History of Greene county, Arkansas

In the spring of 1939, I was called upon to complete the term for a teacher in Paragould High School. At the end of one week, we had completed the few remaining pages of the textbook. ‘That left me with seventy lively youngsters in two classes—no textbook —and six weeks to-go. “That was the opportunity to find out something about Greene County history. Those boys and girls scouted all over town, interviewing old people, and brought to class many old newspapers and a history of northeast Arkansas, written in 1889. Professor C. E. Richardson, though stooped and feeble, sat on his porch during the noon hour, and told the students about early days in the county. Later, he gave me two notebooks of manuscript which had taken years to assemble. Since that time, I have continued to add to the material that the students had found.

About two years ago, I started in earnest to assemble a book on the history of Greene County. So many people have helped that it would be impossible to name them. As much as I would like to give them individual mention, I hesitate to name some, for fear of omitting others. Suffice it to say that the book could never have been completed without the help of hundreds of gracious citizens who have given unsparingly of their time and information. ‘lo each of these, I extend my sincere thanks, with the hope that I have done justice to our great county.