On March 6, 2002, my cousin Gary Risley, brought into the Arkansas History Commission a post office ledger from Peel, Marion County, Arkansas. The ledger was kept for the issuing of domestic money orders from July 1, 1901 to December 31, 1913. His father, Park Risley, had managed to save the ledger from the trash, when the old post office was being torn down. It is a wonderful source for this area, because like most Northern Counties in Arkansas, it has suffered from the court house fire syndrome. Let me give you a brief history of the Post Office and the area so you can have a greater understanding for the community.

On March 3, 1885, A. (Austin) Brown started the formal application for the creation of the Peel Post Office. Prior to its creation mail would run between Stone, Marion County, to Lead Hill, Boone County, once a week. Peel would be between the two post offices and would be supplied from the Lead Hill location.

It is speculated that Peel came into existence around 1881. It can be supported by the fact Franklin Township, where Peel lies, appeared for the first time on the 1880 United States Federal Census. Franklin Township was a growing community on the 1880 United States Population Census, 550 individuals lived in the area. Within ten years the population had increased to 664. By 1900 it had suffered a decrease and in 1910 there were about 448 individuals living in the township.

The first Peel Post Office was located about one and a half miles from the White River (now Bull Shoals Lake), but was not serviced by a local railroad. The nearest railroad to make regular stops, the Springfield and Southern Railroad, came into Chadwick, Missouri, 60 miles from Peel. In 1911, Peel changed the location of the post office. By then a railroad station (served by the Iron Mountain and White River Railroad) had been built in Zinc, Boone County about 20 miles south of Peel. This is the time period the ledger is in service. Four individuals will serve as Postmaster: Austin Brown, James A. Treadway, Charley Milum, and Justin Brown.

The ledger acts as a wonderful tool. It allows you to take a look back and see what kind of interactions were taking place. You can see what businesses the people are dealing with and where they are located. It seems other than dealing with the obvious, Missouri and Arkansas, individuals are sending money orders to Chicago and New York the most.

One of the greatest aspects of the journal, is your ability to use it to find family members. You may find relationships among the individuals sending and receiving money orders. In my own case, I was able to locate my missing Gr-Gr-Gr-grandmother, who had remarried. Her son, G. W. Miller, was sending a money order to a Millie Sweem, who turns out to be his mother Millie Miller. I was able to prove it because the Post Office book was able to give me the area in which she lived. I was then able to locate Millie on the 1910 United States Census, in Baxter Springs, Kansas.

The following is my transcription:

Peele transcript