When the Missouri territorial legislature established Clark County in 1818, it encompassed a very large area, including the land that would become Hot Spring County. Clark was one of only five counties in existence when Arkansas Territory was created in 1819. Ohers included Arkansas, Lawrence, Hempstead, and Pulaski. As more settlers arrived and population increased, the legislature carved Hot Spring County out of Clark County as Arkansas Territory’s twentieth county in 1829. This meant that the new county needed its own county officials, with government operations based in Hot Springs as the first county seat.

Records preserved by the Arkansas State Archives in Little Rock provide the names of the territory’s very first county government leaders, including those for Hot Spring County. Certainly, the records list elected officials (such as county judge, clerk, sheriff), and their names are well-documented in many sources. Lesser known are the first “magistrates” to serve the new county. The volume titled “Arkansas Civil Appointment Records” contains the names of those earliest public servants for the territory’s existing counties.

The term “magistrate” traditionally refers to a minor civil officer charged with the administration of the law. While once more actively involved in the hands-on administration of law and order, these positions evolved over time into what we call   justices of the peace today.  

Hot Spring County’s first magistrates assumed their positions on November 20, 1829: Zemra Bennett, Larkin N. West, Alexander Rogers, John Williams, Aaron Niles Sabin, George W. Rogers, John Perceful, and Thomas Holiman. William Harrington replaced L. N. West on October 22 because West had “absconded,” and Jeremiah Byrum took office March 12 in place of Alexander Rogers.

Magistrates chosen in November 1931 were Aaron Niles Sabin, Warren Dunham, Richard C. Hawkins, Zimri Bennett, Benedict Harrell, William Harrington, John Williams, George W. Rogers, and John Peyton. Ira Robinson took office in April of 1833 when “William Harrington removed from the county.”

The November 1833 magistrates of Hot Spring County included John Williams, Samuel Reyburn, Moses Mitchell, Hiram G. Cliff, Warren Dunham, A.N. Sabin, David Bassett, Philip S. Phisick, H. A. Whittington, Thomas Holiman, Cumberland Polk, William Irons, Taylor Polk, Ira K. Robinson, George W. Rogers, James Polk, Zemri Bennett, John Wells, and Benedict Harrell.