Ashley County, Arkansas Genealogy

United States

Arkansas

Ashley County

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

Arkansas Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Hamburg Organized: November 30, 1848 Parent County(s): Drew Neighboring Counties Bradley  • Chicot  • Drew  • Union  • Morehouse (LA)  • West Carroll (LA)  • East Carroll (LA) Courthouse Location Map Adoption This page is available for adoption

County Information

Description

The county was named for United States Senator Chester Ashley. It is located in the southeastern area of the state.

County Courthouse

Ashley County Courthouse
215 E Jefferson Street
Hamburg, AR 71646
Phone: 870.853.2020
Ashley County Website

County Clerk has marriage, probate, and land records from 1848. 
Clerk Circuit Court has divorce records.

Ashley County, Arkansas Record Dates

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 Major Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1914	1848	1914	1849	1849	1849	1850
*State birth and death records began in 1914. Limited compliance until the 1920s

Record Loss

• 1921 - A courthouse fire in 1921 destroyed most of the county's 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.

Boundary Changes

• 1848--Ashley County was created 30 November 1848 from Chicot, Union and Drew Counties.

County seat: Hamburg

• Historical boundary changes at Newberry Library site 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.

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
Crossett Hamburg(county seat)	Montrose Parkdale	Portland Wilmot
Towns
Fountain Hill
Unincorporated communities
Beech Creek Crossing Berea Berlin Bovine Boydell Brushy Cremer Crossroad Donbey Elon Forest Park Addition Gulledge Jackson Kimball Lloyd Longview Crossing	Martinville Matoka Miller's Chapel Milo Mist Moore's Mill Mount Olive Mount Pleasant Oakhurst Addition Old Milo Petersburg Phelan Post Oak Promised Land Pugh Rawls	Riley Roark Rolfe Junction Snyder South Crossett Stillions Sulphur Springs Sunshine Thebes Trafalgar Unity Venice Wallace White Whitlow Whitlow Junction
Census-designated places
North Crossett	West Crossett
Townships
Banner Bayou Bearhouse Beech Creek Carter (contains Hamburg) De Bastrop (contains Parkdale) Egypt (contains Crossett, West Crossett, and most of North Crossett)	Elon Extra Longview Marais Saline Mill Creek (contains part of North Crossett) Montrose (contains Montrose) Portland (contains Portland)	Prairie Union White (contains Fountain Hill) Wilmot (contains Wilmot)

History Timeline

Events below were gleaned from the Ashley County section of Deirdre Kelley & Bill Norman, The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture

• By AD 1700, the area had no permanent villages.
• 1818 - The Quapaw ceded what would be Ashley County to the United States government.
• 1826 - When U.S. surveyor Nicholas Rightor entered the Arkansas Territory , he found settlers who had come to a land that they found to be abundantly fertile and in which game and fish were plentiful.
• 1848 - November 30 - Ashley County was organized.
• 1855 - By this time, many farms were producing cotton, corn, wheat, potatoes, and livestock. Timber was rafted down the Saline River.
• Ashley County experienced solid growth in the years leading up to the Civil War. From a population of 2,058 in 1850, the county had grown to 8,590 in 1860. The Civil War interrupted this growth, so that by 1870, the population had dropped to 8,042.

• Congress’s 1867 passage of “An Act for the More Efficient Government of the Rebel States” divided the South into five districts and implemented martial law in 1868.

• 1868 - When the Fourteenth Amendment was passed , Arkansas refused to ratify it.

• 1890's - The beginning of what was to become one of Arkansas’s most important economic developments: the wood products industry.

Resources

Biographies

• Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. Chicago, IL, USA: Goodspeed Publishing, 1890 — Online at Ancestry.com $

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Ashley, Arkansas online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Findagrave.com ARGenWeb ARGenWeb Archives Tombstone Project Arkansas Gravestones Cemetery Records by Interment Billion Graves
TombstoneTranscriptions in Print (Often more complete)	Family History Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	Findagrave.com Billion Graves Cemetery Records by Accessgenealogy FamilySearch Places
See Arkansas Cemeteries for more information

Census Records

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1850	2,058	—
1860	8,590	317.4%
1870	8,042	−6.4%
1880	10,156	26.3%
1890	13,295	30.9%
1900	19,734	48.4%
1910	25,268	28.0%
1920	23,410	−7.4%
1930	25,151	7.4%
1940	26,785	6.5%
1950	25,660	−4.2%
1960	24,220	−5.6%
1970	24,976	3.1%
1980	26,538	6.3%
1990	24,319	−8.4%
2000	24,209	−0.5%
2010	21,853	−9.7%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

Federal Census Records

Though the United States purchased Arkansas from the French in 1803, Anglo-American settlement of the area did not began in earnest until after the formal organization of the territory in 1819. Therefore, Arkansas does not appear in Federal Censuses before 1830. For links to federal census indexes, see Arkansas Census.

Territorial and State Census Records

State censuses were taken at the state-level and territorial censuses were taken by the federal government. See Arkansas Census for more information about censuses taken in Arkansas.

• 1819-1879 Arkansas, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1819-1870 at Ancestry.com - index and images ($)

Church Records

List of Churches and Church Parishes

• FamilySearch Places

Court Records

• Court records began in 1849

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups

African Americans

• 1864-1872 — Arkansas Freedman's Bureau Office Records at FamilySearch — browse able images only; Register of contracts, letters.

Guardianship

• 1817 – 1979 Arkansas Probate Records 1817-1979 at FamilySearch — images

Local Histories

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

• History of Ashley County, Arkansas. 1959. By Y.W. Etheridge. Van Buren, Ark. : Press-Argus. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Ancestry ($).
• Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas. 2 volumes. 1890. Chicago, IL, USA: Goodspeed Publishing. Online at: Vol. 1 - FamilySearch Digital Library, Vol. 2 - FamilySearch Digital Library, Vol. 1 - Internet Archive, Vol. 2 - Internet Archive, Google Books, Ancestry ($); At various libraries (WorldCat). Ashley County history begins on Page 874 in Vol. 2.

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places
• Arkansas State Archives State Maps Collection at Arkansas Digital Archives

Military Records

Civil War

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

- 2nd Battalion, Arkansas Calvalry (Confederate) , Company E

- 3rd Consolidated Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate)

- 8th Battalion, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate), Company F

- 8th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate)

Men from this county served in the 3rd Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate).

Online Records

• 1861-1865 - Arkansas Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index- How to Use this Collection
• 1890-1963 - Arkansas Confederate Soldier Home,1890-1963 at FamilySearch — index and images- How to Use this Collection
• 1891-1939 - Arkansas Ex-Confederate Pension Records, 1891-1939 at FamilySearch — index and images- How to Use this Collection
• 1901-1929 - Arkansas Confederate Pensions, 1901-1929 at FamilySearch — index and images- How to Use this Collection
• Captain Calvin L. Collier. They'll Do To Tie To by , USAF (Little Rock, Arkansas: Civil War Round Table Associates, 1959) p. 10 

Probate Records

Online Probate Indexes and Records

• 1783 – 1998 Arkansas Wills and Probate Records 1783-1998 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
• 1817 – 1979 Arkansas Probate Records 1817-1979 at FamilySearch — images- How to Use this Collection

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.

Tax Records

Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge is home to the American Alligator it is located in South-central Arkansas (Ashley County), Bradley, and Union Counties.

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.

Marriage

• 1779-1966 - Arkansas, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
• 1837 - 1957 — Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957 at FamilySearch Historical Records — Free; Index- How to Use this Collection
• 1848 - 1920 - Ashley County Marriage Books AA-T Index 1848-1920 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.
• 1860 - 1976 - Arkansas Church Marriages, 1860-1976 at FamilySearch — index and images- How to Use this Collection
• 1913 - 1951 - Arkansas County Marriage Books AA-T, 1-18 Index 1913-1951 in Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957 at FamilySearch - free.- How to Use this Collection
• 1917-1969 Arkansas, Marriage Certificates, 1917-1969 at Ancestry.com - index and images ($)

Death

• 1914-1969 Arkansas, Death Certificates, 1914-1969 at Ancestry.com - index and images ($)
• 1935-1961 Arkansas, Death Index, 1935-1961 at MyHeritage - index and images ($)

Divorce

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

Voter Records

• 1868-1910 - Arkansas, County Voter Registration Records, 1868-1910 at FamilySearch — index and images- How to Use this Collection

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in {{{1}}} County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Arkansas Archives and Libraries.

Family History Centers

Family History 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 family history center.

• Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

Libraries

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

• Major catalogs for books, microfilm, or collections pertaining to Ashley County
  • FamilySearch Catalog - Select Places within... for cities and towns
  • WorldCat - Click an item for libraries near you. For more information, see WorldCat Online Catalog.
  • Allen County Public Library - Located in Indiana, they are heavily involved in digitizing much of their collection.
  • Arkansas Digital Archives - A division of Arkansas State Archives, involved in organizing, digitizing, and maintaining the records of state and local history.
  • Local libraries and Arkansas Archives and Libraries may suggest other catalogs

Societies

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

Websites

Sites with online indexes or images of records

• ARGenWeb - Data may be submitted by individuals or complete transcriptions
• USGenWeb Archives - Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
• RootsWeb resources - Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions

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