Arkansas, United States Genealogy

United States Arkansas

Guide to Arkansas genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records


 * This article is about the southern U.S. state. For other uses, see Arkansas (disambiguation).

Welcome to the Arkansas page, the Natural State Most unique genealogical features:
 * AR marriage indexes exist since 1820
 * No civil birth records in AR before 1881. In some counties none til 1914
 * Fort Smith court had jurisdiction in Oklahoma Indian Territory until 1896



Counties
Extinct or Renamed Counties:  Clayton | Dorsey | Lovely | Miller (Old) | Sarber

Click on the map below to go to a county page. Hover over a county to see its name. To see a larger version of the map, click here.

Major Repositories
Arkansas History Commission· Downtown Branch Central Arkansas Library System· Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives· University of Arkansas· National Archives at Fort Worth· Dallas Public Central Library

Early Migration Routes
Arkansas River· Mississippi River· · Ouachita River· Red River· St. Francis River· White River· Butterfield Overland Mail· California Road· Great Osage Indian Trail also called the Old Wire Road · Natchitoches Trace· Southwest Trail· Tombigbee and Arkansas River Trail· Trail of Tears· Frisco Railway· Texas and Pacific Railway

Featured Content
The best collection of published biographies in Arkansas is at the University of Arkansas Library. Also search the biographical sections of statewide, regional, and county histories for biographical information. In 1889 and 1890 the Goodspeed Publishing Company published a series of regional biographical encyclopedias. Most have recently been reprinted and are indexed. For further details see Arkansas Biography.

Did You Know?
Before 1900 the largest religious groups in Arkansas were the Baptist and Methodist Episcopal (now United Methodist). The Family History Library has many church records for Arkansas and several histories of local churches.

Research Tools

 * Arkansas Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * The ARGenWeb Project provides county information about formation date, parent county, county seat, bibliography, cemeteries, census, churches, towns, history, look ups, obituaries, queries, repositories, surname registry, and many Internet links.
 * Arkansas Genealogy - Guide to Ancestry information on ordering vital records, city and government links, history and facts of counties, printable genealogy forms, list of archives and societies, terminology of genealogical terms, and lookup volunteers
 * Rotating Formation Arkansas County Boundary Maps and Atlases
 * Arkansas Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * David Rumsey Map Collection is a large online collection of rare, old, antique historical atlases, globes, maps, charts plus other cartographic treasures
 * Arkansas Genealogy extensive directory of Arkansas genealogy records

Online collections containing these records are located at FamilySearch.org

Wiki articles describing these collections are found at:


 * Arkansas Confederate Pension Applicatons (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Arkansas County Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Arkansas Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Arkansas Marriage Index. 1933-1950 (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Arkansas, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Arkansas, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Arkansas Deaths and Burials (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Arkansas, Death Index (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Arkansas Divorce Index (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Arkansas, Second Registration Draft Cards (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Arkansas, Sebastian County Births and Deaths; Including Fort Smith Death Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Writing and Sharing Your Family History
Sharing your own family history is valuable for several reasons:


 * It helps you see gaps in your own research and raises opportunities to find new information.
 * It helps other researchers progress in researching ancestors you share in common.
 * It draws other researchers to you who already have information about your family that you do not yet possess.
 * It draws together researchers with common interests, sparking collaboration opportunities. For instance, researchers in various localities might choose to do lookups for each other in remote repositories. Your readers may also share photos of your ancestors that you have never seen before.


 * See also:
 * Create a Family History
 * Writing Your Family and Personal History
 * A Guide to Printing Your Family History

Obtain Additional Help

 * Join a Facebook Group
 * Consult a Professional Genealogist

Help with the Arkansas Wiki pages
In order to make this wiki a better research tool, we need your help! Many tasks need willing volunteers. You can help:


 * Expand county articles
 * Check links on pages
 * ...and more

Find more opportunities to help with the Arkansas pages.