Lovely County, Arkansas Territory facts for kids

Lovely County was a county that existed for a short time in the Arkansas Territory. It was created on October 31, 1827, and stopped being a county in 1828.

If Lovely County still existed today, it would cover parts of Benton and Washington counties in Arkansas. It would also include parts of Delaware, Mayes, Wagoner, Cherokee, Adair, Sequoyah, and Muskogee counties in Oklahoma. The main town, or county seat, would be Siloam Springs.

What Was the County Seat?

The county seat of Lovely County was a town called Nicksville. It was officially set up on April 25, 1828. Nicksville was located on the west side of Sallisaw Creek, about thirteen miles (21 km) from where the creek met a larger river.

The town was named after General John Nicks, who was a hero from the War of 1812. Most of the buildings in Nicksville were made of logs. The post office in Nicksville closed on October 2, 1829. Later, the buildings of Nicksville were bought by Dwight Mission.

Lovely County had three smaller areas called townships: Nicks, Hope, and Prospect.

How Lovely County Was Formed

The land that became Lovely County was originally home to the Osage and Cherokee people. They gave up most of this land to the United States government. This happened as part of agreements that led to many Native American tribes moving west of the Mississippi River.

This area became known as "Lovely's Purchase". It was sometimes called the "Lovely Donations". It got its name from William Lovely, a US Indian agent. He helped arrange the agreement for this land. The goal was to create a peaceful area between the Osage and Western Cherokee tribes, who sometimes had conflicts.

The land was described as being along the Arkansas River. It went up the Arkansas and Verdigris rivers to the falls of the Verdigris. Then it went east to the Osage boundary line, and back to the starting point.

The Arkansas Territory officially created Lovely County on October 13, 1827. It was formed from land taken from Crawford County and the Lovely Purchase area. The new borders of Lovely County were described as starting at the Cherokee boundary line on the Arkansas River. It followed the river up to the Canadian fork. Then it went up the Canadian fork to the western edge of the Arkansas Territory. From there, it went north to the northwest corner of the territory. Then east to the southwest corner of Missouri, and east along the Missouri-Arkansas border. It continued south to the Cherokee line, and then followed the Cherokee line back to the beginning.

Why Lovely County Didn't Last Long

The borders of Lovely County did not stay the same for very long. In 1828, the Cherokee Nation West made a new agreement. They gave up their lands in Arkansas Territory for new lands in what became known as Indian Territory. This was part of the Treaty of Washington.

Because of this treaty, many white families living in Lovely County had to move. An act of Congress on May 24, 1828, stated that these families would be given two sections of land somewhere else.

The rest of Lovely County became part of Washington County, Arkansas, on October 27, 1828. Officials from Washington County were then told to take over all the records and money that belonged to Lovely County.

Finding Old Records

For a long time, people thought that the original records of Lovely County were lost. However, they were found in 1966 near Watts, Oklahoma. These important historical records are now kept at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma.