Sandford C. Faulkner
American planter, raconteur and fiddler (1803–1874)
Sandford C. Faulkner (March 3, 1803 – August 4, 1874), better known as Sandy Faulkner, was an American planter, raconteur and fiddler who personified the mid-19th century folk song "Arkansas Traveler," for which he received writing credit. It has since gone on to become the official state historic song of Arkansas.
Biography
Sandford C. Faulkner was born in Georgetown, Kentucky, on March 3, 1803 to Nicholas and Sally (née Fletcher) Faulkner. He was responsible in large part for the story forming the basis of the "Arkansas Traveler," which was the official song of Arkansas from 1949 to 1963, and the official state historic song of Arkansas since 1987. During the American Civil War, Faulkner served as an artillery officer detailed to ordnance duty in the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederate States Army.
From November 1862 to August 1863, Faulkner served as the commanding officer of the Little Rock Arsenal. In late September 1863, The Little Rock facility relocated to Tyler, Texas, and was redesignated Tyler Ordnance Works. On October 1 of the same year, the Little Rock ordnance stores were turned over to Lieutenant-Colonel G. H. Hill, officer in charge at Tyler. Faulkner was then assigned as commanding officer of the ordnance depot at Marshall, Texas, and served there to the end of the war.
Honors
Faulkner County, Arkansas (established 1873) is named after him.
“Sandford C. Faulkner” enters the record as american planter, raconteur and fiddler (1803–1874). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Sandford, Faulkner and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7417618. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1803, 1874, 1949 and 1963.
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This entry incorporates text from “Sandford C. Faulkner” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.