The most distant point in Randolph county, from Pocahontas, is the northwest corner of Union township yet in business and politics this township is closer associated with the affairs of. the county seat than many closer communities.
The folks in this section have always taken a lot of interest in county politics and related subjects.
The first settlers who came to this section settled along the banks of upper Janes creek. The country is generally broken but there are a number of good farms along the creek. This section originally was covered with a heavy growth of good timber and all down through the years this has been a leading industry. Another leading industry has been sheep raising. This broken unland is especially well adapted to this animal. Some good cattle are also raised in this section.
Just who the first settler of this immediate community was is not known. The first land record of Lawrence county shows that Lot Davis was living here in 1818. On September 24, 1818, Richard Woods sold to Joseph Janes a claim on Janes creek "adjoining Lot Davis." Stephen F. Austin, later to become the "Father of Texas," signed the document as a witness. It is entirely possible that this man for whom the capital city of Texas was named, may have been a resident of this community before he ever saw the Lone Star state. J H. McIlvain was also a witness, so we infer that he also lived here.
Some of the very first settlers of a little later date were the Rogers, Taylor, Bellah, James and English families. These were soon followed by Baileys, Marriotts, Honeycutt, Fry, Wells and other names well known in this section. The Allison, Poteet, Wyatt, McFann and DuBois families have been here a long time too.
At one time there were two postoffices in this section. They were Ring and Yadkin. At Yadkin, William Davis and sons operated a store many years before moving to Ravenden Springs. The old Ring office was near the present-day school of the same name and I. F. James was one of the merchants of thirty-five years and more ago. just who the first merchants were is not known.
This section was first supplied with a trading point from Elm Store, Mammoth Spring and Myrtle, Missouri, in the days before the beginning of the present century. Of course the lower end of the township came to Ravenden Springs or Pocahontas. After the Frisco railroad was built up Spring River this made an outlet for this section. In later years, with the coming of the motor cars and trucks and better roads, the trade which had been going across the hills to Mammoth Spring on that railroad, desiring to do business in this home county, turned to Pocahontas. There is a pretty good road down the creek to Ravenden Springs and this route is followed by a lot of the people to that town and also in coming to Pocahontas. There is another route going east by Taylor's store, which intersects with the Pocahontas- Elm Store road at the Dr. Dalton farm. Most any day, at anytime of the year you will see as many citizens of Union township in Pocahontas as there are from many other sections closer in.
The churches of this section are a Baptist church at Yadkin and the Church of Christ meets at Ring. The latter congregation meets occasionally at English Bluff.
The schools in this township are Cedar Bluff, Cedar Grove, Ring, Campbell (Dial's Creek) and Bluff Springs.
The names listed above in this article were all residents of Janes creek valley and a few may not have lived actually in Union but were close.
