Franklin County, Arkansas
From RoyalWeb
(→Settlement) |
|||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
I am a professional genealogist. If you'd like to hire me you can email me at [mailto:wjhonson@aol.com wjhonson@aol.com]. | I am a professional genealogist. If you'd like to hire me you can email me at [mailto:wjhonson@aol.com wjhonson@aol.com]. | ||
| + | I have now started to put my Franklin County, Arkansas genealogy updates on a subscription site at [http://sites.google.com/site/franklincountyarkansas/ Franklin County, Arkansas] at Google Sites. The first twenty people who sign up with me, can do so for free for six months. Sign up by emailing me at [mailto:wjhonson@aol.com wjhonson@aol.com]. | ||
| + | |||
| + | My most up-to-date version of this page, is now at [http://knol.google.com/k/will-johnson/franklin-county-arkansas-genealogy/4hmquk6fx4gu/406 Franklin County, Arkansas Genealogy at Knol]. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Introduction== | ||
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 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. | ||
| Line 15: | Line 20: | ||
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, 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. | 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. | ||
| − | From a careful perusal of the [http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/Default.asp? BLM records], I below present | + | ==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" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
| Line 92: | Line 106: | ||
As this table shows graphically, the first BLM grants in Franklin County were in 29W9N, 25W8N and 26W8N. | 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 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 | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Marriages== | ||
| + | Franklin County was formed Dec 1837, but there are no known marriage books that cover the first part of the County's existence. The first marriage book start with a single marriage in 1849, and then several in 1850. | ||
| + | |||
| + | At Arkansas there is a database called [http://www.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7845&enc=1 ''Arkansas Marriages, 1779-1992'']. This is not to be confused with another database they own called ''Arkansas Marriages, 1850-1900''. Or yet a third database called ''Arkansas Marriages, before 1850''. In the first database, they have, among other counties, indexed marriages in Franklin County up to 1882. The description states up to 1976, but this is because some idiot entered an 1876 marriage as 1976 which it clearly isnt'. It also states that the marriages start in 1811, which is equally ridiculous as the county didn't exist until 1837. The marriage indexed in 1811 was really from 1881 as verified by Virginia McPhail's book of marriages. The marriage indexed in 1848 was really from 1868. | ||
| + | |||
| + | So ignoring those discrepancies, here are the years this database covers and how many marriages it shows for each year: 1837-1848 Zero; 1849 1; 1850 60; 1851 93; 1852 70; 1853 118; 1854 98; 1855 106; 1856 78; 1857 94; 1858 100; 1859 150; 1860 172; 1861 114; 1862 70; 1863 6; 1864 10; 1865 20; 1866 178; 1867 191; 1868 196; 1869 275; 1870 266; 1871 244; 1872 254; 1873 246; 1874 220; 1875 194; 1876 286; 1877 248; 1878 296; 1879 372; 1880 382; 1881 396; 1882 376; 1883 22; 1884 4 | ||
| + | |||
| + | It seems fairly clear that they used the marriages books going up to the early part of 1883 when a new marriage book was begun, so I suspect that those four indexed in 1884 are probably errors as well. | ||
==Resources== | ==Resources== | ||
| Line 103: | Line 135: | ||
*''Marriages of Franklin County, Arkansas 1850-1916'', Copied by Virginia McPhail. [Privately published] [n.d.]. 236 pages plus unnumbered index | *''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. | *''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. | ||
| + | *[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wjhonson/platmap10N29Wof5th.html First landholders at 10N 29W] | ||
*''Franklin County, Arkansas Cemeteries : North of the Arkansas River'', Sue Clark and Virginia McPhail, Copyright 1995, privately published. 332 Pages with index. | *''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 | *[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 | ||
| + | *[http://content.ancestry.com/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=7931&iid=HistBenton-AR-0606640 ''History of Franklin County''], part of the [http://content.ancestry.com/Browse/list.aspx?dbid=7931&path= ''Northwestern Arkansas Histories'', by Goodspeed Publishing (1889)] | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| Line 119: | Line 152: | ||
[[Category:Franklin County, Arkansas]] | [[Category:Franklin County, Arkansas]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Arkansas]] | ||
[[Category:US Counties]] | [[Category:US Counties]] | ||
| + | [[Category:US county sources]] | ||
