Author: Mary Eichenberger                   Major: Agricultural Business Pre Law 

Mary Eichenberger pictured on the grounds of The Peel Mansion in Bentonville, Arkansas

Mary Eichenberger, a junior agricultural business pre-law major from Clarksville, Arkansas, was a member of a three-person interdisciplinary research team for The Peel Mansion in Bentonville, Arkansas. She and her research team each focused on a unique facet of the mansion’s history that mirrored each individual’s career interest. Mary plans to attend law school after she completes her undergraduate degree so she researched the congressional record and legal career of Samuel W. Peel, the builder of the mansion.

Photograph of Samuel West Peel sitting on the porch of the Peel Mansion in 1889 found by researcher Emily Snyder in the Berry, Dickinson, Peel Family Papers, box 13, folder 5, University of Arkansas Libraries, Special Collections

In the spring of 2021, I had the opportunity to be one of three University of Arkansas Honors College undergraduate students to conduct research for The Peel Mansion in Bentonville, Arkansas. Our interdisciplinary research team was tasked with helping to craft an updated narrative for the mansion. The Peel Mansion, built in 1875 by Samuel W. Peel, is an Italianate style post-Civil War era house turned museum and event venue. Samuel W. Peel was the first native-born congressman of Arkansas and started a successful law practice in Bentonville in 1865. Peel served in the United States Congress as a Representative and was the Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs in 1887 and 1891. Prior to the conception of this research project, the museum told the story of the Civil War and the “Lost Cause”, focusing on the fact that Samuel Peel was a confederate colonel and the respective era. The narrative displayed throughout the mansion could be characterized as slightly one sided and did not expand the narrative to include other individuals in the household or the other experiences that helped shape Samuel West Peel’s life. The museum also needed help tracing the origin of several artifacts and pieces of information in order to solidify the facts of the mansion.

The University of Arkansas Peel Mansion undergraduate research team at The Peel Mansion in Bentonville, Arkansas (Left to right: Emily Snyder, Nate Cole, Mary Eichenberger)

Thus, our research team, at the direction of honors advisor, Dr. Louise Hancox began to research different facets of the mansion most suited to our chosen degree plan. Through this research opportunity we were not only able to gain valuable research experience, but we were able to gain research experience in our field of study. Research team member, Emily Snyder, majoring in history, focused her research on the family history of the mansion and team member, Nate Cole, architecture major, researched the unique architectural design and origins of the mansion.

Throughout my research, my interest in the legal profession drove my interest in Samuel W. Peel’s legal career. My objectives were to explore and analyze Peel’s legal career with a special focus on his involvement with the Indian tribes surrounding Arkansas. I wanted to help the mansion directors gain a new understanding of Peel’s interactions and time of service to the Indian tribes of the region as Chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee and as legal counsel.

Photograph case report of a court of claims case involving Samuel Peel, Peel v. Choctaw Nation (1910) from the book, Court of Claims Reports of the United States V. 45 October 1909 to May 1910

I utilized legal databases and the University of Arkansas library system to begin to piece together his illustrious and unique career. Several court cases were unearthed featuring Peel as the legal counsel, as the plaintiff, and as the defendant. These case briefings shone a light on Peel as a litigator. The briefings also gave us insight to Peel as an advocate for proper legal representation for the Indian tribes. Peel represented the claims and demands of the Choctaw tribe and the Chickasaw tribe to Congress concerning compensation, governance, and tribal legal representation from 1893 to 1896. The most surprising and intriguing thing about my research was Samuel Peel’s interactions with the Indian tribes. In that time in history, a white male from Arkansas was not thought to pursue interactions with the Native tribes, let alone represent them in a court of law. From my findings, it can be concluded the Peel was very committed to the legal representation of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations. However, whether his motive be money, political power, or genuine concern that could not be determined during my tenure. I still found it striking that Peel was willing to serves these nations as their legal counsel and represent them when many would not. My research only began to uncover Peel’s involvement with the Indian tribes and the impact of his legal career. The nature of our undergraduate research was to help provide a broad starting point for the Peel Mansion to continue to re-evaluate their narrative and to provide the begin of different storylines. Through this project, as a researcher, I learned how to focus my research to one or two specific areas of the mansions history and to put metaphorical pins in the other areas of study I uncovered for the Peel Mansion Museum curators to follow at a later date.

Research poster for The Peel Mansion by Nate Cole, Mary Eichenberger, and Emily Snyder and presented at the Society of Southwest Archivists 2021 Virtual Poster Competition in May

Our honors research advisor, Dr. Louise Hancox, wanted us to have the opportunity to present our research despite the covid restrictions in place so we were given the opportunity to present a poster of our interdisciplinary research at the Society of Southwest Archivists 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting in May. This virtual conference proved a fruitful experience as each team member was able to expound on his or her research and have meaningful discussions with contemporaries from across the country on the virtual platform. To conclude our research, we presented our research to The Peel Mansion Museum board of directors and docents at the mansion in Bentonville in May of 2021. I found this presentation to be one of the most gratifying parts of the research experience as I was able to see the research, I had done fit perfectly with my team members offerings and create a meaningful impact on our audience. Our research was incredibly well received by the board of directors and work began immediately to construct the new narrative of the mansion using our research. It felt so good to know that the fruits of our labors would be utilized to help further educate the people of Arkansas about Samuel West Peel, his impact, and the history of the historic mansion. This internship opportunity was provided by The Peel Mansion and facilitated by Dr. Louise Hancox of the University of Arkansas Honors College. Our research was sponsored by the University of Arkansas Honors College Undergraduate Research Team Grant. This grant enabled us to pursue the different research facets of the Peel Mansion and to tour the mansion on two occasions. A special thanks to the University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collection for their cooperation and to The Peel Mansion’s museum manager, Alyssa Wilson, for her support and facilitation of the research project.