1850ResidenceDistrict 12, Shelby, Tennessee, USA
1 Apr 1857MarriedMartha Elizabeth Hayley — Prairie County, Arkansas
1870ResidenceWhite River, Des Arc, Prairie, Arkansas, USA
24 Dec 1873MarriedMary Walker "Mollie" Bridges — Des Arc, Prairie County, Arkansas
1880ResidenceDes Arc, Prairie, Arkansas, USA
1900ResidenceLittle Rock Ward 1, Pulaski, Arkansas, USA
1910ResidenceLittle Rock Ward 3, Pulaski, Arkansas, USA
1920ResidenceLittle Rock Ward 3, Pulaski, Arkansas, USA
14 Sep 1922Obituary for W. A. PlunkettLittle Rock, Arkansas
8 Nov 1922W. A. Plunkett Will ProbatedLittle Rock, Arkansas
9 Nov 1922Plunkett will be filedLittle Rock, Arkansas
—MilitaryArkansas
—ResidenceLittle Rock
—ResidenceWhite River, Prairie, Arkansas

Life as they lived it

Not the dates — the person. What the records happen to show of work, habits, possessions and the odd episode. Each line says where it comes from.

1863 When the Civil War began he was sheriff of Prairie County, Arkansas; he resigned to enlist in the Confederate army and was made captain of his company. Captured by the Federals at the battle of Helena, he was confined on Johnson's Island, Ohio, "until the spring of 1865."

episode · Arkansas Democrat obituary, 14 September 1922

1863 In August 1863, held at the Military Prison at Alton, Illinois, he signed with his fellow captured Confederate officers, listed as a captain, a request to the post adjutant to send on "all letters, bundles, packages etc." that might come for any of them to "the Military Prison, Johnsons Island, opposite Sandusky City, Ohio."

episode · Letter of Confederate officers to Lieut. Ed. Davis, Military Prison, Alton, Illinois, August 1863 (National Archives, M598)

1910 After the war he kept store at Des Arc; the 1880 census calls him a "D. G. & G. Merchant". He moved his family to Little Rock and was one of the founders of the Plunkett-Jarrell Grocery Company, and at 75, in 1910, the census still listed him as a wholesale grocer and an employer, at 1803 Broadway.

work · Arkansas Democrat obituary, 1922; U.S. censuses, Prairie County 1870 and 1880, Little Rock 1910

1922 His will left his wife, for her lifetime, the home at Eighteenth and Broadway, "all of the household goods and silverware", the income from his Exchange National Bank stock and from 2,000 shares in the Plunkett-Jarrell Grocery Company, and $10,000 in cash. The rest was divided equally among his children, and his sons W. B. and C. H. Plunkett were named executors "to serve without bond".

possession · Arkansas Democrat, 8 November 1922, and Arkansas Gazette, 9 November 1922

Records behind this page

1850 United States Federal Census

1850 U.S. Census, District 12, Shelby Co., Tennessee — dwelling 1831, A. N. Plunkett household (read from the image, Ancestry coll. 8054, image 4206053_00615)

read the transcript

1850 United States Federal Census, 12th Civil District, SHELBY COUNTY, TENNESSEE, stamped p. 207(a), DWELLING/FAMILY 1831, enumerated 20 Dec 1850. READ FROM THE IMAGE 31 Jul 2026 and RE-READ 3 Aug 2026 (Ancestry collection 8054, image 4206053_00615) — not from the index. Line 36: "A. n. Plunkett - 39 - M - Teacher - [b.] Va." — ⛔ the image reads A. N.; the Ancestry INDEX's "A W" is wrong on the image (the recurring index-initial error class, in the tree's favour: A. N. = Achilles Nivison). Household: Elizabeth 32 F (Va.) - Adeline 12 (Miss., at school) - Martha 9 (Miss., at school) - William 15 M "Pupil" (Tenn.) - Louise 6 (Tenn., at school) - Edward 2 M (Tenn.). Age 39 -> b. abt 1811, VIRGINIA — matching the tree's 1810 Williamsburg. [Correction 3 Aug 2026: this citation previously said dwelling 1131 and "A. W." — both amended after the full re-read; the page's dwellings run 1825-1831. K58; memo browser-session-2026-08-03-census-wb12-geneanet-gazette.md.]

Year: 1850; Census Place: District 12, Shelby, Tennessee; Roll: 895; Page: 207a

1870 United States Federal Census

Year: 1870; Census Place: White River, Prairie, Arkansas; Roll: M593_61; Page: 500B

1900 United States Federal Census

Year: 1900; Census Place: Little Rock Ward 1, Pulaski, Arkansas; Roll: 73; Page: 1; Enumeration District: 0071; FHL microfilm: 1240073

Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1880 United States Federal Census

Year: 1880; Census Place: Des Arc, Prairie, Arkansas; Roll: 54; Page: 179B; Enumeration District: 245

Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census

Year: 1910; Census Place: Little Rock Ward 3, Pulaski, Arkansas; Roll: T624_62; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 0117; FHL microfilm: 1374075

Ancestry.com, 1920 United States Federal Census

Year: 1920; Census Place: Little Rock Ward 3, Pulaski, Arkansas; Roll: T625_79; Page: 22B; Enumeration District: 128

Ancestry.com, Arkansas Death Index, 1914-1950 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005)

Ancestry.com, Arkansas, Death Certificates, 1914-1969 (Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2019)

Arkansas Department of Vital Records; Little Rock, Arkansas; Death Certificates; Year: 1922; Roll: 4

Arkansas Department of Vital Records; Little Rock, Arkansas; Death Certificates; Year: 1948; Roll: 1

Ancestry.com, Texas, U.S., Death Certificates, 1903-1982 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013)

Texas Department of State Health Services; Austin Texas, USA

Ancestry.com, U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011)

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Arkansas; Series Number: M317; Roll: 233footnote.com

Ancestry.com, U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current (Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012)

Find a Grave ↗

Ancestry.com, U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current (Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2019)

Arkansas Democrat; Publication Date: 14 Sep 1922; Publication Place: Little Rock, Arkansas, USANewspapers.com · subscription

Arkansas, County Marriages Index, 1837-1957

FamilySearch; Salt Lake City, Utah; Arkansas County Marriages, 1838–1957

Civil War Prisoner of War Records, 1861-1865

National Archives at Washington DC; Washington, DC. USA; War Department Collection of Confederate Records; NARA film publicaton #:: M598; Record Group: War Department Collection of Confederate Records; Record Group Number: 109

Historical Data Systems comp, U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009)

Historical Data Systems, Inc.; Duxbury, MA 02331; American Civil War Research Database

National Park Service, U.S., Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007)

Newspapers.com - Arkansas Democrat - 14 Sep 1922 - Page 1 (Little Rock, Arkansas: Arkansas Democrat, 14 September 1922)

Obituary for W. A. Plunkett 14 Sep 1922Newspapers.com · subscription

Newspapers.com - Arkansas Democrat - 8 Feb 1913 - Page 1 (Little Rock, Arkansas: Arkansas Democrat, 8 February 1913)

8 Feb 1913Newspapers.com · subscription

Newspapers.com - Arkansas Democrat - 8 Nov 1922 - Page 5 (Little Rock, Arkansas: Arkansas Democrat, 8 November 1922)

W. A. Plunkett Will Probated 8 Nov 1922Newspapers.com · subscription

Newspapers.com - Daily Arkansas Gazette - 9 Nov 1922 - Page 10 (Little Rock, Arkansas: Daily Arkansas Gazette, 9 November 1922)

9 Nov 1922Newspapers.com · subscription

Research notes

Working notes from the research, kept verbatim — what was read, what it proved, what stays open. Many open with a line grading the parentage; what the grades mean.

Research note · 5 Sep 2026

PROOF CLASS: BOTH PARENTS = DIRECT - Arkansas Certificate of Death, file 1050 (d. 14 Sep 1922, Pulaski Co.), read on the image at zoom, names father "A. N. Plunkett" and mother "Adaline White" (K158). AUDITED 5 Sep 2026 - NOTE CREATED, NO NEW RESEARCH. He carried ProofFather=1 / ProofMother=1 with NO Audited event, so the flags looked unbacked. The proof was read on 11 Aug 2026 and registered; only the note was missing. THE DOCUMENT - Arkansas Certificate of Death, File No. 1050, "WILLIAM ARCHILES PLUNKETT", died 14 Sep 1922, Pulaski Co. (Ancestry coll. 61777, image 61777_01_00048-02082, pId 127101). READ IN FULL ON THE IMAGE, all fields, 11 Aug 2026. Field 10 NAME OF FATHER "A. N. Plunkett"; field 11 BIRTHPLACE OF FATHER "Va"; field 12 MAIDEN NAME OF MOTHER "Adaline White"; field 13 BIRTHPLACE OF MOTHER "Va". Register row K158; image saved at ancestry/sources/plunkett-195-deathcert-2026-08-11/. IDENTITY, every discriminator read on the same image and every one matching this tree: birth Oct 17 1834, death Sept 14 1922, birthplace "La Grange, Tenn", age 87y 10m 27d, burial "Des Arc, Ark", undertaker P. H. Ruebel & Co. GRADE AND ITS LIMIT - a death certificate is a record and it names both parents outright, so DIRECT. But the informant is "W. B. Plunkett" = [193] William Benjamin Plunkett, the decedent's SON - ONE INFORMANT, ONE GENERATION REMOVED, which is the standard class for a death certificate and is not a contemporaneous record of the birth. INDEPENDENT CORROBORATION ALREADY IN THIS TREE - the father's initials read "A. N.", matching the 3 Aug 2026 re-read of the 1850 Shelby Co., Tenn. census IMAGE ("A. n. Plunkett") against Ancestry's index, which has the wrong "A. W.". Two documents 72 years apart, same initials. RECORDED SO NOBODY RE-SPENDS IT - C1868 (the 1948 death certificate of his son [193]) SITS ON [195]'s BIRTH EVENT. That is a filing nit, not a defect: it evidences no birth of [195] but it does corroborate the [195]-[193] father link. Leave it. K159.

Elsewhere

This person on Ancestry (sign-in required)