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Craighead County was
part of the territory claimed by France on April
9, 1682 by René Robert Cavelier,
Sieur de La Salle who laid claim to all of the land drained by the
Mississippi River and its assorted tributaries. LaSalle's claim was
named Louisiana in honor of Louis XIV, King of France.
In 1762 the Treaty of Fontainebleau
was signed between France and Spain and ownership of the Louisiana
territory west of the Mississippi River was transferred to the
Spanish crown as a result of the Seven Years' War and
the area which would later become Craighead
County became a Spanish possession.
Spain remained in control of the territory encompassing the county
until 1 October 1800 when Napoleon Bonaparte forced Spain to return
the lost territories to France under the Treaty of Ildefonso.
Napoleon maintained grandiose plans to establish a vast French
Empire in Louisiana but the British Navy prevented him from
transferring troops or settlers to the acquired territories.
Fear was high in the United States that Napoleon would attempt to
close the Mississippi River to American trade. President Thomas
Jefferson inquired about purchasing an area near the mouth of the
river to ensure that it would stay open to American goods. Napoleon,
having realized that his plans could not come to fruition, offered
to sell the United States the entire territory of Louisiana,
including the area which would later become Craighead County, for $15,000,000.
The treaty was finalized in 1803 and the land that would later become
Craighead County became the possession of the United States.
Craighead County remained in the Louisiana Territory until the State
of Louisiana was admitted to the Union. At that time the territory
that includes modern day Arkansas was attached to the Missouri
Territory.
In 1813 the area was included in a new political subdivision known
as Arkansas County which was a political subdivision of the Arkansas
District of the Territory of Missouri. In 1815 the county was
further subdivided and Lawrence County was formed with its seat at
Davidsonville. This new county included most of what is now northern
Arkansas. The modern Craighead county lay partially within Arkansas
County and partially within Lawrence County.
Residents of the Missouri Territory soon began petitioning Congress
for admission to the Union. Their request did not include the
District of Arkansas and Arkansas residents petitioned for separate
territorial status for their district. In 1819 the Arkansas
Territory was formed.
In 1838 Poinsett County was formed and included most of present day
Craighead County. This situation persisted until 1850 when residents
of the area complained about the distance to the Poinsett County
seat.
In 1858 State Senator William A. Jones campaign platform included a
promise to seek the formation of a new county for the area. His
election was successful and helped push legislation for the
formation of the new county.
The new county was to be formed from lands taken from Greene County,
Poinsett County, and Mississippi County and would be named "Crowley
County" in honor of Crowley's Ridge which runs through the center of
the county.
Senator Thomas Craighead represented Mississippi County, and opposed
the bill because the farmland it took from Mississippi County
(commonly known as the Buffalo Island area) was a major source of
property taxes for the county.
One day while Senator Craighead was away from the floor, Senator
Jones amended the bill to change the county's name to "Craighead
County". The Senate, thinking it was a compromise, approved the bill
as amended; by the time Senator Craighead returned, the bill had
already left the Senate, and he took no further action.
Craighead County was officially formed 19 February 1859; in
gratitude, the citizens then named the main county seat Jonesboro,
for Senator Jones. (Some sources say the name was actually proposed
by Senator Craighead in a resolution.) Lake City, just across the
St. Francis River from the Buffalo Island area, was added as a
second county seat in 1883.
The following excerpt from the
Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Craighead
County, 1889 describes the emigration of one
of Craighead County's best known pioneers.
**"Thomas
D. Culberhouse, farmer, merchant and lumber
manufacturer, was born in Bedford County, Tenn.,
March 10, 1836, and is a son of Moses
Culberhouse, a native of North Carolina, and a
grandson of Thomas Culberhouse, who was born in
Berkshire, England. Moses Culberhouse was an
extensive farmer and stock dealer in his native
State, and there married Parthenia Roberts, a
native of North Carolina, and in 1834, emigrated
to Tennessee.
Eighteen
years later they came to Greene (now Craighead)
County, and here Moses Culberhouse died in 1871
or 1872. His wife is still living, and 'resides
with her son, George, of Jonesboro. She is now
seventy-four years of age. They were the parents
of nine children, four now living: Thomas D.,
Nancy J. (wife of William Puryear), Angeline
(wife of James Haynes), and George W.
Thomas
D. was reared in Tennessee, and received but a
common-school education."
William Henderson Cate
(November 11, 1839 - August 23,
1899) was a U.S. Representative
from Arkansas.
Born near Murfreesboro,
Tennessee, Cate attended the
common schools, and an academy
at Abingdon, Virginia. He was
graduated from the University of
Tennessee at Knoxville in 1857.
He taught school in the south
and west. He served in the
Confederate States Army during
the Civil War and was promoted
to captain. He moved to
Jonesboro, Arkansas, in 1865. He
studied law. He was admitted to
the Arkansas bar in 1866 and
commenced practice in Jonesboro.
He served as member of the
Arkansas House of
Representatives 1871-1873 and
during the extra session of
1874.
Cate was elected prosecuting
attorney in 1878. He was
appointed and subsequently
elected judge of the second
judicial circuit of Arkansas in
1884. Organized the Bank of
Jonesboro in 1887. Presented
credentials as a Democratic
Member-elect to the Fifty-first
Congress and served from March
4, 1889, to March 5, 1890, when
he was succeeded by Lewis P.
Featherstone, who contested the
election.
Cate was elected to the
Fifty-second Congress (March 4,
1891-March 3, 1893). He declined
to be a candidate for
re-nomination in 1892 to the
Fifty-third Congress. He resumed
the practice of law in
Jonesboro, Arkansas. He died
while on a visit in Toledo,
Ohio, August 23, 1899. He was
interred in the City Cemetery,
Jonesboro, Arkansas.
Other Craighead County Political
figures who have had an impact
on our history.
Governor Francis Adams
Cherry; Harry Craig
RNC Delegate; State Senator
Arthur Turner; Arthur
Adams, Democratic State
Chairman; U.S. Senator Thaddeus
H. Caraway; State Democratic
Chairman Joe C. Barrett; U.S.
Senator Hattie W. Caraway;
Jonesboro Mayor Herbert J.
Bosler; Jonesboro Mayor H.
Sanderson; Arkansas Delegate to
DNC Mary Faught; Arkansas
Delegate to DNC Mrs. Charles
Metzler; Arkansas Delegate
to RNC James S. Grimes; Female
Arkansas Court of Appeals Judge
Marian Penix; Craighead County
Republican Party Chairman Mark
Ford; U.S. Representative from
Ark. Marion Berry; Arkansas
Delegate to DNC Jason Willett
These are
some, but certainly not all of
the names, places and events of
historical interest to Craighead
County history students and
enthusiasts. For a
comprehensive study of the
history of our county, please
visit our
The
Quarterly
page where you may purchase
"The History of Craighead County
Arkansas” by Harry Lee Williams,
and past issues of the society
publication: THE QUARTERLY
Note: If you have and article or
information to contribute,
please send it to the mailing
address in the header of this
page, or to the email address
below. Please cite all
references. If the
information was handed down to
you personally by a family
member or other acquaintance,
please so indicate.
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