Samuel Alex came to Dardanelle, Yell Co. AR when he was around 19 years old.  He was a carpenter.  He bought his first land 23 Oct. 1887 in Dardanelle and he bought and sold a lot of property.  He was a member of the First Baptist Church, Masonic Fraternity and the Woodmen of the World.  In 1898 he was in 2 partnership businesses with Patrick & Biggers, one was contractors and builders and the other was Dardanelle Undertaking.  On 19 June 1907 he bought out the Texarkana Casket Co. of Texarkana, AR. This business was in Dardanelle, AR. He paid $600.00 for it and paid it out in monthly payments of $15.00 per month at 8% interest; it took 40 months. He received one rubber tired black funeral caos (Hearse). In 1917 he bought another funeral home from Arthur L. Medenwald for $700.00.  He called it Masters Funeral Home.  He was in the furnal business in Dardanelle from 1898 until his death 18 June 1935. Their daughter Violet A. Cornwell and her husband Lloyd bought the business after Samuel Alex's death.  They changed the name to Cornwell Funeral Home and expanded by puting one Danville, Yell Co. AR which makes the Masters serving Yell Co. in the funeral business. Since Lloyd's and Violet's deaths, their son Michael Rush Cornwell has assumed the management of the business. In 1998 the business celebrated 100 years and was recognized as the oldest family owned business in Yell Co. AR. Two of the 4th generation of Masters are employed in the  business.