
The
birth of her first child, Robert, brought great joy
to Annie Lou.
A
talented decorator and skilled seamstress, she
created many beautiful outfits for her children
and grandchildren. |
 |
It didn't take long before
little Bobby was
up and running .. |
|
|
|
In
1921, Babe Ruth smashed out a new home run
record
in
his 2nd season as a NY Yankee ...
|
|
We
crowned our very first "Miss America" in Atlantic
City ..
|
 |
|
|
Charlie
Chaplin and Valentino
ruled
the silent screen
but
"talkies" were
right around the corner ..
|
|
California
to New York took thirteen days ....
|
|
The
golden age of radio
had
not yet begun... |
 |
|
|
 |
A
happy Arkansas boy... |
|
|
with
a smile you could never forget ...
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Graciously
modeling Mother's latest creation
|
 |
|
|
The
happy sunny days of the Roaring 20's seemed as if they would
never end... |
 |
|
|
But
the world was about to change for the the Ligon boys -
Bob, Howard, and Bill.
|
 |
|
|
OCTOBER
24, 1929 |
|
|
the Great Depression had
arrived ... |
|
 |
Bob
reminisces about his maternal grandfather, John Stark Cargile:
"Granddad
Cargile evidently sold his stocks in late '27 or early '28
before the crash, because he had everything in government
bonds when the crash came.
He
was Chairman of the Board of Elk Horn Bank in Arkadelphia
and set up an office in the back of the bank. |
|
When
it came time for him to take that bank holiday - what closed
the banks was the people walking in there wanting to take
their money out of the bank. For some reason, Granddad had
$300,000 worth of government bonds on deposit up here at the
Federal Reserve and he just had those people bring $250,000
in suitcases. They got in an old National Guard bi-plane and
flew it down to Arkadelphia.
A
couple of sheriffs met them out there and escorted them to
the bank. They just put a table out in the lobby and they
put this $250,000 on the table. It looked like a wad of money!
And it was in those days ... it was.
Granddad
Cargile told the people, " Now here is your money, there
is more where that came from and everybody is going to get
any money they have coming. If you want it, you can come get
it, but if you do, don't bring it back!"
He
said less than $7,000 went out of there. That evening they
loaded the money up and took it back to Little Rock.
But
the other banks had to close, the Merchant's Bank and the
Citizen's Bank. Practically all the banks in the state closed.
There were about three or four where somebody did like Granddad
and just said we are going to stay open .. here's your money,
if you want it, come get it.
He
said he was pretty sure they wouldn't come and get it. He
said you can impress people if you'll just put enough of those
greenbacks out on the table. Granddad took a pretty big chance,
because I thought he told me that if they had started taking
it, he wouldn't have had enough money...."
|
|
Bob's
formative years were some of the darkest days of the Great
Depression.
Although
sheltered from financial hardship, he saw it all around him. |
 |
He
heard the knock on the back door at supper time and
watched
their cook make extra plates of food for the hungry
men who showed up every evening.
Bob
also experienced
a difficult home life.
His
parents marriage began to crumble and they separated and reconciled
several times before finally divorcing.
But
happier times were to come ....
|
|
|
 |
In
his late teens, Bob shared several wonderful summers with
a small group of childhood friends from Arkadelphia. |
Some
of his happiest and most carefree days were spent
boating on Lake Hamilton with his
summer buddies.
 |
|
L-R: Charles
Clark, Kathryn Savage, Boots Nowlin,
Bob Ligon, Evelyn Allen,
Ann Clark, Neno Nowlin
|
They
spent days and nights out on the lake and
enjoyed
cookouts at the lake houses of his friends.
No alcohol or improper behavior -
just
good clean fun for all. |
