Perry County, Arkansas

USA

New! 48-Page Booklet

Early days in Perry County, AR, are recalled in this spiral-bound booklet, conprised of the Grant County excerpts from Goodspeed's Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Pulaski, Jefferson, Lonoke, Faulkner, Grant, Saline, Perry, Garland and Hot Spring Counties, Arkansas (1886) , and from  Arkansas, A Guide to the State, a 1941 WPA publication. The 54-page booklet is printed on 60# paper. A vinyl sheet has been added to protect the front cover.

The first part of the booklet contains a history of the county: A description of the county, timber, livestock, agriculture; transportation by railroad and steamer; names of various officials -- judges, sheriffs, treasurers, coroners, surveyors, assessors, state representatives, convention delegates, etc; Early settlers -- Aaron Price, Robert Blackwell, Jodiah Rankin, John Houston, and others; Early businesses; Origin of the county from other counties; Disastrous history of courthouses and lost records; Schools and Churches; Tale of Robert Cook (the "Wag of the settlement"), a murder and a hanging, the towns of Perryville and Aplin and other items of interest.  

Besides the names mentioned in the first part of the booklet, there are biographies of many county residents of yesteryear. Most are fairly lengthy, and often include ancestors, previous residences, children, in-laws, affiliations, war records, and business activities. In the course of this they often shed light on the early businesses, professions and institutions in the county. The biographies include: Charles M. Armistead, John J. Barnett, William T. Baskin, John Bland, Capt. John Blythe, John Wilson Carden, Benjamin Franklin Clayton, James Cobb, John J. Cook, Dr. William Davis Hill Creasey, John M. Crist, Ellerslie L. Dooley, William Harrison George, Daniel Halcomb, J.S. Hambright, John S. Harris, David Herstein, Dr. G. Thomas Holmes, Richard M. Holmes, Judge G.M. Johnson, Jesse S. Jones, Jesse B. Lawson, J.A. McBath, Matthew Marion McCabe, John L. McCauly, William Alexander McGhee, James W. Magie, John S. Massy, Lemuel Moody, Alfred T. Moore,  Philip W. Mosby, John E. Oliver, Edison Haywood Owen, Dr. John E. Price, J.L. Ragsdale, Jerry M. Ragsdill, G.M. Rankin, W.G. Rankin, Edmond H. Rankin, William H. Rankin, James K. Reeder, John William Reeder, John William Rison, William L. Scoggins, J.F. Sellers, Morgan G. Smyers, Charles Henry Tanner, Sanford B. Taylor, B. D. Taylor, Hezekiah Lewis Trundle, L.G. Vollman, J.M. Wallace, Rev. Ambrose Hunter Williams, and Capt. William Wilson. 

 The WPA section gives a bit of trivia about a humorous account of a feud in Perryville, and includes a small map of the county and nearby area.  

Wouldn't this make a unique gift?