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Childhood

baby 1

 

 

 

Robert Stark Ligon

was the first of three sons

born to Thomas Claude Ligon

and Annie Lou Cargile Ligon

   
Mother

 

 

 

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.

Baby 2

                                        

Swing

 

 

 

    It didn't take long before

    little Bobby was

    up and running ..

 

 

1921

 

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 ..

Baby 3
 

 

Baby 4

 

 

 

Charlie Chaplin and Valentino

ruled the silent screen

but "talkies" were right around the corner ..

 

 

Donkey Cart

 

 

 

 

California to New York took thirteen days ....

 

 

 

 

    

 

The golden age of radio

had not yet begun...

Young Child 1
 

 

 

Arkansas Boy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A happy Arkansas boy...

 

 

 

 

 

 

with a smile you could never forget ...

Smile

 

 

 

 


 
Tricycle
 

 

 

 

 

 

Graciously modeling Mother's latest creation

Boy 4
 

 

 

 

The happy sunny days of the Roaring 20's seemed as if they would never end...

Family 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the world was about to change for the the Ligon boys -

Bob, Howard, and Bill.

Family 3

 

 
                        OCTOBER 24, 1929
Depression
                the Great Depression had arrived ...
Family 5 THE GREAT DEPRESSION HAD ARRIVED ....
boy 7

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.

Young Man 2

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 ....

 

   
Family 5

 

 

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. 

 

Boating

           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.

 

 

 

 

 

Bob's natural optimism shines through and he will need it.

At the tender age of twenty, his world is about to change Again ...

Young Man 6

 

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