Marion County, Arkansas Genealogy

United States Arkansas  Marion County

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

County Courthouse
Marion County Courthouse Hwy 62; PO Box 545 Yellville, AR 72687 Phone: 870.449.6226 County Clerk has marriage, divorce, probate, court and land  records from 1888.

The ARGenweb Project has information on The Burning of the Courthouse, How to Order Copies from the Courthouse and more.

History


The county is named after "The Swamp Fox" Revolutionary War Brigadier General Francis Marion(c1732-1795).

Parent County

 * 1835--Marion County was created 3 November 1835 from Izard County. County seat: Yellville

Boundary Changes

 * Timeline of Marion Co's history including boundary changes, per ARGenWeb

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
1888 A courthouse fire destroyed many records.

Places/Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog



Townships
Townships - formation and changes:

Neighboring Counties
Baxter •  Boone  •  Ozark County, Missouri  •  Searcy  •  Taney County, Missouri  •

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 Marion County page on the website, The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture.


 * 1815-1820 - The first white person believed to have been born in Marion County was A. S. “Uncle Bud” Wood, son of William Wood who moved from Tennessee to Marion County as a young man.
 * 1820s or 1830s - One of the earliest white families of settlers in Marion County was Mike Yocum and his three brothers, Jess, Solomon, and Jake. These four men came to America from Germany and settled at the mouth of the Little North Fork of White River.
 * 1835 - Marion County was created from a portion of the western part of Izard County, although it was immediately renamed Searcy County by the Territorial General Assembly.
 * 1836 September 29 - The First General Assembly of Arkansas received a petition from the county requesting the name be reverted to Marion County.
 * 1861-1865 - As more and more men were recruited and left home, the county saw an influx of men from other areas who sought to evade service and, banding together, began to plunder the largely defenseless homes and farms.
 * 1800s (late) - The population of the county grew dramatically when valuable metal ores began to be mined late in the nineteenth century.
 * 1900-1930 - When the mining industry declined, people began to leave Marion County, seeking jobs elsewhere. The Great Depression increased the exodus from the county.

Genealogy Resources
Link to available resources for Marion Co:

Cemeteries
Link to cemetery location maps and cemeteries in Marion Co:. Before Bull Shoals Dam was built the Corp of Engineers inventoried and moved many cemeteries. A list of the cemeteries moved, information from tombstones and information on the cemetery the interments were moved to are found in this section. Pleasant Ridge cemetery's burials and, when available, obituaries are also found here.

Census
Abstracts of Marion Co Census Records:

Land and Property
Index to Deed Records:

Original land owners &amp; plats:

Local Histories

 * Family lines &amp; history:
 * Transcription of Earl Berry's "History of Marion County, AR":
 * Photos of individuals, families, unknown people, places, etc:
 * History of Marion Co's Post Offices:
 * A hodge-podge of stories &amp; miscellaneous information about Marion Co:

Maps

 * Maps of Arkansas (1813-1925)
 * Maps: argenweb.net/marion/maps/index.html

Civil War

 * - 3rd Regiment, Arkansas Cavalry (Union)
 * - 1st Cavalry Battalion (Regiment), Arkansas Cavalry (Stirman's) (Cavalry), Companies A and B
 * - 5th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate), Captain James R. Dowd's company
 * - 7th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate)
 * - 14th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Powers') (Confederate)
 * - 27th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate), Companies A, E and K


 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers
Abstracts from Mt Echo Newspapers: MARION COUNTY AR NEWSPAPERS

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 1887-1946 Marion County portion of the collection: : Arkansas Probate Records, 1817-1979 FamilySearch Historical Collections (Free, browse images)
 * Includes Bonds and letters 1889-1921; Wills 1887-1946.

Vital Records
See also How to order Arkansas Vital Records

Birth

 * 1947-1964 - Marion County Birth Index 1947-1964. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Marriage

 * Marriage information taken from old newspapers and those submitted by individuals: argenweb.net/marion/marriage/howtoqry.htm
 * 1888-1957 - Marion County Marriage Books E-P Index 1888-1957 in at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1888-1923 - Marion County Marriage Books F-J Index 1888-1923 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.

Death
Link to obituaries: Argenweb Includes obituaries or death information found in early newspapers from the 1800s and 1900s, plus current obituaries beginning in 2000.

Genealogy Societies and Libraries

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

Link to Genealogy Society: argenweb.net/marion/historicalsociety.html and society's Newsletter argenweb.net/marion/bramblebush/index.html

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Societies
Marion County Genealogy Society Marion County Library, Yellville, Arkansas