A book published a few years ago contains fascinating information about the Hot Spring County and south Arkansas region. “’My Own Precious One’: A Year of Courtship in Letters from 1889-1890 between Princeton, Arkansas, and Pittsboro, Mississippi” edited by Sandra Parham Turner, Melrose Smith Bagwell, and Doris Smith Beeson Faulkner, is a real treasure. The editors descended from George Sallie Smith and Mary “Mollie” Rose Byars, the couple who exchanged the letters during their courtship. The correspondence is quite unusual, in that both of the writers saved the letters they received, giving today’s readers a glimpse of life in the rural South in the late nineteenth century. Fifty-five letters (twenty-eight from Mollie and twenty-seven from George) tell the story of how the couple came together, and also offer insight about events and people in this region.

George S. Smith was born February 4, 1863, in Dallas County, Arkansas, the son of George Field Smith and Susan Dudley Mallett Smith. George Sallie Smith became a Baptist minister in 1886 and lived with his family near the town of Princeton in a small community later known as Jacinto. He preached at various churches in the area, and other than a semester he spent in Arkadelphia while attending Ouachita College (now Ouachita Baptist University), he lived his entire life in that general area. On May 19, 1889, George S. Smith delivered a sermon in a small schoolhouse/church at New Hope. Among those attending were two young ladies from Mississippi who were visiting their uncle here in Arkansas. Little did George know that the day would impact the rest of his life.

One of the young women was Mary Rose “Mollie” Byers, the daughter of John Marion Byars and Sarah Roseannah McDonald Byars. Mollie was born March 22, 1868, in Mississippi, and came with her sister to spend some time in Calhoun County, Arkansas, during 1889. Ten months later, Mollie returned to Arkansas after marrying Smith following a long-distance courtship and one short visit during the Christmas holidays.

The couple’s letters contain many mentions of area events. For example, in an October 16, 1889, letter written while a student at Ouachita College, George tells Mollie that he “went to church at Malvern last Sat., enjoyed myself well,” but on the 25^th states that “I have no regular appointment at Malvern. Will serve the church at Dalark this year. Shall go there tomorrow.” A November letter specified that he preached at Dalark on the fourth Sunday of each month as well as the “Saturday before.” In January, after he returned from his visit to Mississippi, Smith wrote to Mollie from “Mr. W.C. Harley’s Store” in Princeton and told her to send future letters to him at Princeton. George planned to “serve but one church” for a while, and told Mollie of his plans: “After I complete my crop, I am going to take mission work under the Associational board, provided they have money sufficient to employ me. If however I don’t do this, I shall teach at $40.00 more mo., though had rather do the former work, than the latter.”

George and Mollie were married on May 11, 1890, in Pittsboro, Mississippi, but lived in Dallas County, near George’s parents. George served as a Baptist minister, but like many preachers of his time, supplemented his income with other work as well. For example, he operated a sorghum mill and sold syrup under the label of “Valley View Farm.” Mollie served as a postmaster at the “Jacinto” post office. The couple had many children, and their descendants have scattered in all directions from their point of origin in Princeton Township, Dallas County, Arkansas. In 1918, the Smiths purchased a large white home on a hill overlooking the road between Princeton and Holly Springs. There they spent the rest of their lives.

George died in 1935, and Mollie in 1943. George was buried in the Princeton Cemetery with a marker that read, “By the Grace of God, I Am What I Am,” which was the title of the sermon Mollie remembered as the one he preached when they first met during her initial trip to Arkansas.

“My Own Precious One” was published in 2016 by Turtlehull Publishing, Sheridan. Additionally, the book is available for viewing at various area libraries, and a copy is also preserved by Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.