Clark County, ArkansasEdit This Page

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United States  Arkansas Clark County

Guide to Clark County Arkansas genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

	Arkansas Online Records

Clark County, Arkansas
Map
Location in the state of Arkansas
Location of Arkansas in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	December 15, 1818
County Seat	Arkadelphia
Courthouse
Address	Clark County Courthouse Courthouse Square 401 Clay Street Arkadelphia, AR 71923 Phone: 870.246.4491
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County Courthouse

Clark County Courthouse
Courthouse Square
401 Clay Street
Arkadelphia, AR 71923
Phone: 870.246.4491

County Clerk has marriage records from 1821, land records from 1819, and probate records from 1800. Clerk Circuit Court has divorce, court and land records.^[1]

History

Clark County was created by the legislature of Missouri Territory, 15 December, 1818. It was named for the territorial governor, William Clark. At its creation it included most of the present counties of Clark, Hot Spring, Garland, Pike and Dallas.

The Caddo, Little Missouri and Ouachita rivers flow through the county. Clark County has hilly terrain in the north, and rolling, pine-covered hills in the south. DeGray Lake, located in the northern part of the county, along with DeGray State Park, attracts a half million visitors each year.

The county seat, Arkadelphia, is home to two universities, Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State.

Parent County

• 1818--Clark County was created 15 December 1818 from Arkansas County.  County seat: Arkadelphia ^[2]

Boundary Changes

• Boarder with Pulaski changed 30 October 1823
• Union County created in 1829
• Hot Spring County created in 1829
• Pike County created in 1833
• Dallas County created in 1845
• Boarder with Hot Spring and Dallas changed 3 April 1868
• Part of Clark added to Pike 22 April 1873
• Boarder with Montgomery changed 24 April 1873
• Boarder with Pike changed 8 March 1877

See an interactive map of Clark County boundary changes at N2Genealogy.

Variant Spellings

Record Loss

Places/Localities

Populated Places

Towns

Census Districts

Communities

• Gravel Junction
• Midway

Historical Communities

Neighboring Counties

• Dallas
• Hot Spring
• Montgomery
• Nevada
• Ouachita
• Pike

Genealogy Resources

Research Guides

African Americans

Bible Records

Cemeteries

• Clark County Arkansas Cemeteries has an extensive list of Clark County cemeteries including location, and links to many transcriptions and photos.
  
• Interment.net has some Clark County Cemetries
  
• Find-A-Grave has some Clark County Cemeteries
  
• Clark County Arkansas USGenWeb page lists some transcriptions.
  
• Clark County, Arkansas USGenWeb Archives has some transcriptions.
  
• Clark County Cemeteries (vi, 500, [151] p. : ill., map.) available from FHL US/CAN Book 976.749 V3cL
  

Census

Federal Census reports for Clark County are available for 1830-1930 including Industry and Agriculture Schedules 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880; Slave Schedules for 1850 & 1860; and Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880.

• 1820 is missing
• 1830 and 1840 - Check the Arkansas Census page for availability. Searchable index on Ancestry.
• 1850 - 1920 Census- Searchable index on FamilySearch
• 1890 Census substitution was compiled by William L. Newberry from the Tax Receipt Book for 1890.^[3]

For more information about the using the census in Arkansas, please refer to the Arkansas Census page.

Church Records

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. For general information about Arkansas denominations, view the Arkansas Church Records wiki page.

Court

Clark County Court Clerk has court records beginning in 1838.

Genealogy

Land and Property

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See Arkansas Land and Property for additional information about early Arkansas land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse and where records are currently housed.

Clark County Court Clerk has land records beginning in 1819. Remember that original land sales and grants were often with the US Government and are part of the General Land Office Records not the local county records.

Local Histories

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

Maps

• Family Maps of Clark County, Arkansas (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.

• Clark County School Districts Map available through Documenting Arkansas, an online digital archive.

Military

Revolutionary War

• Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions. Washington, D.C., 1852. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1969, and 1991. Reprints include "an Added Index to States." FHL Collection 973 M24ur; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes veterans from this county; Arkansas section begins on page 439.]
  

Civil War

• Men from this county served in the 3rd Regiment, Arkansas Cavalry (Union).^[4]
  

Civil War Battle

The following Civil War battle was fought in Clark County.

• April 3-4, 1864 = Elkin’s Ferry, also known as Okolona^[5]
• Map showing Civil War battles in Arkansas. 

Naturalization

Newspapers

Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Clark County, Arkansas newspapers in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat
• FamilySearch. Do a Clark County, Arkansas Place-name search for these and other records in the Family History Library Catalog (For instructions see, FHL Catalog Place-name Search).

Occupations

Probate Records

Probate records of Arkansas have been kept by the probate or county courts. You can obtain copies of the original records by contacting the clerk's office in the county courthouse.

The Family History Library has microfilm copies of many Arkansas probate records. See Arkansas Probate Records for more information about Probate records in Arkansas, including statewide indexes.

The county clerk has probate records starting in 1840.

Taxation

Arkansas tax records replace missing censuses and provide lists of residents during years between censuses. There may be gaps of several years for some counties. For more information see Arkansas Taxation.

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the Arkansas Vital Records State Department of Health or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred. See also Arkansas Vital Records Online and Arkansas Statewide Indexes and Collections at the Family History Library.

Statewide registration of births and deaths began 1 February 1914, and have a limited availability through the Arkansas Vital Records Department of the Arkansas Health Department. The Arkansas History Commission keeps an alphabetical listing of deaths in Arkansas dating from 1914 through 1949, but they do not have the actual death records. They have shared this listing of deaths with Ancestry.com $ (Arkansas Death Index, 1914-1950)

Clark County, Arkansas records compiled by Mrs. Frank Austin Gerig. Includes some vital, property, and probate records with index.) FHL US/CAN Film 844407 Items 4-5

Birth

Marriage

Clark County Court Clerk has marriage records beginning in 1821. Many of these have been microfilmed and are available through the Family History Library, Salt Lake, UT:

• Marriage records, 1818-1970; indexes, 1818-1987 by Clark County (Arkansas). County Clerk. (Microfilm of original records in the Clark County courthouse; and at the Ouachita Baptist University Library, Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Indexes include Male and female indexes 1821-1975; Indexes to marriage records, v. 1-3, 1840-1987; Index to loose marriage licenses, 1818-1970. Marriage record volumes C - Z 1845 - 1931 and volumes 1 - 10 1931 - 1951. Marriage Record volumes A, B, and J are missing. Also Loose marriage licenses, 1818-1970 arranged alphabetically) 25 microfilm rolls  **This title is currently (May 2010) being digitized and indexed for inclusion in Arkansas Vital Records Index
  
• Arkansas Vital Records also has marriage records dating from January 1917 and divorce records dating from January 1923.
  

• 1845-1922 - Clark County Marriage Books C-U Index 1845-1922 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.^[6]
• 1870-1970 - Clark County Marriage Books F-Z, 1-10 and Loose Marriage Licenses Index 1870-1970 in Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957 at FamilySearch - free.^[7]
• Ancestry.com. $ Arkansas Marriage Index, 1933-1939. Original data: Vital Records Division, Arkansas Department of Health. Marriage Record Index, 1933-1939. Arkansas, USA: Arkansas Genealogical Society. Microfiche.
• Ancestry.com. $ Arkansas Marriages, 1851-1900. Original data: Clark County, Arkansas Marriages, 1851 - 1875. County court records located at Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Family History Library film # (1009945 - 1009946 & 1010121-1010123)
• Ancestry.com. $ Arkansas Divorce Index, 1923-1939. Original data: Arkansas Divorce Index 1923-1939. Arkansas, USA: Arkansas Genealogical Society. Microfiche.
• Clark County, Arkansas Obituary Collection And Surrounding Howard and Pike Counties From GenealogyBuff.com ~ Free. From Various Funeral Homes.
  
• Clark County, Arkansas : a genealogical source book compiled by Pauline Williams Wright, Barbara McDow Caffee (Contents: vol. 1. Marriages thru 1900; divorce petitions thru 1900; Probate records, May 1827-Oct. 1838 and more) FHL US/CAN Book 976.749 D2w v. 1 or FHL US/CAN Fiche 6010780
  
• Clark County, Arkansas, marriage records, 1821-1879 compiled by Bobbie Jones McLane. (Contains "Deaton family of Clark Co., Arkansas." Marriages are on file in the county clerk's office at Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Includes index of brides.) FHL US/CAN Book 976.749 V29m
  
• Clark County, Arkansas marriage records, 1821-1837 : marriage record book A, March 22, 1821 to February 12, 1837 compiled and edited by David L. Kelley. FHL US/CAN Book 976.749 V2k or FHL US/CAN Film 1750736 Item 20
  
• Clark County, Arkansas, marriage records, 1821-1879 compiled by Bobbie Jones McLane. (Contains "Deaton family of Clark Co., Arkansas." Marriages are on file in the county clerk's office at Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Includes index of brides.) FHL US/CAN Book 976.749 V29m
  
• Marriage licenses of Clark County, Arkansas (unclaimed) by Newberry, William L. (The dates for this vol. run from ca. 1873-1959. Names are in alphabetical order.) FHL US/CAN Book 976.749 V2n
  
• Marriages of Clark County, Arkansas, 1821-1837 compiled by James Logan Morgan. FHL US/CAN Book 976.7 A1 no. 50
  
• Records of Clark County, Arkansas by Daughters of the American Revolution (Arkansas) (Microreproduction of original typescript (58, 132 leaves) written in 1972. Includes index. Includes marriages, a cemetery (Mt. Tabor in Montgomery Co.) and bible records.) FHL US/CAN Film 907977 Item 6
  

Death

• Clark County, Arkansas : Arkadelphia & environs, a journal by James A. Fortson, recorded, 1875-1897 by Fortson, James A, 1829-1898 transcribed and edited by Linda Shaddock Rogers. (45 pages; Includes vital record information, primarily deaths. Includes full-name index.) FHL US/CAN Book 976.749 D3f
  

Vital Record Substitutes

Genealogy Societies and Libraries

Family History Centers

• Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Websites

• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
  
• Family History Library Catalog
• Clark County, Arkansas Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)

References

1. ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists : United States of America, 10th ed., (Draper, UT: Everton Publishers, 2002), p. 66.
2. ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).
3. ↑ William L. Newberry, 1890 census of Clark County, Arkansas, (Arkadelphia, Arkansas: Clark County Historical Association, c1988)FHL US/CAN Book 976.749 R48n
4. ↑ Desmond Walls Allen, Third Arkansas Union Cavalry, (Conway, Arkansas : Arkansas Research, c1987), pp. 33-92 FHL book 976.7 M28dc
5. ↑ Heritage Preservation Services, Civil War Battle Summaries by State, (accessed 2 August 2012).
6. ↑ Genealogical Society of Utah, Parish and Vital Records List (July 1998). Microfiche. Digital version at https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/images/5/5c/Igiarkansasad.pdf.
7. ↑ FamilySearch Wiki contributors, "Arkansas County Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)," in FamilySearch Wiki, accessed 18 April 2013.

• This page was last modified on 17 May 2013, at 20:21.
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