Boone County Genealogy Records

Boone County genealogy records begin in 1869, the year the county was organized from parts of Carroll and Marion counties in north Arkansas. The county seat is Harrison, where the courthouse holds marriage registers, probate files, land records, and court documents for family history research. The Ozark terrain of Boone County attracted settlers from several states, and the county records reflect a diverse mix of families who put down roots here in the post-Civil War era. This page covers where to find Boone County genealogy records both online and at the courthouse.

Boone County Courthouse and Clerk Records

The Boone County Clerk's office is located at 100 N. Main Street, Harrison, AR 72601, phone (870) 741-8428. The Clerk maintains marriage records from 1869 and probate records from the same year. Marriage licenses are issued Monday through Friday. The Circuit Court Clerk at the same courthouse holds divorce records, court filings, and land records also dating to 1869.

Boone County was created on April 9, 1869, from Carroll County and Marion County. Families who lived in this area before 1869 would have had their records filed in whichever of those two counties covered their township. Carroll County records go back to 1834 for land records and 1860 for marriages, while Marion County records begin in 1836. If your Boone County ancestor was here before 1869, checking Carroll and Marion county records is a necessary step.

Birth and death records at the county level begin in 1914. Before that year, the best sources for vital information are census records, probate files, and church registers. Some families in the Ozarks kept Bible records that survive in private hands or in local archives, and those can sometimes be the only record of births and deaths before 1914.

Boone County Genealogy on FamilySearch

The FamilySearch Boone County wiki provides a detailed guide to genealogical records available for the county. Marriage records from 1869 to 1950 are part of the statewide Arkansas marriage index on FamilySearch, and Boone County is included in that collection. Probate records are also indexed, along with census records from 1870 forward.

The 1870 census is the first one available for Boone County and is a critical starting point for research. It names every household member, ages, birthplaces, and occupations. The census was taken just one year after the county was formed, so it reflects the earliest documented population. From 1870, you can work forward through later censuses and backward through Carroll and Marion county records to trace families across the full 19th century.

FamilySearch also links to digitized church records, some of which cover Boone County congregations from the 1870s and 1880s. Baptist and Methodist churches were common in north Arkansas, and some of their membership rolls and burial records survive in local archives or have been donated to the state.

ARGenWeb and Boone County Free Records

The ARGenWeb Boone County page offers free genealogical resources compiled by volunteers. The site includes cemetery transcriptions, family histories, and some transcribed official records. Cemetery surveys in Boone County have documented many rural burial grounds in the Ozark hills, some of which are on private land and not marked on any public map. If your ancestor died in Boone County before 1914, a cemetery survey may be the only record of their burial.

Family history submissions on ARGenWeb can also be helpful. Researchers who have spent years working on Boone County families sometimes post their findings here. Searching by surname is quick and free, and finding an existing submission can accelerate your own research significantly.

Vital Records for Boone County Genealogy

The Arkansas Department of Health maintains state vital records beginning in 1914. Birth and death certificates from Boone County are available through that office for events from 1914 onward. For earlier births and deaths, you need to search census records, probate files, and church registers. The state marriage index begins in January 1917, and divorces from January 1923. Earlier marriage records are at the county courthouse in Harrison.

State vital record fees are standardized: $12 for birth certificates and $10 for death certificates. These apply to certified copies. For uncertified research copies, fees may differ. Call the county courthouse directly to ask about fees for searching older marriage and probate records before making the trip.

State Archives and Genealogical Society

The Arkansas State Archives at 1100 North Street, Little Rock, AR 72201, phone (501) 682-6900, holds state-level records for all Arkansas counties including Boone. Their collections include Confederate pension files, military discharge records, land grants, and microfilmed county records. The Archives is open free of charge Monday through Friday and on the first and third Saturday of each month.

The Arkansas Genealogical Society publishes the quarterly "The Arkansas Family Historian" and maintains a research library in Little Rock. Their Ancestry Certificate program documents families with deep Arkansas roots and includes a submitted genealogy requirement. Membership is $25 for individuals. The society has members statewide who can sometimes answer county-specific questions through their network.

For federal records related to Boone County families, the National Archives at Fort Worth holds military pension files, federal court records, and other federal documentation. Their collection covers the full range of Arkansas counties, including Boone.

Land Records and Obituaries

The Bureau of Land Management database holds federal land patent records for Boone County going back to the original federal surveys of north Arkansas. Patents were issued to the first purchasers of federal land, and the BLM database indexes these by name, date, and location. Finding your ancestor's patent can tell you exactly where they first settled and when they purchased their land from the federal government.

The Arkansas Obituary Project has collected death notices from Harrison-area newspapers and from statewide publications. Obituaries from Boone County newspapers often named the deceased's parents, hometown, and surviving relatives, giving researchers family data that does not appear in any official record. The Harrison Daily Times and other local papers have contributed to this ongoing project.

Nearby Counties

Boone County borders several other north Arkansas counties. Check records in Carroll County, Newton County, Madison County, Marion County, Searcy County, and Baxter County when tracing families who moved through the Ozarks.