Sebastian County, Arkansas Genealogy

United States Arkansas  Sebastian County

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

County Courthouse
Sebastian County Courthouse 35 S 6th; Fort Smith, AR 72901 Phone: 501.782.5065

County Clerk has marriage records from 1865 and probate records from 1866; Clerk Circuit Court has divorce, court and land records.

Government and Related Websites

 * PublicRecords.com (unofficial site) Provides links to County officials and public records.

Parent County

 * 1851--Sebastian County was created 6 January 1851 from Scott, Polk, Crawford, and Van Buren Counties.

County seat: Fort Smith

Boundary Changes
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.

Record Loss
1881, 1882 A courthouse fire destroyed most records. Some have been reconstructed.

Places/Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog

Neighboring Counties
Crawford •  Franklin  •  LeFlore County, Oklahoma  •  Logan  •  Scott  •  Sequoyah County, Oklahoma •

History Timeline
Emphasis for this timeline is on events that affected migration, records, or record-keeping. Unless otherwise mentioned, the events below were taken from the Sebastian County page on the website, The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture.

African Americans

 * 1865-1868 — Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, Fort Smith at FamilySearch.org — browsable images only; register of marriages, labor contracts, letters

Cemeteries

 * Fort Smith National Cemetery at Ancestry.com ($)

Episcopal
St. John's Episcopal Church, Fort Smith


 * 1860-1886 - St. John's Episcopal Church, Fort Smith Baptism Index 1860-1886. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1860-1895 - St. John's Episcopal Church, Fort Smith Marriage Index 1860-1895. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Lutheran
First Lutheran Church, Fort Smith


 * 1868-1885 - First Lutheran Church, Fort Smith Baptism Index 1868-1885. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1868-1895 - First Lutheran Church, Fort Smith Marriage Index 1868-1895. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Court

 * Criminal Case Files, 1866-1900 at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Criminal Case Files Index, 1866-1900 at Ancestry.com ($)

Guardianship

 * Probate Records 1851-1922 County portion of the collection: : Arkansas Probate Records, 1817-1979 FamilySearch Historical Collections (Free, browse images)
 * Includes Administration accounts 1870-1892; Administration and guardian bonds 1891-1904; Administration and guardian dockets 1865-1885; Administration bonds 1861-1868; Bonds and letters 1872-1883; Dockets 1861-1864 and 1875-1886; Executors bonds and letters 1883-1910; Probate records 1851-1888; Wills 1902-1922.

Genealogy

 * Biographies from The History of Sebastian County, Arkansas (1889) published by Goodspeed Publishing Company are available free on the My Genealogy Hound website.

Local Histories

 * Friends of the Fort Smith Public Library (Arkansas). The Goodspeed histories of Sebastian County, Arkansas. Columbia, Tennessee : Woodward & Stinson, 1977.
 * Online at FamilySearch Catalog (Free)


 * History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas. Chicago, IL, USA: Goodspeed Publishing, 1889. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)

Maps

 * Maps of Arkansas (1813-1925)
 * Family Maps of (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.

Civil War

 * - 11th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate)
 * - 17th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Griffith's) (Confederate), Companies A, B, C and F
 * - 19th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Dawson's) (Confederate)
 * - 34th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate), Companies D and G
 * - 35th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate), Companies A, B, C and D
 * - 51st Regiment, Arkansas Militia (Confederate)
 * - Witherspoon's Battalion, Arkansas Cavalry (Confederate)
 * - 4th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Union)

Civil War Battle
The following Civil War battle was fought in Sebastian County.


 * September 1, 1863 = Devil's Backbone, also known as Backbone Mountain


 * Map showing Civil War battles in Arkansas.

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
 * Probate Records 1851-1922 County portion of the collection: : Arkansas Probate Records, 1817-1979 FamilySearch Historical Collections (Free, browse images)
 * Includes Administration accounts 1870-1892; Administration and guardian bonds 1891-1904; Administration and guardian dockets 1865-1885; Administration bonds 1861-1868; Bonds and letters 1872-1883; Dockets 1861-1864 and 1875-1886; Executors bonds and letters 1883-1910; Probate records 1851-1888; Wills 1902-1922.

Vital Records
See also How to order Arkansas Vital Records

Birth

 * 1877-1963 - at FamilySearch. Index only (Free)
 * 1877-1913 - Sebastian County Birth Index 1877-1913. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Marriage

 * 1865-1922, 1952 - Sebastian County Marriage Books B-Q Index 1865-1922, 1952 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1884-1947 - Sebastian County Marriage Index, Greenwood District Books B-M Index (1882-1949), Fort Smith District Books C-Q, S-Z, 2-52 Index (1889-1951) in at FamilySearch - free.

Death

 * 1877-1963 - at FamilySearch. Index only (Free)
 * 1881-1919 - Sebastian County Death Index 1881-1919. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1919-1929 - Sebastian County Death Index 1919-1929. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Genealogy Societies and Libraries

 * List of Arkansas Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical & Genealogical Societies

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Fort Smith Arkansas Family History Center
 * Fort Smith, Arkansas, United States