Sherry, I am not sure how much help we can be in your Smith search, since every area of Miller has Smith's, and more Smith's, but will give it a stab, all in the name of geneology :) ((Everyone jump in here and give HELP!!)) Before 1874 (?) that part of Miller county was considered Lafayette County, and the only way to tell who was where in the census is the townships of Lafayette. One of the townships for certain was Sulphur Fork, and others were Beech and Red River townships. I am pretty certain that Sulphur Fork is the one you are looking for in the Civil War era. We have a little bit of information on Bright Star in our county archives, <A HREF="http://www.rootsweb.com/~armiller/">ARGenWeb Miller County, Arkansas</A> <A HREF="http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ar/miller/miller.html">Miller County, AR - Archives Records</A> And there is more info at the Texarkana Public Library. I have read through a book at the Texarkana Public Library that is primarily on the Doddridge/Bright Star area, but I have never gotten any info from it. (copyright) Author: Bigby, Charles wesley, 1992, 329 Page Illistrated; Title: A History of Doddridge, Spring Bank, and the other communities of Sulphur Township, Arkansas. And there are a lot of records there to look through. An index of marriage records is there also, 1875 - 1915. <A HREF="http://www.txar-publib.org/">Library Index Page</A> http://www.txar-publib.org/ >From the marriages found in Deed Record Book L, Circuit Clerks Office, Miller county, 1860's, we have these; (no Markhams) Agnes Smith to Jesse Johnson 7/8/1866 Dicy J. Smith to William A. Dimpsey 12/13/1866 Hard (Hand) Smith to Mary Ann M. Roberts 2/12/1867 John Smith to Lucy Smith 8/13/1866 W. H. Smith to Anrelia H. Butler 2/14/1867 As far as newspapers from that time period, the old newspapers are on microfilm at the Texarkana College Library, but I am not sure what all they have. That is one thing we need to get more info on, but I believe there are several rolls for the 1870's etc. and so on. Smith's that I have in my Bloomburg book, (which has Miller info) are- Smith, A.V., Jr.; Smith, Betty; Smith, Charley; Smith, H.C.; Smith, Ida Brown; Smith, Jim; Smith, Machelle; Smith, W. A.. More info on all of any if you want. I do not have access to any other census here at home for Miller Co, but can give you this much from www.ancestry.com Year Surname Given Name (s) County State Page Township or Other Info Record Type Database ID# 1860 SMITH BRITTON G. Lafayette County AR 052 Sulphur Fork Township 1860 SMITH HOWEL Lafayette County AR 058 Sulphur Fork Township 1860 SMITH WILLIAM J. Lafayette County AR 059 Sulphur Fork Township 1870 SMITH A. J. Lafayette County AR 213 Sulphur Fork Township 1870 SMITH ALEXANDER Lafayette County AR 213 Sulphur Fork Township 1870 SMITH BRITTON Lafayette County AR 218 Sulphur Fork Township 1870 SMITH MARY F. Lafayette County AR 218 Sulphur Fork Township 1870 SMITH P. A. Lafayette County AR 223 Sulphur Fork Township 1870 SMITH PINKNEY A. Lafayette County AR 224 Sulphur Fork Township 1870 SMITH ROBERT Lafayette County AR 228 Sulphur Fork Township 1870 SMITH ROLIN Lafayette County AR 219 Sulphur Fork Township 1870 SMITH SAMUEL* Lafayette County AR 219 Sulphur Fork Township 1870 SMITH WILLIAM Lafayette County AR 218 Sulphur Fork Township 1870 SMITH WILLIAM J. Lafayette County AR 211 Sulphur Fork Township 1850 MARKHAM ROBERT La Fayette County AR 168 Sulphue Fork Township 1860 MARKHAM SARAH Lafayette County AR 093 Red River Township In a message dated 9/21/1999 6:10:54 AM Pacific Daylight Time, dustyc@microgear.net writes: << Hi all: I am new to the list and am looking for any SMITHs who might have owned a cotton plantation/farm at Bright Star between the end of the war and about 1890. My 2gr. grfth. and his wife were Choctaw indians who came to Miller Co. and worked for someone named SMITH who grew cotton and shipped it up the Red River. They probably came in accordance with the Treaty of 1820 that gave the Choctaws land that included old Miller Co. They took the SMITH name and somehow either purchased or inherited a portion of the land at Bright Star. The story is that my gr. grfth. was shot off his horse and killed by "carpetbaggers", exact date unknown. One of their daughters, my gr. grmth. was MARY JANE SMITH who married Richard E. MARKHAM of Miller Co. (son of Robert Markham and Sarah Damron) about 1882, but have been unable to find marriage records. They removed to Texarkana where they raised a family. She died in childbirth about 1902. Was there a newspaper in Miller Co. at that time that would have reported this incident? Any leads would be appreciated. Thanks. sherry dustyc@microgear.net >>