William Andrew Harrison Yarnell was the first of the Yarnells to
arrive in Searcy, White County, Arkansas. He was one of the early educators who came to
Searcy in 1858 to look into the possibility of teaching school. He wrote upon his
arrival, "At Searcy I put up at Bond's Hotel and was never better treated or more
agreeably disappointed in my life. People may say what they please about Arkansas,
but whoever goes to Bond's will get the worth of his money. I find the people
of Arkansas good looking, intelligent, civil, agreeable and accommodating."
Mr. Yarnell arrived in Searcy by steamboat, on the Return, which plyed
the Little Red River between West Point and Searcy.
- quote from W. A. H. Yarnell, "Diary of a Schoolmaster," Little
Rock Arkansas Gazette, 18 February 1940.
Several brothers followed William to Searcy, all of them having been born in Tennessee. They first operated a dry goods business, and then a warehouse, Yarnell Brothers Warehouse.
For more on this, check out the biography of Wm. A. H. & Martha P. (Moore) Yarnell.
The Grisham Ice Cream Company was headquartered in Searcy in 1923; in 1927, the company consolidated with the Terry Dairy Company. William Terry was the president of the new organization, and Ben Grisham, general manager. But they had a fireball salesman and assistant manager working for them by the name of Ray Yarnell, who was destined to do great things with the business. Grisham had purchased a lot on the corner of Spring and Pleasure Streets in Searcy for two hundred dollars and built his ice cream plant. He installed the latest mechanical freezing devises in his modern plant.
The Yarnell Ice Cream Company had its beginning in the depression years when Ray A. Yarnell bought a business in 1933 from Southwest Dairy Products, originally founded by Ben Grisham. Yarnell had to collect all available cash that he had, even borrow on his life insurance policy in order to amass the purchase price. No sooner had he done this, than the bank holiday was declared in March, 1933, and both his working and purchasing capital were frozen. During the year between the negotiating and the final purchase, he drew no salary and had to borrow additional money to operate the business. There were times during the winter when not a single item they manufactured sold.
As the business grew, there were, of course, setbacks. The Yarnell Ice Cream Company suffered considerable damage from a fire which broke out in the attic of the plant in August 1943. The cause was attributed to faulty wiring.
Albert Yarnell, after serving three years in the Army Signal Corps during World War II, returned to become vice president of the Yarnell Ice Cream Company, Inc. In 1948, he was made Sales Manager and elevated to the General Managership in 1960. Upon the death of his father, Ray A. Yarnell, he was made president of Searcy's oldest industry.
To learn more about the Yarnell Ice Cream Company of Searcy, Arkansas, visit the company's Internet Web site at Yarnells.com.
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