Izard County, Arkansas Genealogy

United States

Arkansas

Izard County

 

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

Arkansas Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Melbourne Organized: October 27, 1825 Parent County(s): Independence and Fulton Neighboring Counties Baxter • Fulton • Independence • Sharp • Stone See County Maps Courthouse Location Map

County Information

Description

Izard County was created on 01 January 1826 and was named for the second Governor of the Territory, George Izard. Its county seat is Melbourne. It is located in the northern area of the state.

County Courthouse

Izard County Courthouse
PO Box 327
Melbourne, AR 72556
Phone: 870-368-4328
Izard County Website

County Clerk has marriage, divorce, probate, court and land records from 1889.

Izard County, Arkansas

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Government County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1914	1889	1914	1889	1889	1889	1830
*State birth and death records began in 1914. Limited compliance until the 1920s

Record Loss

1869 - All records prior to April 11, 1869 were lost in a fire. 1889 - Fire destroyed all county records. For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see: Burned Counties. By Michael John Neill at 24-7 Family History Circle. When the Records are Gone. By Arlene Eakle at Arlene Eakle's Tennessee Blog. Burned Counties Research in the FamilySearch Research Wiki. List of counties in the United States with Record Loss

Boundary Changes

1825--Izard County was created in 27 October 1825 from Independence and Fulton Counties. County seat: Melbourne Arkansas Individual County Chronologies - Newberry Library list of all boundary changes by county Arkansas Historical Borders - Map at Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; Also at: mapofus.org - animated maps illustrating Arkansas county boundary changes

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cities
Calico Rock Horseshoe Bend	Melbourne (county seat)	Oxford
Towns
Franklin Guion	Mount Pleasant	Pineville
Unincorporated communities
Brockwell Dolph Forty Four Gid LaCrosse	Lunenburg Mount Olive Sage Sylamore Violet Hill	Wideman Wiseman Zion
Townships
Athens Baker Barren Fork Big Spring Bryan Claiborne Drytown Franklin	Gid Guion Guthrie Jefferson Lacrosse Lafferty Lunenberg Mill Creek	Mount Olive Newburg New Hope Pleasant Hill Sage Strawberry Union White River

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

• Osage hunted in the area prior to an 1808 treaty, and Shawnee also lived in the White River valley until 1833.
• 1802 - John Lafferty, a native of Ireland, traveled up the White River.
• 1810 - Lafferty and his family established the county’s first settlement at Lafferty Creek.
• 1825 October 27 - Izard County established.
• 1800s (early) - Keelboats began bringing settlers up the White River.
• 1860 - The 1860 census shows only five foreign-born residents in Izard County: four from Ireland and one from Germany. Those not born in the county came primarily from Tennessee, the Carolinas, and a few from Kentucky and Mississippi.
• 1870s (mid) - After the Civil War, many people starved in Izard County, resorting to eating grass and bark.
• 1910-1960 - The population of Izard County hit a high (14,500) in 1910 and a low (6,700) in 1960. In 2010 the population was 13,700.

Resources

Biographies

• Biographies at My Genealogy Hound

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Izard, Arkansas online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Find a Grave BillionGraves USGW Tombstone Transcription Project Interment.net Arkansas Gravestones
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	FamilySearch Catalog WorldCat.org
List of Cemeteries in the County	Find a Grave BillionGraves FamilySearch Places
See Arkansas Cemeteries for more information

Census Records

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1830	1,266	—
1840	2,240	76.9%
1850	3,213	43.4%
1860	7,215	124.6%
1870	6,806	−5.7%
1880	10,857	59.5%
1890	13,038	20.1%
1900	13,506	3.6%
1910	14,561	7.8%
1920	13,871	−4.7%
1930	12,872	−7.2%
1940	12,834	−0.3%
1950	9,953	−22.4%
1960	6,766	−32.0%
1970	7,381	9.1%
1980	10,768	45.9%
1990	11,364	5.5%
2000	13,249	16.6%
2010	13,696	3.4%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

Church Records

List of Churches and Church Parishes

• FamilySearch Places
• 1875-1899 Nebraska, Church Records, 1875-1899 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection

Court Records

• 1889-1895 Court Records, 1889-1895(*); County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1889-1896 Court Records, 1889-1896(*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1889-1956 Court Records, 1889-1956, 1889-1956(*); Chancery Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images

Directories

• 1970-2024 United States, Residence Database, 1970-2024 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index, coverage may vary
  

Funeral Homes

• Eddie's Family Funeral Home in Melbourne

Guardianship

• Probate Records 1889-1949 Izard County portion of the collection: Arkansas Probate Records, 1817-1979: Arkansas Probate Records, 1817-1979 FamilySearch Historical Collections (Free, browse images) - How to Use this Collection
  • Includes Administration bonds and letters 1889-1949; Guardian bonds and letters 1889-1946; Probate records 1889-1930; Wills 1889-1942.

Land and Property Records

Online Land Indexes and Records

• Izard County Federal Land Records USGenWeb Archives
• Full-Text Search - Land Records at FamilySearch - index & images; dates, records, and places vary; How to Search

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Izard County. They may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more about local histories, see Arkansas Local Histories.

• Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northeast Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889. Online at: Vol. II - FamilySearch Digital Library; Vols. I & II - HathiTrust, Internet Archive. Izard County, Vol II, Ch XXVI, pp917-981.
• A History of Izard County, Arkansas. By Karr Shannon. Little Rock, Arkansas: Democrat Print. and Lithographing Co., c1947. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, HathiTust, Ancestry ($).

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Maps of Arkansas (1813-1925)
• 1895 Izard County Map
• FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places
• Arkansas State Archives State Maps Collection at Arkansas Digital Archives

Military Records

Civil War
Regiments. Men in Izard County served in various regiments and companies. Those listed below were specifically formed in this county:

- 7th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate)

- 14th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Powers') (Confederate)

- 27th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate), Company C (new), Companies G, H and I

- 38th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate)

- 3rd Regiment, Arkansas Cavalry (Union), Company A

Online Records

• 1861-1865 Arkansas Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index
• 1890-1963 Arkansas Confederate Soldier Home,1890-1963 at FamilySearch — index & images - How to Use this Collection
• 1891-1939 Arkansas Ex-Confederate Pension Records, 1891-1939 at FamilySearch — index & images
• 1901-1929 Arkansas Confederate Pensions, 1901-1929 at FamilySearch — index & images

World War II

• Izard County WW 2 Army & Air Force Casualties Access Genealogy
• Arkansas Peace Society of 1861 Ancestrally Challenged

Newspapers

• 1800s-Current Arkansas, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's-Current at Ancestry — index & images ($)
• 1800s-1999 U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999 at Ancestry - index ($)

Finding More Arkansas Newspapers Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Izard newspapers in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat
• FamilySearch. Do a Izard County, Arkansas Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see, FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).
• Fayetteville Democrat at Ancestry.com ($)
• Fayetteville Daily Democrat at Ancestry.com ($)
• Daily Fayetteville Democrat at Ancestry.com ($)
• Northwest Arkansas Times at Ancestry.com ($)
• Courier Times at Ancestry.com ($)

Probate Records

Online Probate Indexes and Records

• 1783-1998 Arkansas Wills and Probate Records 1783-1998 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
• 1817-1979 Arkansas Probate Records, 1817-1979(*) at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; images
• 1889-1930 Probate Records, 1889-1930(*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1889-1942 Wills, 1889-1942(*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1889-1949 Administrators and Guardians Bonds and Letters, 1889-1949(*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• Full-Text Search - Wills and Probate Records at FamilySearch - index & images; dates, records, and places vary; How to Search

Social Security Records

• 1935-2014 United States Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
• 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.
• 1936-2007 United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Vital Records

Birth

Birth Records reveal
Yes or Maybe ⇒	Y	M
Name of Child
Birth Date and Place
Parent's Names
Mother's Maiden Name
Parent's Ages
Father's Occupation
Current Residence
Name of Doctor or Midwife

In 1877, a few county and city clerks started keeping birth and death records.

In 1914, the state law required all county clerks to record births and forward them to the state.

• Arkansas Births and Christenings, 1812-1965 at FamilySearch. (Free, index only)
  • Small file, but worth searching. Most entries were user-submitted.

See also: • Arkansas Online Genealogy Records, • How to Find Arkansas Birth Records and • Arkansas Vital Records—Birth.

• Izard County Births at ARGenWeb

Marriage

• 1779-1966 Arkansas, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
• 1800-Onward Arkansas Marriages at MyHeritage — index & images ($)
• 1860-1976 Arkansas Church Marriages, 1860-1976 at FamilySearch — index & images - How to Use this Collection
• 1889-1925 Izard County Marriage Index 1889-1925 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch.
• 1889-1956 Izard County Marriage Books [1]-12 Index 1889-1956 in Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
• 1917-1969 Arkansas, Marriage Certificates, 1917-1969 at Ancestry.com - index & images ($)
• Izard County Marriages at ARGenWeb

Death

• 1812-Onward Arkansas Deaths at MyHeritage — index ($)
• 1914-1969 Arkansas, Death Certificates, 1914-1969 at Ancestry.com - index & images ($)
• 1935-1961 Arkansas, Death Index, 1935-1961 at MyHeritage - index & images ($)

Divorce

• 1923-1969 Arkansas, Divorces, 1923-1969 at Ancestry.com - index ($)

Voting Records

• 1700-Onward Arkansas Voter Registrations at MyHeritage — index & images ($)
• 1868-1910 Arkansas, County Voter Registration Records, 1868-1910 at FamilySearch — index & images - How to Use this Collection

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Izard County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Arkansas Archives and Libraries.

FamilySearch Centers

FamilySearch Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local FamilySearch Centers or Affiliate Libraries

• FamilySearch Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
• FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a FamilySearch center.
  

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

• Mountain Home Arkansas FamilySearch Center
• Mountain View Arkansas FamilySearch Center

Libraries

Listed below are libraries in Izard County. For state-wide library facilities, see Arkansas Archives and Libraries.

Societies

Listed below are societies in Izard County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Arkansas Societies.

Izard County Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc.
P.O. Box 877
Melbourne, AR 72556
Email: izardcountyhistoricalsociety@gmail.com
Website
Facebook

Websites

• ARGenWeb
• USGenWeb Archives
• Linkpendium
• Cyndi's List
• FamilySearch Catalog - The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records

This table contains the dates the local or state government began recording in the county or county equivalent. Use substitute records for earlier dates. If you believe there is an error, email us at wikisupport@familysearch.org.

County boundary maps are currently unavailable. Download information instead.

To access available information, first log into FamilySearch.

Due to contractual agreements, some images and/or databases on FamilySearch.org may only be viewed at a FamilySearch Center or FamilySearch Affiliate Library.

Users should verify which locations and dates are included in this collection.

This website requires a paid subscription for full access. Some subscription websites are available for free at your local FamilySearch Center or Affiliate Library.

“Current” indicates records are available as recently as privacy laws allow. This date can change from year to year. To determine the exact dates available, contact the respective organization/repository.