Ft. Smith Arkansas Genealogy – Access Genealogy

Slave Narrative of Elsie Pryor

The first Mistis I remember was named Mary Ellis, she was part Choctaw Indian. I don’t remember ole Marster at all. When ole Miss’s daughter got married, ole Miss give her a little nigger girl. That was me an’ when I was a little thing, too. I don’t remember who young Miss married. They didn’t tell little niggers nothin’, we just found out what we could and din’t pay much tention to that. An’ not much ‘tention to what we saw. We was jes like little varmints. They’d cut arm holes and head holes in croker sacks and tell us … Read more

Fort Smith Courthouse Photos

Established in 1851, for twenty years, the federal district court for the Western District of Arkansas was based in Van Buren Arkansas. The district had federal jurisdiction over half of the state of Arkansas and all of the Indian Territory. Coinciding with the closure of Fort Smith by the Army in 1876, the federal court was relocated to Fort Smith. For a year the court was housed in a downtown office building; during the summer of 1872, the jail was moved into the old barracks building inside the second fort. That fall, court operations were moved into the upper floor … Read more

Arkansas Funeral Home Records

This page links to known Arkansas Funeral Records whether they be available online or offline. Funeral records are an invaluable source of genealogical information that can provide insight into the lives and deaths of our ancestors. They offer a wealth of details on the deceased and their family, including their names, ages, dates of death, causes of death, and other key information.

Biographical Sketch of C. L. Fletcher

C. L. Fletcher, son of B. G. and M. H. (Guthrie) Fletcher was born Jan. 25, 1885. Educated at the Male Seminary and Commercial College, Ft. Smith, Ark.; Married Dec. 23, 1906 to Margaret M. daughter of Alford B. and America (Johnson) Holland. Born July 24, 1886, died Nov. 21, 1911. Two children were born to this union, Loren born Feb. 23, 1909 and Maggie H. born Nov. 7, 1911, died Aug. 27. 1912. Married Lillian Blake Dec. 6, 1913, daughter of B. W. and Sarah H. Blake, born in the state of West Virginia March 24, 1894. Two children … Read more