I looked at your very interesting website. The letters were written between MO and CA and very little is mentioned about Arkanss. As far as I can tell neither Upton nor Margaret Hays had any relatives other than Eliza Hays Word in AR. Col. Hays and Col. Griffith were at some battles in different units - possibly they met or knew of each other. Col. Hays was killed in 1862. Orville and Eliza Word had 3 sons: John H. Word (1852) who m. Mary Unknown and stayed in Sebastian Co. until before 1900 when he was in Kern Co., CA; William W. Word (1855) who stayed in Sebastian Co. until his death in 1928 and Albert Pike Word (1857) who m. Mary Unknown then Nancy Caroline Gaddy moved his family to OK before 1900. Orville Word died in Sebastian Co. in 1867, Eliza went with her son Albert to OK, according to online trees she died in Ft. Smith in 1903.

Times were tough for Confederate supporters during reconstruction Col. Griffith carried on the fight against injustice but finally had to give it up. He would have had a harder time as an Ex-confederate in AR, a Confederate State, than in MO which had still been considered part of the Union.