Page "George Washington Donaghey" Paragraph 18

John Pence introduced Donaghey to a woodworking apprenticeship in his shop in Conway.

Even though he relished woodworking and cabinetmaking, Donaghey recognized the need for more education and spent a year at the University of Arkansas.

However, his friends wrote him that he'd likely lose the love of his life, the former Louvenia Wallace, if he did not return to Conway.

Once home, he formed a partnership with Pence, only to see the woodworking shop and his tools go up in flames in an 1886 fire that consumed most of the business district.

But the fire also was Donaghey's salvation.

Other burned businesses needed to rebuild, and they needed carpenters.