Ashley County, Arkansas Genealogy

Guide to Ashley County, Arkansas ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
The county was named for United States Senator Chester Ashley. It is located in the southeastern area of the state.

County Courthouse
Ashley County Courthouse 215 E Jefferson Street Hamburg, AR 71646 Phone: 870.853.2020 Ashley County Website County Clerk has marriage, probate, and land records from 1848. Clerk Circuit Court has divorce records.

Record Loss

 * 1921 - A courthouse fire in 1921 destroyed most of the county's records.

Boundary Changes

 * 1848--Ashley County was created 30 November 1848 from Chicot, Union and Drew Counties.

County seat: Hamburg

For animated maps illustrating Arkansas county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Arkansas County Boundary Maps" (1813-1925) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

History Timeline
Events below were gleaned from the Ashley County section of Deirdre Kelley & Bill Norman, The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture


 * By AD 1700, the area had no permanent villages.
 * 1818 - The Quapaw ceded what would be Ashley County to the United States government.
 * 1826 - When U.S. surveyor Nicholas Rightor entered the Arkansas Territory, he found settlers who had come to a land that they found to be abundantly fertile and in which game and fish were plentiful.
 * 1848 - November 30 - Ashley County was organized.
 * 1855 - By this time, many farms were producing cotton, corn, wheat, potatoes, and livestock. Timber was rafted down the Saline River.
 * Ashley County experienced solid growth in the years leading up to the Civil War. From a population of 2,058 in 1850, the county had grown to 8,590 in 1860. The Civil War interrupted this growth, so that by 1870, the population had dropped to 8,042.


 * Congress’s 1867 passage of “An Act for the More Efficient Government of the Rebel States” divided the South into five districts and implemented martial law in 1868.


 * 1868 - When the Fourteenth Amendment was passed, Arkansas refused to ratify it.


 * 1890's - The beginning of what was to become one of Arkansas’s most important economic developments: the wood products industry.

Biographies

 * Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago, IL, USA: Goodspeed Publishing, 1890 — Online at Ancestry.com $

Church Records

 * 1875-1899 - at FamilySearch — index

Court Records

 * Court records began in 1849

African Americans

 * 1865-1868 — Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, Hamburg at FamilySearch.org — browsable images only; Register of contracts, letters

Guardianship

 * 1817 – 1979 at FamilySearch — images; includes guardianships

Local Histories

 * Etheridge, Y. W. History of Ashley County, Arkansas. Van Buren, Ark. : Press-Argus, 1959.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free); and at Ancestry.com ($/Free )


 * Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago, IL, USA: Goodspeed Publishing, 1890.
 * Online at Ancestry.com ($/Free )
 * See also Cities and towns for resources in the FamilySearch Catalog

Civil War

 * - 2nd Battalion, Arkansas Calvalry (Confederate), Company E
 * - 3rd Consolidated Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate)
 * - 8th Battalion, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate), Company F
 * - 8th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate)

Men from this county served in the 3rd Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate).

Online Records


 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1890-1963 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1891-1939 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1901-1929 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * Captain Calvin L. Collier. They'll Do To Tie To by, USAF (Little Rock, Arkansas: Civil War Round Table Associates, 1959) p. 10

Probate Records
Online Probate Records


 * 1783 – 1998 Arkansas Wills and Probate Records 1783-1998 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1817 – 1979 at FamilySearch — images; includes guardianships

Marriage

 * 1779-1966 - Arkansas, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1837 - 1957 — at FamilySearch Historical Records — Free; Index
 * 1848 - 1920 - Ashley County Marriage Books AA-T Index 1848-1920 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1860 - 1976 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1913 - 1951 - Arkansas County Marriage Books AA-T, 1-18 Index 1913-1951 in at FamilySearch - free.

Libraries

 * Major catalogs for books, microfilm, or collections pertaining to Ashley County
 * - Select Places within... for cities and towns
 * WorldCat - Click an item for libraries near you. For more information, see WorldCat Online Catalog.
 * Allen County Public Library - Located in Indiana, they are heavily involved in digitizing much of their collection.
 * Arkansas History Commission Select the county - Arkansas state agency involved in organizing, digitizing, and maintaining the records of state and local history.
 * Local libraries and Arkansas Archives and Libraries may suggest other catalogs

Websites
Sites with online indexes or images of records


 * ARGenWeb - Data may be submitted by individuals or complete transcriptions
 * USGenWeb Archives - Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
 * RootsWeb resources - Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions