Step-by-Step Arkansas Research, 1850-1910
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Step 1: Find out everything possible from living relatives and their family records.
Every good genealogy project starts with finding all the clues that can be gathered from living relatives — both from their memories and from documents or memorabilia in their homes.
What are the best questions to ask?
In order to extend research, ask for names, dates, and places. Everything about who a relative was and when and where they lived is a clue to a new record search. For ideas, see :
- 50 Questions to Ask Relatives About Family History at ThoughtCo.com
- Creating Oral Histories at FamilySearch Wiki
What documents should be collected or copied?
Because these records cover names, dates, places, and relationships, they are a valuable source of clues. Look for them in your home, your parents' home, and ask living grandparents to check for them.
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Step 2: Find ancestors in every possible census record, 1850-1950, online.
- A census is a count and description of the population for a given date. A census took a "snapshot" of a family on a certain day.
- For each person living in a household (depending on the year), their name, age, birthplace, relationship to head of household, place of birth for father and mother, citizenship status, year of immigration, mother of how many children and number of children living, native language, and whether they were a veteran of the military can be listed.
- Searching for a family in census records every ten years can identify all the children in a family.
- Searching in earlier census records to find someone as a child can identify parents.
Example of a census record.
Look for ancestors in as many censuses as possible. Use the clues from each census for hints where to find families in both earlier and later census records.
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For more information, see Arkansas Census and United States Census.
Step 3: Try to find additional details in death certificates, Social Security, obituary and cemetery records online.
When a person dies, several records will be created: death certificates, Social Security records, obituaries, and cemetery records.
- Death certificates can give birth information for people born before actual birth registration began. Death certificates frequently give the birth date and place, parents' names, and birth places of parents.
- The Social Security Death Index includes those who had a Social Security number and/or applied for benefits. The index entries give the person's full birth date, last known residence, and residence at the time they first enrolled.
- The Social Security Applications and Claims Index provides information filed in the application or claims process, including valuable details such as birth date, birth place, and parents’ names.
- Cemetery records can be as simple as the information on the headstone or, in some FindAGrave records, they can report more thorough information about birth, parents, spouses, children, and siblings.
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"Example of a death index. |
Example of a death index entry. |
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Example of a Social Security Application and Claims Index Entry: |
Example of a Social Security Death Index entry: |
Example of a FindAGrave cemetery record.
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Example of an obituary index entry. |
Example of a published obituary. |
Death Indexes
- 1812-2006 Arkansas Death Records Index, 1812-2006 at Arkansas Digital Archives — index
- 1882-1929, 1945-1963 Arkansas Deaths and Burials, 1882-1929; 1945-1963 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index
- 1914-1950 Arkansas Death Index, 1914-1950 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index; Also at: Ancestry — index & images ($)
- 1935-1961 Arkansas, Death Index, 1935-1961 at MyHeritage — index ($)
Writing for Full Death Certificates
The full original certificate will contain information not contained in the index. Although it costs money, consider sending for the full original certificates, particularly for direct line ancestors (grandparents, great-grandparents, etc).
- Where to Write for Arkansas Birth, Marriage, Death and Divorce Records at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC.gov
U.S. Social Security Records
- The U.S. Social Security program began in 1935 but most deaths recorded in the index happened after 1962.
- The Social Security Death index includes those who had a Social Security number and/or applied for benefits.
- You can search these records online at
- 1935-2014 U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 at Ancestry — index ($)
- 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry, Picks up where the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) leaves off by providing information filed in the application or claims process — index ($)
- 1962-2014 United States Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index
- If you find an ancestor in the SSDI index, you can order a copy of their original Social Security application (SS-5). If you can prove the individual has died (by sending an obituary or copy of their cemetery headstone), the application will also give the deceased's parents' names, if listed.
Obituaries
- 1980-2014 United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, Births, and Marriages 1980-2014 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
- Arkansas Newspapers and Obituaries at LDS Genealogy — index
- Arkansas Obituaries at ObitsArchive.com — index
- Arkansas Obituaries Help and Genealogy Resources at ObituariesHelp.org — index
- Online Arkansas Death Records and Indexes at DeathIndexes.com — index
Cemeteries
- 1867-2013 Arkansas, Oakland and Fraternal Historic Cemetery Records, 1867-2013 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images; Also at: Ancestry ($)
- 1949-1969 United States, Cemetery Abstracts, 1949-1969 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
- Arkansas Cemetery Records at AccessGenealogy — index
- Arkansas Cemetery Records at Interment.net — index
- Arkansas Gravestone Photo Project at ArkansasGravestones.org
- Arkansas Tombstone Transcription Project at at USGenWeb Tombstones — index
- BillionGraves — index & images
- BillionGraves Index at FamilySearch — How to Use This Collection; index; Also at: Findmypast ($)
- FindaGrave — index & images
- Find a Grave Index at FamilySearch — How to Use This Collection; index; Also at: Ancestry ($)
- Online Arkansas Death Records and Indexes at DeathIndexes.com — index
For more information, see Arkansas Obituaries and Arkansas Cemeteries.
Study any new information in these records for clues leading to more census searches.
Step 4: Search for county birth and marriage records online.
Vital records registration of births and marriages at the state level started in 1914. Prior to that the individual counties kept some records. The starting dates of those records vary from county to county, depending on when the county was formed.
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Example of a county birth index entry. |
Example of an indexed county marriage entry.
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Online Records
Births (and Deaths)
- 1812-1965 Arkansas Births and Christenings, 1812-1965 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index
Marriages
- 1779-1850 Arkansas, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1779-1850 at Ancestry — index ($)
- 1779-1992 Arkansas, U.S., Compiled Marriages from Select Counties, 1779-1992 at Ancestry — index ($)
- 1820-1949 Arkansas, U.S., Compiled Marriages from Select Counties, 1820-1949 at Ancestry — index ($)
- 1837-1944 Arkansas Marriages, 1837-1944 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index
- 1837-1957 Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images; Also at: Ancestry ($)
- 1851-1900 Arkansas, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1851-1900 at Ancestry — index ($)
- 1933-1939 Arkansas Marriage Index, 1933-1939 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index; Also at: Ancestry — index & images ($)
Records at the County Courthouse.
These records were originally created by county clerks, and then copies were sent to the state. County clerks can be willing to help find all the birth records for one family or perform other searches that the state would not do. To contact county clerks by e-mail or telephone, go to the Wiki article for each county. Links to the county Wiki articles are found at the end of this page or by clicking here: Arkansas Counties.
For more information on birth, marriage, and death records in Arkansas, see How to Find Arkansas Birth Records, How to Find Arkansas Marriage Records, and How to Find Arkansas Death Records.
Step 5: Look for church records online.
Church records function as vital records.
- An infant christening or baptism record documents a birth.
- Many, if not most, people are married in a church, and then a record is created by the minister.
- Likewise, ministers presided over funerals, then creating a burial record, which documents a death.
Church records are particularly helpful prior to the advent of civil registration.
Example of an indexed christening record.
Search for church records that can provide additional birth, marriage, and death information.
FamilySearch Historical Records
- 1812-1965 Arkansas Births and Christenings, 1812-1965 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index
- 1860-1976 Arkansas Church Marriages, 1860-1976 at FamilySearch; Emphasis on Columbia and Woodruff Counties — How to Use this Collection; index & images
- 1882-1929, 1945-1963 Arkansas Deaths and Burials, 1882-1929; 1945-1963 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index
Presbyterian
- 1701-1970 U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
For help with church records kept in Arkansas, see Arkansas Church Records.
To search records by denomination, if you know your ancestors religion, go to Searching for Church Records by Denomination.
Step 6: Search military records: World War I and II draft cards online.
There are many different types of military records: draft records, enlistment records, service records, pension records, etc. Information in military records can vary from a simple lists of name, age, and residence, to more detailed records including name, residence, age, occupation, marital status, birthplace, physical description, number of dependents, pensions received, disabled veterans, needy veterans, widows or orphans of veterans, and other information.
Example of a World War I draft card.
Example of a World War II draft card.
Search the World War I and World War II Draft Collections for male relatives.
- 1917-1918 United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
- 1942 United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
For more information and additional collections, see Arkansas Military Records.
Step 7: If any ancestor was an immigrant, search immigration and naturalization records online.
The census records may show that an ancestor was born in another country. It will be necessary to try to find the town or city they were born in to continue research in the country of origin. Searches of immigration records (usually passenger lists) and naturalization (citizenship) records would be the next step.
Look for immigrant ancestors in shipping lists and citizenship sources.
Arkansas Immigration Records
- 1500-Onward All U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s at Ancestry, includes those with Destination of Arkansas — index & images ($); Also at: MyHeritage ($)
- 1895-1956 United States, Border Crossings from Canada, 1895-1956 at MyHeritage, includes those with Destination of Arkansas — index & images ($)
Cultural Groups
- 1920-1939 Germany, Bremen Emigration Lists, 1920-1939 Germany, Bremen Emigration Lists, 1920-1939 at MyHeritage — index; includes those with Destination of Arkansas ($)
- Germans Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage — index ($); includes those with Destination of Arkansas
- Italians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage — index ($); includes those with Destination of Arkansas
- Russians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage — index ($); includes those with Destination of Arkansas
Passport Records Online
- 1795-1925 United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
- 1795-1925 U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
Arkansas Naturalization and Citizenship Online Records
- 1872-1987 Arkansas, Sebastian, Fort Smith, Naturalization Record, 1872-1987(*) at FamilySearch Catalog — images
- 1903-1981 Arkansas, Pulaski County, Little Rock, Naturalization Record, 1903-1981(*) United States, National Archives and Records Administration, Southwest Region at FamilySearch Catalog - images
- 1907-1968 Arkansas, U.S., Naturalization Records, 1907-1968 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
For more information, see Arkansas Emigration and Immigration and Arkansas Naturalization and Citizenship.
Step 8: Search for printed local histories or biography collections online.
Local histories
- Published histories of towns, counties, and states usually contain biographies and accounts of early or prominent families.
- Here are several websites that feature online copies of printed county histories:
- Hathi Trust Digital Library. Don't use the keywords Arkansas; that will bring up too many hits. Just use the name of the county and "county": for example, "Hyde County"
- Google Books. Use keywords "Arkansas" and the county name. Hits will list online readable books, lists of libraries that carry the book, and purchasing opportunities.
- Family History Books
- Internet Archive.Use keywords "Arkansas" and the county name.
- Genealogy Book Links, Arkansas. Browse list; county histories are interspersed.
- Ancestry.com, ($). In the Card Catalog search box, use Arkansas and the name of the county.
- Local histories are extensively collected by the FamilySearch Library, public and university libraries, and state and local historical societies. If you have access to the FamilySearch Library or a FamilySearch center, you can find out about local histories the library has by checking the FamilySearch Catalog. In the "place" field, type the name of your county and select it from the drop down list, then click "Search". A list of subheadings for the county will appear. Local histories containing genealogies and biographies will be found under Biography, Genealogy, History, and History - Indexes.
- Societies often have a good selection of printed histories about the area. Some may be search history for you for a fee.
Biography Collections
- 1819-1950 Arkansas Biographical Card File Index, 1819-1950(*) at FamilySearch Catalog — images
- Arkansas Biographical History at Ancestry — index & images ($)
- Arkansas Biographies by County at My Genealogy Hound — index
- Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Eastern Arkansas, Comprising a Condensed History of the State, a Number of Biographies of Distinguished Citizens of the Same, a Brief Descriptive History of Each of the Counties. Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis: Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1890. Online at: Internet Archive; Ancestry — index ($)
- Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Pulaski, Jefferson, Lonoke, Faulkner, Grant, Saline, Perry, Garland and Hot Spring Counties, Arkansas, Comprising a Condensed History of the State... Biographies of Distinguished Citizens... Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis: Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889. Online at: Internet Archive
- Biographical and Pictorial History of Arkansas at Ancestry — index & images ($)
- Central Arkansas Counties Biographical and Historical Memoirs at Ancestry — index & images ($)
- Southern Arkansas Biographical and Historical Memoirs at Ancestry — index & images ($)
- Western Arkansas, Biographies and Historical Memoirs at Ancestry — index ($)
For more information, see Arkansas Biography.
Step 9: Search for wills and probate packets.
- County probate records include probate proceedings, petitions, affidavits, orders for sales, reports of sales, administrators' and executors' bonds, guardianship papers, wills, and letters of administration.
- In a will book, usually just a transcription of the will is recorded. But all of these other records are kept in a probate packet.
- Administrations are probate proceedings that handled an estate if no known will existed.
Search these indexes and images for probate records.
- 1817-1979 Arkansas Probate Records, 1817-1979 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
- 1818-1998 Arkansas, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1818-1998 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
Probate Information in County Wiki Articles
Each Arkansas county Research Wiki page lists additional probate sources, including where to write for records: Arkansas Counties
For more information, see Arkansas Probate Records and United States Probate Records.
Step 10: Search land records online.
These records will give the
- names of the buyer (grantee) and seller (grantor),
- previous or new residence of the parties to the deed
- the date they obtained the land,
- the description of exact location of the land, sometimes mentioning neighbors.
They can contain clues to
- family members who shared ownership of the land,
- sold or gave land to a child, or
- officially witnessed the sale.
Search for any ancestor's land records.
- See United States Land and Property for more databases and resources.
- 1743-Onwards Arkansas, State Land Registries at MyHeritage — index ($)
- 1788-Current U.S. Land Patent Search at Bureau of Land Management — index
- 1800-1955 United States Bureau of Land Management Tract Books, 1800-c. 1955 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
- 1822-1986 Arkansas State Land Records, 1822-1986 at Arkansas Digital Archives
- 1861-1932 United States, Cancelled, Relinquished, or Rejected Land Entry Case Files, 1861-1932 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
- 1863-1908 U.S., Homestead Records, 1863-1908 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
- Pre-1908 Arkansas, U.S., Homestead and Cash Entry Patents, Pre-1908 at Ancestry — index ($)
- Pre-1908 Land Patents - Arkansas at MyHeritage — index ($)
- Arkansas County Data at Arkansas County Data
- Land Owner Search at Historygeo.com ($) — index to maps of original land owners
For more information, see Arkansas Land and Property and United States Land and Property.
Step 11: Contact a local historical or genealogical society.
- County or local historical or genealogical societies have collections that are frequently little known and often overlooked.
- Many have a surname file, where they have collected genealogies, newspaper clippings, old photographs, etc.
- Many have a sort of "pioneer ancestor" program, where people can submit pedigrees to prove they are the descendants of an early resident of the county.
- Most keep track of queries about families that once lived in the area. Posts there from relatives might lead to additional family information.
- Find the society on the internet, where they may list their holdings. Or call them on the phone, find out what they have, and find out what arrangements can be made to search their collection. Frequently, one of their members can be hired to search the collections.
- For more information, see Arkansas Societies.
The online directory by GenealogyInc. lists historical and genealogical societies by county: Click on the list to select a county, then scroll down to the historical or genealogical society listings.
Here is an example of an internet website for a local genealogical society.
Step 12: Use other FamilySearch tools.
Historical Images
Records collected and digitized by FamilySearch can all be found through their Historical Images feature.
- Arkansas, United States Historical Images, New Version
- Arkansas, United States Historical Images, Old Version
Arkansas Online Genealogy Records
Search any other online records listed in Arkansas Online Genealogy Records. The steps given here are intended to list record sources which can most efficiently identify descendants. Many other online records which might or might not mention descendants are listed in the Arkansas Online Genealogy Records page, including immigration records, land records, military records, newspapers, and probate records, and others. These can be records that cover a smaller group within the population, such as men who served in the military, etc.
Step 13: Study the Research Wiki pages for any county in Arkansas.
This article focused more on Arkansas state or state-wide records. There is a separate Wiki article for each county in Arkansas. These articles give information, office addresses, and links to county records.