Bill Arp

Who was Bill Arp?

Charles Henry Smith was an American writer from the state of Georgia who used the nom de plume Bill Arp for nearly 40 years. He had a national reputation as a homespun humorist during his lifetime, and at least three communities are named for him.

Born and raised in Lawrenceville, Georgia, U.S, Smith enrolled at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. However, he did not graduate. He moved to Rome, Georgia in the 1850s, where he lived in Oak Hill before he sold it to his collegaue, Andrew M. Sloan, who later sold the estate to Thomas Berry in 1871. During the Civil War, Smith served in 8th Georgia Volunteer Infantry as a major on the staff of several Confederate generals, including Francis Bartow. Following the war, he returned to Rome, where he served as mayor, alderman, and in the Georgia Senate.

After the war and until his death, he wrote "letters to the editor" to the Atlanta Constitution as Bill Arp. They were typically in "Cracker dialect" talking about all manner of things.

He edited newspapers in Rome, Cartersville and Atlanta and published five books: Bill Arp's Letters, Bill Arp's Scrap Book, The Farm and Fireside, History of Georgia, From the Uncivil War to Date. He was a successful lecturer as well.