Jefferson County AR Genealogy

Slave Narrative of Jeff Bailey

Interviewer: Samuel S. Taylor Person Interviewed: Jeff Bailey Location: 713 W. Ninth Street, Little Rock, Arkansas Age: 76 or 77 Occupation: Hostler [HW: A Hostler’s Story] “I was born in Monticello. I was raised there. Then I came up to Pine Bluff and stayed there thirty-two years. Then I came up here and been here thirty-two years. That is the reason the white folks so good to me now. I been here so long, I been a hostler all my life. I am the best hostler in this State. I go down to the post office they give me money. … Read more

Slave Narrative of Liza Smith

Person Interviewed: Liza Smith Location: Muskogee, Oklahoma Age: 91 Both my mammy and pappy was brought from Africa on a slave boat and sold on de Richmond (Va.) slave market. What year dey come over I don’t know. My mammy was Jane Mason, belonging to Frank Mason; pappy was Frank Smith, belonging to a master wid de same name. I mean, my pappy took his Master’s name, and den after my folks married mammy took de name of Smith, but she stayed on wid de Masons and never did belong to my pappy’s master. Den, after Frank Mason took all … Read more

Biography of Christopher Columbus Hughes

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS HUGHES. This prominent and successful tiller of the soil owes his nativity to Jefferson County, Arkansas, where he was born, in 1840, to Matthew and Clara (Hill) Hughes, who were born in Crittenden County, Kentucky, and Maryland, respectively. Their marriage occurred on Blue Grass soil, and in Crittenden County, where Mr. Hughes has spent his entire life, with the exception of a few years when he resided in Jefferson County, Arkansas He is now over eighty years of age, has been a lifelong and successful farmer, and prior to the war had accumulated a comfortable fortune, but lost … Read more

Slave Narrative of Bob Benford

Interviewer: Mrs. Bernice Bowden Person Interviewed: Bob Benford Age: 79 Location: 209 N. Maple Street, Pine Bluff, Arkansas “Slavery-time folks? Here’s one of em. Near as I can get at it, I’se seventy-nine. I was born in Alabama. My white folks said I come from Perry County, Alabama, but I come here to this Arkansas country when I was small. “My old master was Jim Ad Benford. He was good to us. I’m goin’ to tell you we was better off then than now. Yes ma’am, they treated us right. We didn’t have to worry bout payin’ the doctor and … Read more

Slave Narrative of Boston Blackwell

Interviewer: Beaulah Sherwood Hagg Person Interviewed: Boston Blackwell Age: 98 Location: 320 Plum, North Little Rock, Arkansas Make yourself comfoble, miss. I can’t see you much ’cause my eyes, they is dim. My voice, it kinder dim too. I knows my age, good. Old Miss, she told me when I got sold—”Boss, you is 13—borned Christmas. Be sure to tell your new misses and she put you down in her book.” My borned name was Pruitt ’cause I got borned on Robert Pruitt’s plantation in Georgia,—Franklin County, Georgia. But Blackwell, it my freed name. You see, miss, after my mammy … Read more

Boyd, Andrew – Obituary

Andrew Guy Boyd, 85, died Feb. 5 at Wallowa Memorial Hospital. He was born May 14, 1919 in Pine Bluff, Ark. Mr. Boyd attended University of Arkansas, Texas A & M and Washington State University. He served with the 159th Infantry in Europe and was discharged in 1945 with the rank of lieutenant. In 1944, Mr. Boyd married Margaret Carroll. He worked as a cattle buyer and feedlot manager for Seattle Packing Co., and farmed in Wallowa County since 1968. He is survived by his wife Margaret Boyd, and by Kathryn Otis of Renton, Wash.; Joseph Boyd of Tacoma, Wash.; … Read more

Slave Narrative of Hula Williams

Person Interviewed: Hula Williams Place of Birth: Arkansas Date of Birth: July 18, 1857 My mammy use to belong to the Burns plantation back in old Mississippi; that was before I was born, but the white overseer, a man named Kelly, was my father, so my mammy always said. She stayed with the Burns’ until her Master’s daughter married a man named Bond and moved to Jefferson County, Arkansas, about 25 miles south of Little Rock. The old Master give mammy and two other slaves to the girl when she married, that’s how come mammy to be in Arkansas when … Read more

Villages of the Quapaw Tribe

This article explores the history and settlements of the Quapaw Tribe, a Siouan group residing near the mouth of the Arkansas River. It traces their journey from the Ohio Valley, citing early French accounts of their villages and customs. The text details their gradual westward migration and eventual decline, referencing explorers’ observations and archaeological evidence of their presence in the Mississippi Valley.

Slave Narrative of Katie Arbery

Interviewer: Mrs. Bernice Bowden Person Interviewed: Katie Arbery Location: 815 W. Thirteenth, Pine Bluff, Arkansas Age: 80 “I am eighty years old. My name ‘fore I was a Arbery was Baxter. My mother was a Baxter. Born in Union County. “My mother’s first people was Baxter and my grandmother was a Baxter and they just went by that name; she never did change her name. “The boss man—that was what they called our master—his name was Paul McCall. He was married twice. His oldest son was Jim McCall. He was in the War. Yes ma’am, the Civil War. “Paul McCall … Read more

Chitty, William Edward – Obituary

W. E. Chitty, Formerly of Pine Bluff, Lost Life in River—Helena, May 17–(Special)– The body of W. E. Chitty, age 60, who disappeared between the hours of 7 and 8 p.m. Tuesday, off the Chicago Mill and Lumber Corporation’s derrick boat, was found early this morning, near the bank of the river about a mile below where it is thought he stumbled from the boat and fell into the river. Chitty, prior to his moving to Helena about two months ago, had lived in West Helena where he had been employed as night watchman for the Chicago Mill and the … Read more

Slave Narrative of Sarah Anderson

Interviewer: Mrs. Bernice Bowden Person Interviewed: Sarah Anderson Location: 3815 W. Second Avenue, Pine Bluff, Arkansas Age: 78? “I don’t know when I was born. When the Civil War ended, I was bout four or five years old. “I jes’ remember when the people come back—the soldiers—when the War ended. We chillun run under the house. That was the Yankees. “I was born in Bibb County, Georgia. That’s where I was bred and born. “I been in Arkansas ever since I was fourteen. That was shortly after the Civil War, I reckon. We come here when they was emigratin’ to … Read more

Slave Narrative of Joseph Samuel Badgett

Interviewer: Samuel S. Taylor Person Interviewed: Joseph Samuel Badgett Location: 1221 Wright Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas Age: 72 [HW: Mother was a Fighter] “My mother had Indian in her. She would fight. She was the pet of the people. When she was out, the pateroles would whip her because she didn’t have a pass. She has showed me scars that were on her even till the day that she died. She was whipped because she was out without a pass. She could have had a pass any time for the asking, but she was too proud to ask. She never … Read more

Jefferson County, Arkansas Census

Jefferson County, Arkansas was formed from Arkansas and Pulaski counties in 1829. 1830 Jefferson County, Arkansas Census Free 1830 Census Form for your Research Hosted at Ancestry.com – Ancestry Free Trial 1830 Jefferson County, Census (images and index) $ 1810-1890 Accelerated Indexing Systems Free 1830 Census Index Free 1830 Census Transcription Hosted at Census Guide 1830 U.S. Census Guide 1840 Jefferson County, Arkansas Census Free 1840 Census Form for your Research Hosted at Ancestry.com – Ancestry Free Trial 1840 Jefferson County, Census (images and index) $ 1810-1890 Accelerated Indexing Systems Free 1840 Census Index Free 1840 Census Transcription Hosted at … Read more

Slave Narrative of Kato Benton

Interviewer: Mrs. Bernice Bowden Person Interviewed: Kato Benton Age: 78 Location: Creed Taylor Place, Tamo Pike, Pine Bluff, Arkansas “I was born in South Carolina before the War. I ain’t no baby. I wasn’t raised here. No ma’am. “My daddy’s name was Chance Ayers and my mammy’s name was Mary Ayers. So I guess the white folks was named Ayers. “White folks was good to us. Had plenty to eat, plenty to wear, plenty to drink. That was water. Didn’t have no whisky. Might a had some but they didn’t give us none. “Oh, yes ma’am, I got plenty kin … Read more

Slave Narrative of Rev. Wamble

Interviewer: Archie Koritz Person Interviewed: Rev. Wamble Location: Gary, Indiana Place of Birth: Monroe County, Mississippi, Date of Birth: 1859 Place of Residence: 1827 Madison Street, Gary, Indiana Occupation: Wagon-maker Archie Koritz, Field Worker Federal Writers’ Project Porter County-District #1 Valparaiso, Indiana EX-SLAVES REV. WAMBLE 1827 Madison Street Gary, Indiana [TR: above ‘Wamble’ in handwriting is ‘Womble’] Rev. Wamble was born a slave in Monroe County, Mississippi, in 1859. The Westbrook family owned many slaves in charge of over-seers who managed the farm, on which there were usually two hundred or more slaves. One of the Westbrook daughters married a … 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.

Slave Narrative of Stephen McCray

Person Interviewed: Stephen McCray Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Place of Birth: Huntsville County, Alabama Date of Birth: 1850 Age: 88 Occupation: Fisherman I was born in Huntsville County, Alabama, right where the Scottsboro boys was in jail, in 1850. My parents was Wash and Winnie McCray. They was the mother and father of 22 chillun. Jest five lived to be grown and the rest died at baby age. My father’s mother and father was named Mandy and Peter McCray, and my mother’s mother and father was Ruthie and Charlie McCray. They all had the same Master, Mister McCray, all the … Read more

Slave Narrative of James Bertrand

Interviewer: Samuel S. Taylor Person Interviewed: James Bertrand Age: 68 Location: 1501 Maple Street, Little Rock, Arkansas [HW: “Pateroles” Botlund Father] “I have heard my father tell about slavery and about the Ku Klux Klan bunch and about the paterole bunch and things like that. I am sixty-eight years old now. Sixty-eight years old! That would be about five years after the War that I was born. That would be about 1870, wouldn’t it? I was born in Jefferson County, Arkansas, near Pine Bluff. “My father’s name was Mack Bertrand. My mother’s name was Lucretia. Her name before she married … Read more

Slave Narrative of J. H. Beckwith

Interviewer: Bernice Bowden Person Interviewed: J. H. Beckwith Age: 68 Location: 619 North Spruce Street, Pine Bluff, Arkansas “No ma’m I was not born in the time of slavery. I was sixty-eight last Friday. I was born November 18, 1870 in Johnson County, North Carolina. “My mother was born in Georgia and her name was Gracie Barum. Father was born in North Carolina. His name was Rufus Beckwith. He belonged to Doctor Beckwith and mother, I think, belonged to Tom Barum. Barum was just an ordinary farmer. He was just a second or third class farmer—just poor white folks. I … Read more

Slave Narrative of Rose Adway

Interviewer: Mrs. Bernice Bowden Person Interviewed: Rose Adway Location: 405 W. Pullen, Pine Bluff, Arkansas Age: 76 Occupation: Farmed “I was born three years ‘fore surrender. That’s what my people told me. Born in Mississippi. Let me see what county I come out of. Smith County—that’s where I was bred and born. “I know I seen the Yankees but I didn’t know what they was. My mama and papa and all of ’em talked about the War. “My papa was a water toter in durin’ the War. No, he didn’t serve the army—just on the farm. “Mama was the cook … Read more