Arkansas Genealogy and History
Arkansas Genealogy is being developed as a genealogical and historical resource for your personal use. While the original thought was to provide this website as a resource for finding genealogy and historical data concerning Arkansas on the web, we have begun adding specific data to this site for your personal use.
The first settlement by Europeans in Arkansas
was made in 1686 by the French at Arkansas Post (later the residence of the
French and Spanish governors, important as a trading post in the earlier
days of the American occupation, and the first territorial capital,
1810-1820). In 1720 a grant on the Arkansas was made to
John Law. In 1762
the territory passed to Spain, in 1780 back to France, and in 1803 to the
United States as a part of the " Louisiana Purchase." Save in the beginnings
of western frontier trade, and in a great mass of litigation left to the
courts of later years by the curious and uncertain methods of land
delimitation that prevailed among the French and Spanish colonists, the pro
American period of occupation has slight connexions with the later period,
and scant historical importance.
From 1804 to 1812 what is now Arkansas was part of the district (and then
the territory) of Louisiana, and from 1812 to 1819 of the territory of
Missouri. Its earliest county organizations date from this time. It was
erected successively into a territory of the first and second class by acts
of Congress of the 2nd of March 1819 and the 21st of April 1820. By act of
the 15th of June 1836 it was admitted into the Union as a slave state.
What's New
Washington County
The fourth county has been added to the site today.
Based on the manuscript History of Benton, Washington, Carroll,
Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas, this
section of the site provides a detailed look into the first 50 years of
existence of Washington County. Of particular interest were the sections on
the sale of Fayetteville
lots (the earliest
Fayetteville landowners),
Cane Hill Tragedy, and Civil War
history.
Arkansas Newspapers
I have updated this page today with links to the Benton County early
newspapers as found on this site.
Benton County
The third county has been added to the site today.
Based on the manuscript History of Benton, Washington, Carroll,
Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas, this
section of the site provides a detailed look into the first 50 years of
existence of Benton County. Of particular interest were the sections on
the battle of Pea Ridge
which was located in Benton County, and the
early trials which occurred in the
county. For the full history see: History
of Benton County, Arkansas
Jefferson County
Today I have begun the formation of our second Arkansas County site, with the creation of the Jefferson County, Arkansas Genealogy and History website. Over the next several months I will develop this into a full fledged genealogical and historical website based around Jefferson County.
Arkansas History
Today we take up on the history of Arkansas as a part of the Territory of Louisiana, to when it became known as the Territory of Arkansas, and finally statehood. Brief mention is also made of secession and reconstruction in Arkansas and the government makeup of the time.
- Louisiana Territory
- Arkansas Territory
- Secession in Arkansas
- Arkansas Reconstruction
- The Poland Committee
- Leaders of Arkansas Territory
Today I posted additional pages on Arkansas history which cover the exploration, and early settlers of Arkansas before it was a state.
- Ferdinand de Soto in Arkansas
- Marquette and Joliet in Arkansas
- La Salle, Hennepin and Tonti in Arkansas
- The Bubble of John Law
- Proprietary Change of Louisiana Territory
- French and Spanish Settlers in Arkansas
- Early English Settlers in Arkansas
- The New Madrid Earthquake
I have begun the process of creating pages on Arkansas history, and have posted the first two:
Arkansas Genealogy Search
We have added a new search engine to our site. This search is located on
the right side of any page, or on the Arkansas Genealogy Search page
itself. While this search uses Google's search, we've restricted the
results to only a handpicked group of websites, which should provide you
with a better set of results for your Arkansas genealogy search.
Cemeteries of Arkansas
As complete a list as we have knowledge of showing the various
cemeteries of Arkansas.