Crittenden County Genealogy Records

Crittenden County genealogy records go back to 1826, making this one of the older documented counties in the state. The county seat is Marion, on the Mississippi River in the far northeast corner of Arkansas, and the courthouse holds marriage registers, probate files, and land records from that early date for family history research.

Crittenden County Courthouse Genealogy Records

The Crittenden County Clerk's office is at 85 Jackson Street, Marion, AR 72364, phone (870) 739-3242. The Clerk holds marriage records from 1826 and probate records from 1826. Crittenden County was created on October 22, 1825, from Phillips County, and courthouse record-keeping began the following year. The Circuit Court Clerk at the courthouse holds divorce filings, court records, and land records from the same period. Birth and death records at the county level begin in 1914.

Crittenden County sits along the Mississippi River and was one of the wealthiest cotton-producing areas in Arkansas before the Civil War. The plantation economy meant that a large enslaved population lived and worked here, and the records from this period document both the families who enslaved people and some records related to the enslaved individuals themselves. Probate inventories from the antebellum period can list the names and ages of enslaved people as part of estate inventories, and these records are now public.

The county's long record history is unusual for this part of Arkansas. Having marriage and probate records from 1826 means that researchers can trace families back to the Arkansas territorial period in the courthouse itself, without needing to rely solely on census and land records. The 1830 census is the earliest federal census for Crittenden County, and it names heads of household from the period when these early courthouse records were being created. Cross-referencing census entries against probate files and deed records from the same years can build a detailed picture of early Crittenden County families.

Crittenden County Genealogy on FamilySearch

The FamilySearch Crittenden County wiki guides you to available records and digitized collections for the county. Marriage records from 1826 are included in the statewide Arkansas marriage index on FamilySearch. Probate records are indexed for the county, and census records run from 1830 through 1940.

The 1830 census is the earliest federal census for Crittenden County and captures households from the territorial period when the county had only been organized for five years. The antebellum censuses for Crittenden County include Slave Schedules listing enslaved people by age and sex under the enslaving household's name. These schedules are searchable on FamilySearch and are an important tool for tracing African American families who were enslaved in Crittenden County before the Civil War.

FamilySearch also links to military records for Arkansas. Civil War records for Crittenden County are significant because the county was occupied by Union forces for much of the war, being located directly across the Mississippi from Memphis, Tennessee. Union military records, including pension files for Black soldiers who served in the United States Colored Troops, may include men from Crittenden County. These records are accessible through FamilySearch and the National Archives.

ARGenWeb Crittenden County Resources

The ARGenWeb Crittenden County page provides free genealogical resources compiled by volunteers. Cemetery surveys, family history submissions, and historical documents are available on the site.

Crittenden County cemeteries range from large family graveyards of the plantation families to smaller community and church cemeteries throughout the county. Some cemeteries contain both white and Black burials from the antebellum period, and volunteer transcribers have documented some of those graves on the ARGenWeb site. The transcribed records are particularly valuable for cemeteries that have been lost to development or are on private property.


The ARGenWeb Crittenden County page provides cemetery records, family histories, and genealogical resources for researchers tracing northeast Arkansas delta families.

Family histories on the ARGenWeb site for Crittenden County sometimes trace both white and Black families through multiple generations, documenting connections between the pre-Civil War period and the post-war era. Given the county's proximity to Memphis and its role as a crossing point on the Mississippi, some family histories document migration patterns into and out of the county that span both Arkansas and Tennessee.

African American Genealogy in Crittenden County

Crittenden County has a significant African American genealogy heritage given its history as one of the wealthiest cotton-producing counties in Arkansas. Key sources for tracing Black families include the Freedmen's Bureau records from 1865 to 1872, held at the National Archives at Fort Worth. These records cover northeast Arkansas and include labor contracts, marriage registers, and ration records that name formerly enslaved individuals.

Because Crittenden County was occupied by Union forces during the Civil War, there are also military records related to Black men who enlisted in the United States Colored Troops (USCT) from this area. These service records and pension files are held at the National Archives and contain detailed information about the soldiers and their families. The pension files in particular can name wives, children, and parents of the veteran, which is genealogically essential for tracing families that were not documented in pre-war courthouse records.

Vital Records and State Archives

The Arkansas Department of Health holds birth and death records for Crittenden County from 1914. The state marriage index begins in January 1917. For earlier records, the county courthouse in Marion is the source. Birth certificates cost $12 and death certificates are $10 from the state.

The Arkansas State Archives in Little Rock holds state-level records including Confederate pension files, military records, and microfilmed Crittenden County materials. The Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives (NEARA) in Powhatan is the closer regional repository for northeast Arkansas records. The Archives is free and open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m., plus the first and third Saturday of each month.

Nearby Counties

Crittenden County borders Phillips County, St. Francis County, Cross County, Mississippi County, and Poinsett County. The Mississippi River forms the eastern border with Tennessee and Mississippi. Families in this part of the delta often had ties across state lines, and checking Shelby County, Tennessee records is frequently necessary for Crittenden County research.