Amity, Arkansas
Encyclopedia
Amity is a city in Clark County
, Arkansas
, United States
. The population was 762 at the 2000 census. The city began on the Caddo River
in the mid-19th century when William F. Browning and others, including Dr. A.B. Clingman at various times moved to the area.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 3.3 square miles (8.5 km²), all of it land.
of 2000, there were 762 people, 305 households, and 208 families residing in the city. The population density
was 231.9 people per square mile (89.4/km²). There were 361 housing units at an average density of 109.9/sq mi (42.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.85% White
, 0.92% Black
or African American, 0.79% Native American
, 0.92% from other races
, and 0.52% from two or more races. 2.49% of the population were Hispanic
or Latino
of any race.
There were 305 households out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.1% were married couples
living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.5% were non-families. 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.07.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.3% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $25,625, and the median income for a family was $32,188. Males had a median income of $22,330 versus $16,250 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $13,626. About 10.0% of families and 14.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.8% of those under age 18 and 17.9% of those age 65 or over.
, drawn to the area by an abundance of rich bottomland and fresh water. Browning constructed a two story log house just west of Caney Creek, which soon became the center of the expanding community. It was Browning who gave Amity its name.
Together with other citizens, Browning formed the Caddo Valley Baptist Church of Christ, which before several other names would later develop into the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Glenwood and First Baptist Church in Amity. It is thought to be the first religious organization in the area, though Dr. A.B. Clingman, a physican and minister associated with the Church of Christ was in the area before Browning's group arrived. Browning's group built a large log house that would serve as both the church and the school house. The first school teacher was Captain Robert S. Burke, a former military officer and Browning's brother-in-law
. A few months later, the first Amity Post Office
was established nearby.
With the outbreak of the American Civil War
, the community saw dark times. Initially in support of the Confederacy
, soon the community became divided, with the men of Amity leaving to fight in both the Confederate Army and the Union Army
. In several cases, families were split by their loyalties, causing turmoil within the small community. Midway through the war, Union soldiers burned the Burke schoolhouse and the Browning cotton
press.
Following the war's end, the center of the community shifted to the south side of the Caddo River, first settled by John Hays Allen and Dr. Amariah Biggs. Dr. Biggs was widely known as a physician
and Methodist minister, and first settled in the area around 1850. The Amity Post Office was soon after relocated to this area. In 1870, retired army Colonel
Philander Curtis, a Connecticut
native, settled in the area. Curtis built the first house where the town of Amity now stands, and served for several years as the towns postmaster
. In 1871, Col. Curtis, and businessmen Riley Thompson and Jacob H. Lightsey purchased property from John Hays Allen, and on that property they laid out plans for the town, centering around a public square. By 1874 Amity had become a thriving village, with several new businesses and churches. In 1877 an adjacent area became "Amity Township", and in 1880 the town made a move to become incorporated
, but it did not come to pass until 1907.
In the late 1870s a new schoolhouse was built. Its first teacher was Richard Melancthon Burke, son of Captain Robert Burke. The residents also formed the Amity Male and Female Academy, which eventually became Amity High School. Richard Burke died in 1883, and the school struggled until 1888, when Samual M. Samson arrived in Amity. Samson spent the next twenty years as the head of the high school, which at that time was a private school. After his departure, it was absorbed into the Amity Public School System.
In 1887, a false rumor that gold
had been discovered in an area then known as the Trap Mountains resulted in a brief gold rush, which ended when the rumor proved false. Shortly after 1900, the Gurdon and Fort Smith Railroad was constructed through Amity, greatly improving the economy of the town. Soon, the logging industry began to thrive, with large sawmill
s opening in Rosboro and Glenwood
. Amity became a main shipping and trade center for the area, and in 1905 the Bank of Amity opened, which now is on the National Register of Historic Places
. In 1899 the town's first newspaper
, the Amity Enterprise, went into circulation, followed by the Four-County Courier in 1915 and the Amity Owl in 1922. Just before World War II
, the shortage of cinnabar
caused a brief but productive mining
industry in the nearby mountains south of the town, a phenomenon which became known as the Quicksilver Rush
. However, any significant mining had ended by 1940, and following the war and an increased worldwide supply, the mines closed.
.
A.J. Hunter, who had originally came to town in 1905 to manage the city's first telephone exchange and who would later, upon the closure of the city's newspaper, begin The Owl, sold the paper in the 1940s to Marvin C. Bass of Little Rock. The paper then operated until the mid-1950s and closed, though no one remembers when or why it closed.
By 2007 Bean Lumber was struggling financially, and was under investigation for financial matters. The Amity mill closed, though the planer and treatment plants remained open. The Glenwood mill, which employed many Amity residents, closed and did not reopen until 2008. All of these events thoroughly affected the local economy, diminishing employment opportunities in the community, as well as briefly diminishing the population of the town, with many people being forced to search for work elsewhere.
In 1995 the Amity Public Schools merged with Glenwood to create Centerpoint High School, located midway between the two towns in Rosboro, Arkansas
, in Pike County, Arkansas
. The private Ouachita Hills Academy
, associated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church
, is still located near Amity on the Clark-Pike County line and Word of Faith Christian Academy is located outside of town between Amity and Alpine.
In 1996, Arkadelphia native Joe May came to Amity and founded the city's fourth newspaper, The Standard. Its first date of publication was February 1, 1996. The paper is a weekly and covers Clark and Pike Counties as well as the Bismarck area. May, who is also an evangelist for churches of Christ, also ownes a folk history magazine published quarterly known as the Old Time Chronicle.
In 2007, the city observed its 100th anniversary of incorporation with a two-day festival on the square. In 2008, the city's businesspeople formed a Chamber of Commerce.
Diffee, Agnes White - Noted Nazarene pastor, evangelist, and radio speaker. A native of Arkansas, Pastor Diffee was ordained in the Church of the Nazarene in 1919. Her first full-time ministerial work was as pastor of the Amity (Arkansas) church, where a new stone church was built and paid for under her leadership. She went on to become nationally famous for her work. (See: http://www.whwomenclergy.org/booklets/cloud_of_witnesses.php)
Franks, Dr. George R., Jr., Ph.D. - Past Grand Master of Masons in Arkansas (2004).He received the Scottish Rite 33rd Degree and many other forms of Masonic recognition. Dr. Franks was raised from childhood in Amity and attended the local public schools. He was made a Mason in the local lodge, Sulphur Springs #100, in 1978.
Holloway, Rufus Emory - A noted writer, his Whitman: An Interpretation in Narrative was the first biography of a major literary figure to win a Pulitzer Prize (1926). Mr. Holloway, a native of Missouri and graduate of Hendrix College, taught English for two years at Amity High School.(See: http://www.bookrags.com/biography/rufus-emory-holloway-dlb/)
Rowe, Truett E. - FBI Special Agent killed in the line of duty on June 1, 1937, during an altercation with one Guy Osborne. Rowe was born in Amity in 1904 and educated in the local schools. He joined the FBI in 1935. (See: http://www.fbi.gov/libref/hallhonor/rowe.htm)
Teague, Bertha Frank - Noted high school basketball coach and member of the Oklahoma Girls Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame; Oklahoma State University Alumni Association Hall of Fame; Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame; and Missouri Basketball Hall of Fame. Born in Missouri, she attended the local public schools and graduated from Amity High School in 1924, before attending Oklahoma State University. (See: http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/T/TE002.html)
Clark County, Arkansas
Clark County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2010, the population was 22,995. The county seat is Arkadelphia.The Arkadelphia Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Clark County.-Geography:...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 762 at the 2000 census. The city began on the Caddo River
Caddo River
The Caddo River is a tributary of the Ouachita River in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The river is about long altogther.-Course:The Caddo River flows out of the Ouachita Mountains through Montgomery, Pike, and Clark counties in Arkansas before flowing into DeGray Lake and then to its terminus at the...
in the mid-19th century when William F. Browning and others, including Dr. A.B. Clingman at various times moved to the area.
Geography
Amity is located at 34°15′58"N 93°27′51"W (34.266246, -93.464093).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 3.3 square miles (8.5 km²), all of it land.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 762 people, 305 households, and 208 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 231.9 people per square mile (89.4/km²). There were 361 housing units at an average density of 109.9/sq mi (42.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.85% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.92% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or African American, 0.79% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.92% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.52% from two or more races. 2.49% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
of any race.
There were 305 households out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.1% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.5% were non-families. 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.07.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.3% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $25,625, and the median income for a family was $32,188. Males had a median income of $22,330 versus $16,250 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $13,626. About 10.0% of families and 14.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.8% of those under age 18 and 17.9% of those age 65 or over.
History
Amity was founded in 1847 by several pioneer families from the Mount Bethel area of Clark County under the leadership of William F. Browning, who served as the Clark County surveyor during the years of 1846 until his death in 1854. The group settled along the Caddo RiverCaddo River
The Caddo River is a tributary of the Ouachita River in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The river is about long altogther.-Course:The Caddo River flows out of the Ouachita Mountains through Montgomery, Pike, and Clark counties in Arkansas before flowing into DeGray Lake and then to its terminus at the...
, drawn to the area by an abundance of rich bottomland and fresh water. Browning constructed a two story log house just west of Caney Creek, which soon became the center of the expanding community. It was Browning who gave Amity its name.
Together with other citizens, Browning formed the Caddo Valley Baptist Church of Christ, which before several other names would later develop into the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Glenwood and First Baptist Church in Amity. It is thought to be the first religious organization in the area, though Dr. A.B. Clingman, a physican and minister associated with the Church of Christ was in the area before Browning's group arrived. Browning's group built a large log house that would serve as both the church and the school house. The first school teacher was Captain Robert S. Burke, a former military officer and Browning's brother-in-law
Brother-in-law
A brother-in-law is the brother of one's spouse, the husband of one's sibling, or the husband of one's spouse's sibling.-See also:*Affinity *Sister-in-law*Brothers in Law , a 1955 British comedy novel...
. A few months later, the first Amity Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
was established nearby.
With the outbreak of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the community saw dark times. Initially in support of the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
, soon the community became divided, with the men of Amity leaving to fight in both the Confederate Army and the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
. In several cases, families were split by their loyalties, causing turmoil within the small community. Midway through the war, Union soldiers burned the Burke schoolhouse and the Browning cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
press.
Following the war's end, the center of the community shifted to the south side of the Caddo River, first settled by John Hays Allen and Dr. Amariah Biggs. Dr. Biggs was widely known as a physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and Methodist minister, and first settled in the area around 1850. The Amity Post Office was soon after relocated to this area. In 1870, retired army Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Philander Curtis, a Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
native, settled in the area. Curtis built the first house where the town of Amity now stands, and served for several years as the towns postmaster
Postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...
. In 1871, Col. Curtis, and businessmen Riley Thompson and Jacob H. Lightsey purchased property from John Hays Allen, and on that property they laid out plans for the town, centering around a public square. By 1874 Amity had become a thriving village, with several new businesses and churches. In 1877 an adjacent area became "Amity Township", and in 1880 the town made a move to become incorporated
Municipal corporation
A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which...
, but it did not come to pass until 1907.
In the late 1870s a new schoolhouse was built. Its first teacher was Richard Melancthon Burke, son of Captain Robert Burke. The residents also formed the Amity Male and Female Academy, which eventually became Amity High School. Richard Burke died in 1883, and the school struggled until 1888, when Samual M. Samson arrived in Amity. Samson spent the next twenty years as the head of the high school, which at that time was a private school. After his departure, it was absorbed into the Amity Public School System.
In 1887, a false rumor that gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
had been discovered in an area then known as the Trap Mountains resulted in a brief gold rush, which ended when the rumor proved false. Shortly after 1900, the Gurdon and Fort Smith Railroad was constructed through Amity, greatly improving the economy of the town. Soon, the logging industry began to thrive, with large sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
s opening in Rosboro and Glenwood
Glenwood, Arkansas
Glenwood is a city in Pike and Montgomery counties in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The population was 1,751 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Glenwood is located at ....
. Amity became a main shipping and trade center for the area, and in 1905 the Bank of Amity opened, which now is on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. In 1899 the town's first newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, the Amity Enterprise, went into circulation, followed by the Four-County Courier in 1915 and the Amity Owl in 1922. Just before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the shortage of cinnabar
Cinnabar
Cinnabar or cinnabarite , is the common ore of mercury.-Word origin:The name comes from κινναβαρι , a Greek word most likely applied by Theophrastus to several distinct substances...
caused a brief but productive mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
industry in the nearby mountains south of the town, a phenomenon which became known as the Quicksilver Rush
Quicksilver Rush
The Quicksilver Rush was a mining rush for cinnabar in southwest Arkansas and the Ozarks, mostly in Pike and Clark counties, beginning around 1931, in the early days of the Great Depression when people were desperate for jobs....
. However, any significant mining had ended by 1940, and following the war and an increased worldwide supply, the mines closed.
Recent history
With the Bean Lumber Company opening in 1940, followed by the Barksdale Lumber Company, logging soon became the main source of employment for the town. At its peak, the Bean Lumber Company was producing more than 150 million board feet of pine lumber and 120 million board feet of treated lumber annually, making it one of the largest distributors of southern pine in the United States. The Bean Lumber Company would later open mills in Glenwood, and in Buckner, MissouriBuckner, Missouri
Buckner is a city in Jackson County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,725 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Buckner is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
.
A.J. Hunter, who had originally came to town in 1905 to manage the city's first telephone exchange and who would later, upon the closure of the city's newspaper, begin The Owl, sold the paper in the 1940s to Marvin C. Bass of Little Rock. The paper then operated until the mid-1950s and closed, though no one remembers when or why it closed.
By 2007 Bean Lumber was struggling financially, and was under investigation for financial matters. The Amity mill closed, though the planer and treatment plants remained open. The Glenwood mill, which employed many Amity residents, closed and did not reopen until 2008. All of these events thoroughly affected the local economy, diminishing employment opportunities in the community, as well as briefly diminishing the population of the town, with many people being forced to search for work elsewhere.
In 1995 the Amity Public Schools merged with Glenwood to create Centerpoint High School, located midway between the two towns in Rosboro, Arkansas
Rosboro, Arkansas
Rosboro is an unincorporated community in Pike County, Arkansas, United States. It lies about 5 miles west of Amity and 6 miles east of Glenwood. Once a thriving and populated mill town, with several stores, a large mill and kiln, and over one hundred shotgun houses, it now has only one store, and...
, in Pike County, Arkansas
Pike County, Arkansas
Pike County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2010, the population was 11,291. The county seat is Murfreesboro. Pike County is Arkansas's 25th county, formed on November 1, 1833, and named for Lieutenant Zebulon Pike, the explorer who discovered Pikes Peak...
. The private Ouachita Hills Academy
Ouachita Hills Academy
Ouachita Hills Academy is a co-educational, private boarding secondary school loosely affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is located in Amity, Arkansas, and averages around 40 students....
, associated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
, is still located near Amity on the Clark-Pike County line and Word of Faith Christian Academy is located outside of town between Amity and Alpine.
In 1996, Arkadelphia native Joe May came to Amity and founded the city's fourth newspaper, The Standard. Its first date of publication was February 1, 1996. The paper is a weekly and covers Clark and Pike Counties as well as the Bismarck area. May, who is also an evangelist for churches of Christ, also ownes a folk history magazine published quarterly known as the Old Time Chronicle.
In 2007, the city observed its 100th anniversary of incorporation with a two-day festival on the square. In 2008, the city's businesspeople formed a Chamber of Commerce.
Notable persons associated with Amity
Buck, Dr. Ron M., D.Min. - Senior Minister at Lindenwood Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Memphis, TN. Dr. Buck was raised from childhood in Amity and attended the local public schools. He has served churches in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky.Diffee, Agnes White - Noted Nazarene pastor, evangelist, and radio speaker. A native of Arkansas, Pastor Diffee was ordained in the Church of the Nazarene in 1919. Her first full-time ministerial work was as pastor of the Amity (Arkansas) church, where a new stone church was built and paid for under her leadership. She went on to become nationally famous for her work. (See: http://www.whwomenclergy.org/booklets/cloud_of_witnesses.php)
Franks, Dr. George R., Jr., Ph.D. - Past Grand Master of Masons in Arkansas (2004).He received the Scottish Rite 33rd Degree and many other forms of Masonic recognition. Dr. Franks was raised from childhood in Amity and attended the local public schools. He was made a Mason in the local lodge, Sulphur Springs #100, in 1978.
Holloway, Rufus Emory - A noted writer, his Whitman: An Interpretation in Narrative was the first biography of a major literary figure to win a Pulitzer Prize (1926). Mr. Holloway, a native of Missouri and graduate of Hendrix College, taught English for two years at Amity High School.(See: http://www.bookrags.com/biography/rufus-emory-holloway-dlb/)
Rowe, Truett E. - FBI Special Agent killed in the line of duty on June 1, 1937, during an altercation with one Guy Osborne. Rowe was born in Amity in 1904 and educated in the local schools. He joined the FBI in 1935. (See: http://www.fbi.gov/libref/hallhonor/rowe.htm)
Teague, Bertha Frank - Noted high school basketball coach and member of the Oklahoma Girls Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame; Oklahoma State University Alumni Association Hall of Fame; Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame; and Missouri Basketball Hall of Fame. Born in Missouri, she attended the local public schools and graduated from Amity High School in 1924, before attending Oklahoma State University. (See: http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/T/TE002.html)