Arkansas, County Marriages - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Arkansas

What is in the Collection?
This collection consists of an index and images of marriages recorded in counties of Arkansas for the years 1837 to 1957. Many marriages recorded in the South, are separated by race in volumes, books, or registers. Be sure to check to determine if you have the right set of marriage records. There may be related records included with marriage records. Once an image of a marriage record is located, browse through preceding and following images to check for related records. This project was indexed in partnership with the Arkansas Genealogical Society. There are three types of marriage records:


 * Marriage books are usually large, bound volumes, especially those with printed columns. Entries were made chronologically. Some volumes, especially those for earlier years, were written in paragraph format, often with two or three marriages on each page. When printed pages were introduced later, marriages were recorded in columns, allowing for many entries per page.
 * Marriage licenses may be in paragraph format or printed forms.
 * Marriage returns are usually in paragraph format.

County officials, usually the county clerk, began keeping marriage records from the time the county was formed. When the person obtained a license, he went to a minister or other person authorized to perform marriages, such as the justice of the peace. That person sent a return to the county clerk confirming that the marriage had occurred. Most marriages that took place in a county were recorded by civil authorities.

Marriage records validate a wife’s legal claim to property.

The date and place of marriage and the name of the officiator are very reliable. Other information depends upon the knowledge and reliability of the informants (usually the bride and groom). Only a few deliberately provided false information.

Coverage Table and Map
A coverage table for this collection is available in the wiki article Arkansas County Marriages, Coverage Table (FamilySearch Historical Records) To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of Arkansas marriages, click here.

What Can these Records Tell Me?
While earlier records are usually less complete, information found in marriage records usually include:


 * Names of the groom, bride, and officiator. The bride’s surname at the time of marriage is her maiden name, unless she was previously married. Records may include names of parents or guardians, especially in later records. Names of witnesses are also often given.
 * Date of the marriage or license
 * Birth dates and places of the bride and groom (in later records)
 * Residences of the bride and groom
 * Occupation of the groom (frequently)
 * Name of the officiator, either a Minister (MG) or a Justice of the Peace (JP)

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:
 * The name of the bride or groom.
 * The approximate marriage date.
 * The place where the marriage happened.
 * The names of family members who may have served as witnesses.

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page:

View images in this collection by visiting the browse page then select the “Film Number (Digital Folder Number)" category

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the age to calculate a birth date and to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members. Witnesses or bondsmen were usually relatives.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Arkansas, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Arkansas Archives and Libraries.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image..

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