Bentonville Post Office History  Attributed to Mary Noe article in the Weekly Vista

  Back in the 1830 when Arkansas was still a territory it was part of Washington County. The closest post office to my understanding was in Fayetteville. When Arkansas became a state in 1836 Benton County split from Washington County to become its own county. In 1836 the town of Bentonville was laid out, but the name of the post office was not Bentonville, but called Osage. The area before it became a state was called Osage, or Osage Prairie. But the name Benton County and Bentonville were chosen to honor Thomas Hart Benton who helped Arkansas become a state. So Osage was the first post office in Benton County. The name of the post office continued as Osage until it was changed to Bentonville in 1843. 

We need to remember that back in the early days of the county mail wasn't delivered. You had to go get it and in Bentonville the mail was probably keep in a local store it pigeon holes. Early postmasters didn't receive a salary but received an equal share of the sale of stamps at there post office. Since a lot of the time the post office was the center of the community, many time retailers would want have the post office to bring people into their stores. Mail has brought to the community by horse sometimes only once a week. 
 
Postmaster in Bentonville were:

Osage Postmasters
John B. Dickson          1836 to 1841
Samuel B. McClain     1841 to 1843 - When the name was changed to Bentonville

Bentonville Postmasters
Samuel B. McCain      1843 to 1845 -  Bentonville was 1 of only 5 post offices in Benton County
Joseph B. Dickson       1845 to 1847
James Rogers               1847 to 1850
John W. Montgomery 1850 to 1850
Francis M. Moore        1850 to 1853
Wm. L. Featherston    1853 to 1858
Thomas Austin             1858 to 1858 
James M. Vestal            1858 to 1860  - Just before the Civil War Bentonville was one of 13 post offices in the county. 
Wesley F. Woolsey      1860 to 1860
George G. Epperson     1860 to 1866 - During the Civil War there is no clear record on how the postal service operated. We do know                                                                       that the postmaster served in the Confederate Army from July of 1861 to Feb. of 1866. We do                                                                         not know who acted as postmaster  during this time, or if there was even a postmaster. 
Richard H. Wimpey     1866 to 1866 - After the Civil War Mr. Wimpey was appointed as the postmaster. He was a Union sympathizer                                                                   and served with Union Forces. Where there were many post offices in the county before the                                                                         war. Afterwards there were only three one being Bentonville.
John N. Curtis                1866 to 1867 - In 1866 Bentonville was the only post office in the county to sell any stamps. They some a whole                                                                   $7.07 worth in stamps in 1866. The other post offices would just collect the postage and write                                                                        paid on the envelope, or hand stamp it. 
John E. Plummer           1867 to 1867 - By 1867 stamp sales had increased to $535.00
 Thomas Young             1867 to 1868
Leroy Noble                  1868 to 1868  - In 1868 the first half of the year the postmaster was given a salary of $50 a quarter. The second
                                                                   half of the year the salary was increased to $72.50
John E. Plummer           1868 to 1868
Willis Nickman              1868 to 1869
Richard F. Whiteside     1869 to 1870 - After the Civil War there were about 13 post offices in the county. 
John W. Stroud              1870 to 1871
Benjamin F. Davis          1871 to 1878   - By 1873 we know that the quarterly wages of the postmaster had been raised to $107.50
Edgar H. Looney            1878 to 1881 - By 1880 there were 27 post offices in Benton County. 
Benjamin F. Hobbs        1881 to 1885
Edgar H. Looney            1885 to 1890   - It appears in an 1889 photo it shows that the post office was housed what is now the                                                                                       Wal-Mart Museum.  
Wm. H. Conine              1890 to 1894
Sophie Coate                 1894 to 1898  - She was the first woman postmaster in Bentonville. The location of the post office at that time                                                                      was given SE30-20-20. But later reports often gave location of post office as distance from the                                                                    train depot. By 1890 Bentonville was 1 of  27 post offices in the County
Elijah O. Leflors             1898 to 1914
Hugh J. Floyd                 1914 to 1923
Edward S. Miller           1923 to 1936 - In 1935 first permanant post office was built in Bentonville at a cost of $50.000
Ernest A. Allfrey            1936 to 1940 
Esmond L. Williams     1940 to 1944
Mrs. Lulu A. Williams   1944  to 1945
Esmond Williams         1945 to 1961
Mrs. Lula A. Williams   1961 to 1962
Robert E. Russell           1962 to 1971
​Louis H. Beck                 1971 to 

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