CANE HILL -- The great-great-granddaughter of a former president of Cane Hill College and his wife, a member of a prominent Cane Hill family, recently became the fifth generation to be married in the historic community.
Amanda Richardson and her then fiancé, Stephan "Brother" Nipper Jr., both of Little Rock, wanted to continue the tradition and together chose to have their wedding ceremony at Cane Hill College on March 23.
The two knew each other when they were students at the University of Arkansas about 20 years ago and then ran into each other again about five years ago in Little Rock. They became friends, began dating and then it "turned into more," Amanda said.
When the two began exploring wedding venues, Cane Hill became one of those options.
"I honestly never really thought about it growing up, never thought about it in the context of how many generations had that experience," Amanda said. "But after we got engaged and started thinking about where we would want to get married, this became definitely something that we wanted to consider."
She had been to Cane Hill growing up as a child and knew it was a beautiful place.
"When I really started thinking about the family history and the connection to so many generations, it became clear that's what we wanted to do," she said.
Initially, the couple planned to be married in Cane Hill Presbyterian Church, the same place as her parents, Robert Fontaine Richardson and Mary Melekian Richardson, and her grandparents, Fontaine Richard Richardson and Elizabeth Porter Richardson.
However, the church was too small for the number of people expected to attend the ceremony.
It worked out, she notes, because her family has connections to both places, Cane Hill College and the Presbyterian Church.
Amanda's great-great-grandparents were Fontaine Richard Earle and Amanda Buchanan Earle.
Richard Earle was born in 1831 in Kentucky and moved to Cane Hill in 1858, where he became president of the College and a minister at local Cumberland Presbyterian churches.
When the Civil War began, Earle closed the college and left to lead Confederate Company B of the 34th Arkansas Infantry. He was promoted to captain and then major in 1863.
When he returned from the war, he married Amanda Buchanan, a member of one of the more prominent families in Cane Hill. Earle was also elected to represent Washington County as a member of the state legislature in 1866 and also served as Arkansas' first secretary of education.
He continued as president of Cane Hill College even after the charter was moved to Clarksville. Earle then returned to Cane Hill and spent his last years preaching at the local Presbyterian congregations until his death at his home in 1908.
Amanda Buchanan was the oldest daughter of the Rev. John Buchanan and Eleanor Ellen Crawford and was born in Cane Hill in 1834. She went to school and graduated from Union Female College in Oxford, Miss., and returned to teach in the Cane Hill area.
Amanda Buchanan and Richard Earle married in 1865 in Cane Hill in a private ceremony performed by her father. They had three children, including a daughter named Eleanor Ellen Earle, whose nickname was "Skipper."
Ellen Earle grew up in Cane Hill and married John Allen Richardson, who was from Pecan Gap, Texas. It was believed that Ellen and John met when he was vacationing in the Cane Hill area. They married in 1895 in Cane Hill, possibly in the college building.
They lived in Pecan Gap until John Richardson was killed. Ellen then returned to Cane Hill to live with her parents. At the time, she had four sons and a stepdaughter all under the age of 10, including Amanda Richardson's grandfather, Fontaine Richard Richardson, who was 5 years old at the time.
Her grandfather married Elizabeth Hanney Porter in 1934 at Cane Hill Presbyterian Church. He became a doctor and served as the University of Arkansas' physician from 1930 to 1961, and also had a private family practice in Fayetteville
After her husband's death in 1961, Elizabeth Richardson and a group of concerned citizens, including doctors and Fayetteville First United Presbyterian Church, were instrumental in starting a school for children with developmental delays or disabilities. This school eventually became the Elizabeth Richardson Center. Elizabeth was the first teacher and the first executive director of the organization.
Amanda's father, Rob Richardson, married Mary Melekian in 1978 in the Cane Hill Presbyterian Church. The couple then moved to Little Rock so he could attend pharmacy school. Mary joined the faculty at Hendrix College in Conway and taught there for 37 years.
Amanda, who has two younger sisters, grew up in Little Rock, graduated from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and then returned to Little Rock to live. She now is director of Organizational Development for Arkansas Children's Inc. Her husband, who is called "Brother" by family and friends, is an area supervisor with Retzer Group, which owns and operates 100 McDonald's restaurants.
Amanda said she knew getting married at Cane Hill in the footsteps of four generations before her would be a special day. The couple's pastor in Little Rock performed the ceremony. Amanda's married name is Amanda Richardson Nipper.
"Brother and I are honored to be carrying on that tradition," Amanda said.
Her father adds, "I think it's wonderful that both would want to come back here. Brother doesn't have any particular Cane Hill connections so for him to come and for his family to support coming all the way up here is wonderful."
Amanda and her father also are excited about the restoration work going on at Historic Cane Hill. The College has been completely restored, and the next major project will be to restore Cane Hill Presbyterian Church.
"All that's happening out there has created an opportunity of preservation for generations of our family to find out about our history," Amanda said. "All of that wouldn't be possible without Historic Cane Hill."
The preservation includes the remains of her great-great-grandfather's home. Historic Cane Hill has built natural trails in the area and one of the trails, the Earle Trail, goes by what's left of the foundation of the Fontaine Richard Earle home. An old barn sits nearby.
Amanda, who is named after her great-great-grandmother, said everyone refers to her great-great-grandfather as The Major and her great-great-grandmother as Miss Amanda. Earle wrote letters to Amanda Buchanan while he was serving in the Civil War and referred to her as "Miss Amanda" in the letters. Those letters are preserved in a special collection at the University of Arkansas.
Bobby Braly, executive director of Historic Cane Hill, said the fifth-generation wedding also is special to him and those involved with the history of the community.
"It's just a great connection to the past and with the current," Braly said.
Information on Maj. Fontaine Richard Earle, Amanda Buchanan and Cane Hill are available on Historic Cane Hill's website, historiccanehill.wixsite.com/canehill.
General News on 05/15/2019