St. Francis County

Luther Allison (1939–1997)
Blues guitarist and singer Luther Allison was born in Arkansas, but like many of his contemporaries in the rur...
Daisy Anderson (1900?-1998)
Educator, author, and lecturer Daisy Graham Anderson is best known for being one of the last surviving widows ...
Bell and Swain v. State
aka: Elbert Thomas (Reported Lynching of)
Examination of the cases of Black youths Robert Bell and Grady Swai...
Blackfish Lake Ferry Site
The Blackfish Lake Ferry Site marks the location where a ferry was established in 1826 to allow travelers on t...
Josiah Homer Blount (1860–1938)
Josiah Homer Blount was a successful African-American businessman who, in 1920, became the first Black per...
Scott Winfield Bond (1852–1933)
Scott Winfield Bond was a successful landowner, farmer, and businessman at a time when the total number of Afr...
Ulysses Simpson (U. S.) Bond (1897–1967)
Prominent businessman and entrepreneur Ulysses Simpson (U. S.) Bond, like his father and brothers, was a membe...
Brooks (Lynching of)
In some cases, conflicting newspaper accounts make it difficult to identify the actual victim of a lynching, a...
Caldwell (St. Francis County)
Caldwell is a city on Crowley’s Ridge, a few miles north of Forrest City (St. Francis County). Located on th...
Larry Porter Chism (1948–)
Larry Chism is an Arkansas criminal, convicted felon, and longtime fugitive. In 1978, he escaped from a Lonoke...
Christ Church Parochial and Industrial School
Christ Church Parochial and Industrial School was a private school for African-American children operated in F...
Colt (St. Francis County)
Colt (St. Francis County), located at the intersection of Arkansas Highway 1 and Highway 306 between the L’A...
Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute
The Crowley’s Ridge Technical Institute (CRTI) was a technical college in Forrest City (St. Francis County) ...
Poindexter Dunn (1834–1914)
Poindexter Dunn was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He represented the First Distric...
East Arkansas Community College
East Arkansas Community College (EACC) is a comprehensive two-year college dedicated to meeting the educationa...
Lewis Porter Featherstone (1851–1922)
Lewis Porter (L. P.) Featherstone was an Agricultural Wheel leader and a politician who served in the state le...
Forrest City (St. Francis County)
Forrest City, located on the western slope of Crowley’s Ridge near the center of St. Francis County, has bee...
Forrest City Riot of 1889
In the 1888 election, the Union Labor Party, which included farmers of the Agricultural Wheel, allied with the...
Forrest City Times
Among the early businesses in Forrest City (St. Francis County) was the Forrest City Times (1871–1919), esta...
Robert Foreman (Bobby) Fussell (1938–2018)
Robert Foreman (Bobby) Fussell had a long career as a lawyer championing the legal rights of disabled veterans...
Al Green (1946–)
Al Green is one of Arkansas’s best-known singers, with a career that has ranged from rhythm and blues (R&...
Expedition from Helena up the St. Francis River (February 13–14, 1864)
On the afternoon of February 13, 1864, Captain Charles O’Connell of the Fifteenth Illinois Cavalry boarded t...
Hughes (St. Francis County)
Hughes is the second-largest town in St. Francis County. Located halfway between Mud Lake (St. Francis County)...
Hughes Water Tower
The Hughes Water Tower is located on Church Street in Hughes (St. Francis County). The metal water tower was b...
Donald Euleon (Don) Kessinger (1942–)
Donald Eulon Kessinger played major league baseball for sixteen years in the 1960s and 1970s, mostly for the C...
Skirmish at L'Anguille Ferry
On August 3, 1862, a skirmish took place at L’Anguille Ferry, just north of Marianna (Lee County). The skirm...
Nathan Lacey (Lynching of)
On October 16, 1911, an African American man named Nathan Lacey was lynched in Forrest City (St. Francis Count...
Sonny Liston (1932?–1970)
aka: Charles Liston
Charles “Sonny” Liston was a noted boxer who briefly reigned as...
Madison (St. Francis County)
Madison, named for President James Madison, is located on the western bank of the St. Francis River at the foo...
Skirmish at Madison
By 1865, large-scale organized Confederate resistance had collapsed in much of the state. Federal patrols from...
Samuel McIntyre (Lynching of)
On April 23, 1919, an African-American man named Sam McIntyre was hanged near Forrest City (St. Francis County...
Gilbert Leslie Morris (1929–2016)
A Christy award–winning Christian author, Gilbert Leslie Morris wrote more than 200 books for young adults s...
Palestine (St. Francis County)
Palestine is located in northeastern Arkansas on Interstate 40 and State Highway 70, with the L’Anguille Ri...
William Patrick (Lynching of)
On December 3, 1915, an African-American man named William Patrick was lynched in St. Francis County for alleg...
Plane Crash of January 14, 1936
On the evening of January 14, 1936, an American Airlines twin-engine Douglas airliner crashed into a swamp nea...
Eddie Reed (1953–2014)
Eddie Reed was a cancer researcher, medical oncologist, and leader in public policy addressing disparities in ...
Charlie Rich (1932–1995)
Charlie Rich was a gospel, blues, and country singer and songwriter, and was probably the most musically gifte...
Daniel Rudd (1854–1933)
Daniel A. Rudd was a lay leader within the Catholic Church during the late nineteenth and early twentieth cent...
St. Francis County
St. Francis County in eastern Arkansas is divided north-south by Crowley’s Ridge, which forms the high groun...
St. Francis County Museum
The St. Francis County Museum in Forrest City (St. Francis County) is an initiative of the St. Francis County ...
St. Francis County Reported Lynching of 1910
A reported 1910 lynching in St. Francis County illustrates the difficulty of doing research in this field. Whi...
Erastus Burton Strong (1823–1847)
Arkansas native Erastus Burton Strong was a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point who s...
Henry Taylor (Execution of)
Henry Taylor was an African American Baptist preacher who was hanged at Forrest City (St. Francis County) on J...
Skirmishes at Taylor's Creek and Mount Vernon
aka: Skirmish at Crowley's Ridge
Returning from his ill-fated attack on Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in...
Lucius Marshall (Marsh) Walker (1829–1863)
An antebellum plantation owner in St. Francis County and nephew of President James K. Polk, Lucius Marshall (M...
J. H. Webster (Murder of)
J. H. Webster was murdered on May 22, 1894, in a shootout at Forrest City (St. Francis County), when he went t...
Wheatley (St. Francis County)
Wheatley is a town in the southwestern corner of St. Francis County. Its northern portion is crossed by Inters...
Skirmish at Whitmore's Mill
aka: Skirmish at Whitten's Mill
Fought on the same day as the Engagement at Jenkins’ Ferry (April...
Widener (St. Francis County)
Widener is a town in St. Francis County between Crowley’s Ridge and the St. Francis River. It is on State Hi...
Charles Young (Lynching of)
Charles Young, an African American man, was burned alive by a mob near Forrest City (St. Francis County) on Oc...