Tensas Parish, Louisiana Genealogy

Guide to Tensas Parish, Louisiana ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Parish Courthouse
Tensas Parish Courthouse Courthouse Square; PO Box 78; Saint Joseph, LA 71366 Phone: 318.766.3921 Parish Clerk has marriage, divorce, probate and court records from 1843.

Parent Parish

 * 1843--Tensas Parish was created 17 March 1843 from Concordia Parish. Parish seat: Saint Joseph

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Louisiana Parish boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Louisiana Parish Boundary Maps" (1805-1990) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Neighboring Parishes or Counties



 * Adams County, Mississippi
 * Catahoula
 * Claiborne County, Mississippi
 * Concordia
 * Franklin
 * Jefferson County, Mississippi
 * Madison
 * Warren County, Mississippi

African American

 * Louisiana African American Griots Project ~  USGenWeb Project
 * Afrigeneas - African Ancestral Genealogy
 * Tensas Parish, Louisiana: Largest Slaveholders from 1860 Slave Census Schedules and Surname Matches for African Americans on 1870 Census

Cemeteries

 * LA Tombstone Transcription Project ~  partial records and photos  ~  USGenWeb Archives Project
 * Interment.net ~ LA cemetery records by county
 * African American Cemeteries ~  listing by county
 * FindaGrave.com ~  cemetery records with search by cemetery, by surname

Census

 * Louisiana Census Images  ~  USGenWeb Census Images Project
 * 1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Louisiana - Tensas County [sic]

Church

 * Louisiana Historical Church Information
 * Directory of Churches in Louisiana ~  by city  ~  Church Angel

Local Histories
Biographical And Historical Memoirs of Louisiana: Embracing an Authentic And Comprehensive Account of the Chief Events In the History of the State, a Special Sketch of Every Parish And a Record of the Lives of Many of the Most Worthy And Illustrious Families And Individuals ... Chicago: The Goodspeed publishing company, 1892. (Tensas Parish is described on pages 203-204 in Volume 2. In addition, a search for "Tensas" in this book will bring up brief biographies of several residents of the parish.)

[http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm/ref/collection/LWP/id/4465 Louisiana Works Progress Administration (WPA). St. Joseph in Tensas Parish, Louisiana from the 1930s. 1936.]

Maps

 * Maps of Louisiana (1805-1990)
 * United States Digital Map Library: Lousiana: Tensas Parish (Note: scroll down to Tensas Parish)
 * Johnson's Plantation, Section and Township Map of Tensas Parish, Louisiana..., 1873

Johnson’s Plantation and Township Map of Tensas Parish, Louisiana, 1878

Map of the Parish of Tensas, Louisiana, 1860

Also see 1940 Census Enumeration District Maps above.

Military

 * Military History Online: Louisiana

Civil War
Online Records
 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1898-1950 - at FamilySearch — images
 * Enumeration of Ex-Confederate Soldiers and Widows of Deceased Soldiers: Tensas Parish, 1911
 * - 3rd Regiment, Louisiana Cavalry (Harrison's)(Confederate), Company A
 * - 4th Field Battery, Louisiana Artillery (Confederate)

World War II

 * 1940-1945 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * Enlistment Records, Residence CountyTensas
 * Enlistment Records, Reserve Corps, Residence CountyTensas
 * Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel from Louisiana., 1946: Tensas Parish

Korean War

 * Dead and Wounded Army Casualties
 * Korean, Vietnam, Gulf, and Terrorism Wars, and Peacetime (1950-2006): Casualties

Newspapers
Current Newspapers:

Louisiana Newspaper List - USNPL lists newspapers by city, name.

Historical Newspapers:

The original weekly Tensas Gazette was founded in 1852 in St. Joseph, Louisiana. Since that time it has operated under various owners and names. One of the oldest newspapers in Louisiana, it is still in publication under its orginal name. The Library of Congress has digitized the issues from 1894 to 1922 which can be browsed or searched at its Chronicling America website.

See the Chronicling America website for a full history of the Tensas Gazette, as well as information on the Waterproof Enterprise which was published in the early 1900s.

Probate
Louisiana Probate Records ~  information on.

Online Probate Records
 * 1756 – 1984 Louisiana Wills and Probate Records 1756-1984 at Ancestry.com Ancestry.com — index and images $

Vital Records
Louisiana Records and Statistics Information ~ where and how to order information.

Tensas Parish Marriage Project (via USGenWeb)

Marriage

 * 1837–1957 -  at FamilySearch — index and images

Societies and Libraries
See also a List of Louisiana Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies


 * Louisiana Historical Society
 * Louisiana Historical Association

Museums and Historic Sites
National Register of Historic Places: Lousiana: Tensas

Winter Quarters State Historic Site, St. Joseph, Louisiana: The only plantation left standing in Tensas Parish after Grant's troops marched through in 1863. (Currently under repair until 2014.)

Websites

 * Tensas Parish, LA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Louisiana Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Louisiana Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * LAGenWeb -  Louisiana State Records
 * USGenWeb ~  Records, Maps, Archives and Other Projects
 * Louisiana Archives ~  USGenWeb Archives Project
 * Tensas Parish, Louisiana Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Tensas Parish, Louisiana Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)