In 1907, Arkadelphia’s Southern Standard newspaper published a “Reminiscence” of the Logan family submitted by Rev. George W. Logan, the only surviving child of John C. Logan. His story recounts a sad incident involving some of Magnet Cove and the upper Ouachita River valley’s pioneer settlers, illustrating the harsh realities of life in the Arkansas wilderness. This is how he described the family’s journey and their first few years in the area:

About the year 1774 there lived in Augusta County, Virginia, two brothers, Benjamin Logan and Matthew Logan. Benjamin Logan moved from Virginia to Kentucky and was with Daniel Boone in some of his fights with the Indians. Logan County, Kentucky, was named in honor of him; also Logan Female College of Kentucky.,

Matthew Logan remained in Virginia. But his eldest son, Matthew Logan, came west about the year 1800, and on the 29^th day of December 1801, was married to Miss Elizabeth Chambers, the only child of Jacob and Catherine Chambers.

November 1817, Jacob Chambers and wife, Matthew Logan and wife and five children, moved from Missouri Territory to Clark County, in the southern part of the territory called Arkansas, and stopped in Magnet Cove. They spent the year 1818 in the Cove. Early in the year 1819 they moved from the Cove down on the Caddo River near the Old Military Road crossing. From there, their horses ran away or were stolen.

Jacob Chambers and his eldest grandson, John C. Logan, a boy of 13 years, went up to the Cove, where they had lived the year before, in search of the horses. Failing to find them, they desired to return by water by way of the Ouachita and Caddo rivers. A few miles above the mouth of the Caddo River they came to a place where the Ouachita River divided into three channels, and supposing the middle channel was the main channel they headed their boat for that channel. But seeing the channel was grown up, they undertook to steer the boat into another channel, but the water being high and current very strong, the boat drifted against the point of willows and they were both thrown out; and there, on the 10^th day of May, 1819, Jacob Chambers was drowned, he not knowing how to swim. But his grandson, John C. Logan, caught hold of the willows and after seeing his grandfather rise the last time, he turned loose and swam out and carried the sad news home. The body was recovered and buried on the west side of the Ouachita River.

When Arkansas was made a territory, Matthew Logan was appointed Coroner and served as Sheriff at the first court ever held in Clark County, and on the 27^th day of November, 1820, he passed away, thus leaving Mrs. Catherine Chambers and Mrs. Elizabeth Logan, and five children, John C. Logan being the eldest, the others being W.W. Logan, Benjamin C. Logan, Jacob Logan, and Ansalom H. Logan, all of whom served their day and generation well and have passed over the river of death.