These books are a result of my personal search for information concerning my ancestors who settled in Crawford County during the mid 1830’s. I have been researching my family history for several years and after hitting one "brick wall" after another, I was convinced that it might help to look at some old newspapers to see if anything existed that might help me. I invested in a microfilm reader and purchased all the available microfilms for the years 1843 until 1912 for Crawford County, Arkansas. After reading the films for hours on end and finding nothing that was helpful to my own personal research, I began to believe that the information included in the newspapers would definitely help others. Since Crawford County’s records have been destroyed twice, once during the Civil War and again by fire in 1877, researchers in Crawford County are at a disadvantage for records. I have seen other books similar to this one but after reading the actual microfilmed newspaper I could see that a much more complete work could be done. Hence, I set out to transcribe all items from the newspapers that were of a genealogical nature.

The first 3 Volumes are extractions taken from the very first newspaper, the "Arkansas Intelligencer," which was first published in 1843. The dates begin in 1843 and end in October 1858. The following volumes are taken from the Van-Buren Press, which began publishing in 1859.

In this work you will find numerous death notices, legal notices, divorces, marriages, birth notices, merchant’s advertisements, epidemics, old diseases, and the cures, murders, political items, military news, weather, lists of unclaimed letters, law officials, and even the steamboat traffic in early day Van Buren.

After reading these books I believe one will develop a deeper understanding and a greater respect and admiration for the early settlers of "Old Crawford" and the surrounding area.

To see the role that Crawford County played in weaving the fabric of our great nation is an experience that has changed my life forever.

It is my hope that you will find something that will help you in your research. If, however, you don’t find your ancestor, you will find the information in the books fascinating and will have a flavor for what everyday life was like for your ancestor who lived in the area.

I have completed 62 Volumes of books by taking extractions from the local newspapers and hope to have additional volumes published within a year.

In the meantime, sit back, relax and enjoy a trip back in time as you read the "news" that was news to our ancestors!

Fran Alverson Warren

15529 White Water Road

Chester, AR

72934

Phone 1-479-369-2703

http://www.crawfordcountyarkansas.net/