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The Gann’s Librarian: Mrs. Ella Daugherty Pitcock 

BY Laura M

By Cody Berry 

As we have discussed before, after the death of Dr. Gann, Sr., in 1945, the Gann Building was given to the City of Benton in 1946 to house the Gann Memorial Library. Mrs. Ella Daugherty Pitcock was its librarian during that whole period. She was born Ella May Hill at Stacy Lake in Independence County, Arkansas. When Ella was three years old, the family moved to Oklahoma but eventually came back to Arkansas. In 1911, they moved to Des Arc where Ella worked in their local library until she graduated from high school. After leaving school, Ella married Walter Daugherty and she became Des Arc’s librarian.1 

In 1933, Ella Daugherty went to work for the Benton library. During that time the library was managed by the Junior Fortnightly Club, who founded it in March 1931. Ella worked on a half-day basis where she kept the library open from 1-4pm, most likely in the Walton Building. She worked Monday through Friday for a salary of $4.50 a week. She left in 1935 but came back in July 1946 after the Junior Fortnightly Club donated the library to the City of Benton. She stayed with the library for many years after it changed locations until her retirement in 1973.2 

Ella’s husband Walter passed away in 1960, and she married Jesse Pitcock in 1968. Ella, who had once been described as “the backbone of the local library,” passed away on January 27, 1996, at the age of 92. She was buried at Pinecrest Memorial Park and Garden Mausoleum in Alexander.3 She would no doubt be proud to see the library prospering in its 95th year.   

Citations:

1 Judy Smith, “Ella (Hill) Daugherty Pitcock,” Saline County Women 150 Years, Pine Cone Chapter American Business Women’s Association, 1986, p. 91 

2 “Longtime librarian dies Saturday at 92,” 1996. Newspaper clipping. 

3 Judy Smith, “Ella (Hill) Daugherty Pitcock,” Saline County Women 150 Years, p. 91, and “Ella May Hill Pitcock (1903-1996), Find a Grave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/36978889/ella-may-pitcock, Date Accessed 4/29/2026.