Lawrence County, Arkansas: History
There were French-speaking people living in what is now Lawrence County, Arkansas in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Part of Lawrence County, Arkansas, along the Black River, was formerly known as "Fourche De Maux," probably after the name of an early French trader and trapper, however the French provenance is uncertain.
Pierre LeMieux, a member of the Janis family, was one of the many French-speaking settlers in the area. He claimed a Spanish land grant in what is now Lawrence County, Arkansas, near Peach Orchard, which was called "Petit Baril" by the French
The De Muns were one of the most prominent families in Lawrence County, Arkansas history. Lewis De Mun and two of his siblings joined Frenchman Jean-Élie Tholozan in 1813 or 1814 to seek a 10,000-acre land claim on the Black River. On December 31, 1814, the eve of Lawrence County's formation as a county, Lewis De Mun would create a grist and saw mill which would be named "Mun & Co."
Following the Louisiana Purchase, the area currently encompassing Lawrence County was contained within the Louisiana Territory from 1805 to 1812, and the Missouri Territory from 1812 until the creation of Arkansas Territory in 1819. While the southern portion of Missouri Territory began to be settled, Lawrence County was created on January 15, 1815, from New Madrid County and Arkansas County. The large area spanned from Cape Girardeau County to the Arkansas River.