View source for Franklin County, Arkansas

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Prior to 1819 there was no place called [[Arkansas]].  In the below narrative, when I say "Arkansas" for any time before 1819, I mean that area which was in 1819 created as the Arkansas Territory.

Prior to 1800, Arkansas was owned by Spain. From 1800 to 1803, Arkansas was owned by France.  In 1803, by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase Louisiana Purchase], Arkansas and much more, was bought by the United States.

In 1804, the part of Arkansas that would become Franklin County was called [[New Madrid]], in the Louisiana District of Indiana Territory.  In 1805 the Louisiana District of Indiana Territory became the Louisiana Territory.  In 1812, part of the Louisiana Territory was renamed the [[Missouri]] Territory.  In 1813, Arkansas County was created in the Missouri Territory.  In 1815, Arkansas County was divided into two parts, the upper part called Lawrence County and the lower retaining the name Arkansas County.  The dividing line was the Arkansas River.  So what is today Franklin County straddled both Lawrence and Arkansas, half in each.

In 1817 the Cherokee Reservation, also called the Cherokee Tract was established.  It covered part of what is today the Northern part of Franklin County.  In 1818, the southern part of what is today Franklin County, was part of Pulaski County.  In 1819 Arkansas Territory was created out of part of Missouri Territory.  In 1820 Crawford County, including the area which is present-day Franklin County, was created.

The first mention of *anything* in Northwest Arkansas, in the ''Arkansas Gazette'' is [http://www.arkansasties.com/Gazette/1821/August1821.htm here on 08/25/1821] where they state : "Benjamin Murphey is elected to the Legislative Council from the County of Pulaski and James Billingsley to the same branch of the General Assembly, from Crawford County.  Thomas H. Tindall is elected to the House of Representatives to represent the counties of Pulaski and Crawford."

In 1828 the Cherokee Tract was abolished, the Cherokee being given lands further west in what is today Oklahoma.  At this point, everything that is today Franklin County, was within Crawford County.

Franklin County, Arkansas was formed December 1837 by an act of the State Legislature, out of the Eastern half of Crawford County.  The boundaries of Franklin County have changed only very slightly from the 1837 boundaries.

Franklin County is cut into two sections, North and South, by the Arkansas River which runs East-West through the approximate center of the county.  The earliest settlements were likely along this river.

==Settlement Pattern==
The Louisiana Purchase and subsequent treaties with Indians to move away, gave to the Federal government all of the land in the state of Arkansas.  Before the Federal government is willing to grant land to settlers, they need to do surveys.  All the existing surveys are available to view in the BLM database.
* [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/SurveySearch/Survey_Detail.asp?dmid=3230&Index=5 Twp 8N26W and 9N26W], "Fractional Township South of the Arkansas River", survey approved 30 Apr 1827
* [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/SurveySearch/Survey_Detail.asp?dmid=3235&Index=8 Twp 8N27W], Survey approved 30 Apr 1827
* [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/SurveySearch/Survey_Detail.asp?dmid=3241&Index=12 Twp 8N28W], survey approved 1 May 1827
* [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/SurveySearch/Survey_Detail.asp?dmid=3248&Index=15 Twp 8N29W], survey approved 28 Aug 1826
* [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/SurveySearch/Survey_Detail.asp?dmid=3635&Index=24 Twp 9N27W], approved 30 Apr 1827
* [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/SurveySearch/Survey_Detail.asp?dmid=3640&Index=27 Twp 9N28W], approved 21 Feb 1826
* [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/SurveySearch/Survey_Detail.asp?dmid=3650&Index=33 Twp 9N29W], approved 21 Feb 1826

From a careful perusal of the [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/Default.asp? BLM records], I below present a table showing every township which is today in Franklin, and the year of its first settlement, and where a surrounding county abuts it.  Since Franklin was not formed until Dec 1837, this table shows that it was already well-settled by the time it was formed.  The counties surrounding Franklin are Crawford, Madison, Johnson, Sebastian, and Logan.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|
! 30W
! 29W
! 28W
! 27W
! 26W
! 25W
|-
! 13N
|
|
| Cr/Md/Wa
| Madison
| Madison
| Joh/Mad
|-
! 12N
| Crawford
| Crawford
| 1854
| 1845
| 1846
| Johnson
|-
! 11N
| Crawford
| 1860
| 1855
| 1855
| 1855
| Johnson
|-
! 10N
| Crawford
| 1845
| 1838
| 1836
| 1839
| Johnson
|-
! 9N
| Crawford
| 1829
| 1838
| 1845
| 1838
| Johnson
|-
! 8N
| Craw/Sesb
| 1836
| 1839
| 1838
| 1830
| 1830
|-
! 7N
| Sebastian
| 1846
| 1845
| Logan
| Logan
|-
! 6N
| Sebastian
| Sebastian
| Logan
|}

As this table shows graphically, the first BLM grants in Franklin County were in 29W9N, 25W8N and 26W8N.

==First Settlers==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batesville,_Arkansas Batesville] was the central Federal Land Office for Northern Arkansas, and all the early BLM grants were done from this office.

The earliest BLM grants for Township 9N29W and were all issued on 1 Apr 1829 for : Bazil Newton and Lunsford Olliver.

The earliest BLM grants for Township 8N26W were all issued on 15 Nov 1830 for: Alexander Barnhill, James Fisher, George Grounds, Adam Hawick, Joseph Jeffries, Aquilla Mitchell, Alexander Ross, Abraham St Clair, Alden Taylor and Bird Williams.

The earliest BLM grants for Township 8N25W were all issued on 15 Nov 1830 for : Alexander Barnhill, James Drake, Eli G Harris, Hugh Logan, James Marrs and William McDonald

==Resources==
*[http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=localitydetails&subject=194533&subject_disp=Arkansas%2C+Franklin&columns=*,0,0 "Franklin", part of "Arkansas"] as a Placename search in the Family History Library (LDS) Catalog
*''[[CountyCourtBook1-FranklinArkansas|Franklin County, Arkansas : First County and Probate Court Minutes Book (1838-40)]], with an every-name index'', compiled by Will Johnson.  Privately published, copyright 2005.  The index to this book is [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wjhonson/FranklinARK/CountyCourtIndex.htm here].
*[[1840Franklin-Arkansas|''Annotated 1840 Census of Franklin County, Arkansas'']], (ed.) Will Johnson. Privately published, copyright 2005.
*''Franklin County, Arkansas : First Deed Book'', compiled by Will Johnson, Privately published, copyright 2007.  The index to this book is [[FranklinARK/FirstDeed|here]]
*''Franklin County, Arkansas : Probate Court Minutes Book (1840-1850), with an every-name index'', compiled by Will Johnson. Privately published, copyright 2005. The index to this book is [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wjhonson/FranklinARK/ProbateCourtIndex.htm here].
*''1845 Tax List of Franklin County, Arkansas'', compiled by Will Johnson. Privately published, copyright 2005.  The index to this book is [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wjhonson/FranklinARK/tax1845.htm here].
*''Probate Papers of Franklin County Arkansas (1838-1920)'', Compiled by Virginia McPhail, privately published, Copyright 2001. 286 pages.  I have indexed these from 1838 to 1880 and my index is [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wjhonson/FranklinARK/ProbatePackets.htm here].
*''Marriages of Franklin County, Arkansas 1850-1916'', Copied by Virginia McPhail. [Privately published] [n.d.]. 236 pages plus unnumbered index
*''Arkansas Newspaper Abstracts 1819-1845'', by James Logan Morgan, c1981. Reprinted by Arkansas Research of Conway, 1992. Four volumes combined of 98, 73, 73, and 78 pages, includes a seperate index for each volume.
*''Franklin County, Arkansas Cemeteries : North of the Arkansas River'', Sue Clark and Virginia McPhail, Copyright 1995, privately published. 332 Pages with index.
*[http://www.myarkansasgenealogy.com/ar_maps/ar_cf.htm County Formation Map for Arkansas] at the MyArkansasGenealogy website
*Virginia McPhail can be reached at 1502 N. Hills Blvd. Van Buren, AR 92956

==See also==
*[[Franklin County, Arkansas Cemeteries]]
*[[Franklin County, Arkansas Loose Probate]]
*[[1860Franklin-Arkansas-pg59|1860 Census of Franklin County, Arkansas page 59]]
*[[Goodspeed's_Bios_(Franklin_County,_AR)|Goodspeed's Bios for Franklin County, Arkansas]]

==External links==
*[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wjhonson/FranklinCountyArkansas.htm Resources at the Franklin County, Arkansas Genealogical Society]
*[http://www.arkansashighways.com/Maps/Counties/1936/HistoricalMapst.htm Historical County Maps]

[[Category:Franklin County, Arkansas]]
[[Category:US Counties]]