The Goodspeed Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northeast Arkansas, including Greene, Clay, Fulton, Craighead, Randolph, Mississippi, Poinsett, Independence, Sharp, Lawrence, Jackson and Izard counties 1889, The Goodspeed Publishing Co.

   Although some historians dislike the Goodspeed series and question its accuracy, it is particularly interesting because of its age.

Pioneer descendents will be interested in the biographical section if it includes one of their forebearers.

   Ben H. Crowley's "History of Greene County," 1906. Originally published as a series of articles in J.R. Taylor's Soliphone newspaper, this compilation was, as far as we know, never published in book form.  However, the Crowley family has compiled  a typed copy of the articles and they were reprinted in sequence in successive issues of the Greene County Historical Quarterly.

   History of Greene County, Arkansas, Vivian Hansbrough, 1946, Democrat Printing and Lithography Co.  Hansbrough's book remains, almost 40 years after its publication, the only published hard-bound book specifically on the history of Greene County.  An outgrowth of a high school history project, it is hampered as a reference work by its lack of an index.  But it remains an invaluable contribution to historical record.

   It should be noted here that Myrl Rhine Mueller, past editor of the Greene County Historical Quarterly and an avid local historian, has been working on a new county history for several years. Her book is said to be close to publication and is eagerly awaited by local history buffs.

(Ben H. Crowley, grandson of the county's first Ben Crowley and one of the county's first historians.)

   At least two histories of neighboring counties contain interesting tidbits about Greene County and Greene County folks.  They are Walter E. McLeod's History of Lawrence County and Harry Lee Williams' The History of Craighead County, Arkansas. The current editions of both are indexed.

   For genealogists, George Rowland of Popular Bluff, Mo., has produced a remarkable trilogy of books titled, Fathers of the Ridge: Genealogical Sketches of Greene County, Arkansas.  A fourth volume is said to be in the works.   As the title indicates, they contain brief family tree summaries.   Vol. 1 was published in 1978 and the next two volumes in 1980. All were printed by College Bookstore & Press in Paragould.

   Among these are the Diamond Jubilee's souvenir program, copies of which are floating around, and a souvenir program from the Arkansas Centennial Celebration and Greene County Homecoming at Crowley's Ridge State Park in 1936, a copy of which is owned by Webb Green.

   The Paragould Area Chamber of Commerce files include a fascinating 1918 commercial brochure titled "Paragould Up-to-date," which includes 20 pages of brief business histories, mostly of businesses that are no longer operating.

   The cover itself conveys the self-conficence of the city in those days.  An arch proclaims "Opportunity's Gateway," as a rising sun beckons the reader into Paragould, Ark., "A Progressive City."  The brochure was priced as "25 cents the copy."  The Chamber also owns a 1917 city directory.

   The Historical Report of the Secretary of State, Arkansas, published every 10 years, includes a complete-as-available roster of all county officials and other information on each county as well as a wealth of official information about the state, including a list of all persons who have served in any state office from the state House of Representatives to the Governor's Mansion.

   Both of Paragould's railroads have compiled corporate histories.

   "The Empire That Missouri Pacific Serves" was a special limited edition prepared by the Mo-Pac public relations office in 1957.  It includes several tidbits about Paragould, including a review of how the town was named.

   Cotton Belt published "80 Years of Transportation Progress: A History of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway," also in 1957.  A copy was donated by the railroad for use on this edition and will be later placed in the Lipscomb Room at the Greene County Library.