Previously I had mentioned that I had typed and marked up an article from The Arkansas Family Historian, Vol. 21 part 2, dated June 1983. The article was transcribed by Dr. Thomas Allen Bruce from Ben & Henderson Fee's ledger. I have received releases from both, Dr. Bruce and the Arkansas Genealogical Society to put the article on the Marion County Website with credit give to The Arkansas Family Historian. Well here it is. It is a good source to verify other sources about Marion County land records. If you need copies of the releases, let me know and I will send you copies.
Rita F. Wallace
The information below is taken from a large ledger kept by Benjamin Franklin Fee, Esq. (1850-1937), Yellville attorney and Marion County Judge 1902-1906. Mr. Fee was born in Kentucky, but at one year of age he came to Yellville with his parents, Henderson and Margaret "Peggy" (Myers) Fee. Henderson Fee subsequently served as Marion County Clerk 1862-1868 and as Marion County Judge 1882-1884. His personal files were shared with his lawyer-judge son, Ben F. Fee, and it is from their cojoint records that this material has been taken. The Fee records have become quite important since the Marion County courthouse has burned on three different occasions, with virtually complete destruction of the county records during the Civil War and again in August 1887; the courthouse burned once more in January 1943 but most of the more recent records were saved.
The old Fee ledger books are now in the possession of Mrs. George Newman Fee of Gassville, Arkansas, daughter-in-law of Ben F. Fee. With the generous permission of Mrs. Fee the author has been able to extract those portions which appear to have historic or genealogical interest, and this is one of a series to be published. [Arkansas Family Historian 21-2 (Jun 1983)]
Readers should be reminded that generally excellent records of early land-holdings in all Arkansas counties are available at the Land Commissioner's Office in the Capital Building in Little Rock. Microfilm, copies of the original land entries and survey plats also are available to the public at the Arkansas History Commission; these records are organized by legal description or claim number only, and are not indexed.
Thomas Allen Bruce
6 Spyglass Lane
Little Rock, AR 72212
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