10/13/2026
Willie Blount Wright Heartsill, better known as W. B. W. Heartsill, was an important figure in the history of Sebastian County during the late 1800s and early 1900s. After the Civil War, Heartsill became involved in farming and local government, serving as a postmaster from 1885 to 1889. He became a leader in Arkansas’s farmers’ movement, working to organize farmers and laborers who wanted a stronger voice. In 1892, he ran for Congress as a candidate of the People’s Party, also known as the Populist Party, which advocated for reforms to address the concerns of the working class. Heartsill later became the leading officer of Arkansas’s Knights of Labor. He was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1906 and served additional terms in 1908 and 1912, continuing to support organized labor. Heartsill died in 1913 and was buried in Greenwood’s Liberty Cemetery.
