Dallas County Genealogy Records
Dallas County genealogy records begin in 1846, a year after the county was formed from Clark and Bradley counties. The county seat is Fordyce in south-central Arkansas, and the courthouse holds marriage registers, probate files, and land records for family history research spanning nearly 180 years of settlement in this south Arkansas county.
Dallas County at a Glance
Dallas County Courthouse Genealogy Records
The Dallas County Clerk's office is at 3rd and Oak Street, Fordyce, AR 71742, phone (870) 352-2307. The Clerk holds marriage records from 1846 and probate records from 1846. Dallas County was created on January 1, 1845, from Clark County and Bradley County, and courthouse record-keeping began the following year. The Circuit Court Clerk at the same courthouse holds divorce filings, court records, and land records from 1846. Birth and death records at the county level begin in 1914.
Dallas County is a rural south Arkansas county whose early economy centered on agriculture and later on the timber industry. Families who settled here in the 1840s and 1850s typically came from the parent counties of Clark and Bradley or from older southern states through those counties. The probate files from the antebellum period are detailed and often list extensive inventories of personal property and land holdings. For families in this part of Arkansas, these probate inventories can provide the most complete picture of a household's composition and connections that you will find in any single document.
Because Dallas County was formed from Clark and Bradley counties, pre-1846 records for families who lived in this area are held in those two parent counties. Clark County records begin in 1840, and Bradley County records begin in 1843. If your Dallas County ancestor disappears from the record before 1846, checking Clark and Bradley county courthouses is the logical next step.
Note: Dallas County was formed in 1845 from Clark and Bradley counties, so pre-1846 family records for this area are held in those two parent county courthouses.
Dallas County Genealogy on FamilySearch
The FamilySearch Dallas County wiki lists available records and links to digitized collections. Marriage records from 1846 are included in the statewide Arkansas marriage index on FamilySearch. Probate records are indexed for the county, and census records run from 1850 through 1940.
The 1850 census is the first federal census for Dallas County and captures the founding generation of settlers just four years after the county was formed. It lists heads of household with ages, birthplaces, and occupations, and it can be cross-referenced with the early marriage and probate records from the county clerk to build family groups. Many Dallas County families in the 1850 census were born in Tennessee, Georgia, the Carolinas, or Virginia, and the census birthplace data helps you trace them to those pre-Arkansas origins.
FamilySearch also links to military records for Arkansas including Civil War pension files and service records for Dallas County veterans. Many families in south Arkansas had members who served on both sides during the war, and the pension files from both the Confederate and Union applications provide detailed family history information. The pension application sworn statements describe marriages, children, and the veteran's pre-war life in detail that courthouse records rarely match.
ARGenWeb Dallas County Resources
The ARGenWeb Dallas County page provides free genealogical resources compiled by volunteers. Cemetery surveys, family history submissions, and historical documents for this south Arkansas county are available on the site.
Rural Dallas County has many family graveyards established on private farmland during the 19th century. The ARGenWeb cemetery records document a number of these burial sites, including stones that are now barely legible in the original. The volunteer transcriptions preserve death dates and epitaphs that help researchers identify specific individuals and establish family relationships that courthouse records do not directly address.
The ARGenWeb Dallas County page provides cemetery records, family history submissions, and genealogical resources for researchers tracing south-central Arkansas families.
Family histories posted on the ARGenWeb site for Dallas County sometimes trace families from their origins in older southern states through their settlement in Clark or Bradley county and into Dallas County after 1845. These compiled genealogies can save significant research time if another researcher has already documented your family line. Searching by surname on the site is free and quick.
Vital Records and State Archives
The Arkansas Department of Health maintains birth and death records for Dallas County from 1914. The state marriage index starts in January 1917. For events before those dates, the county courthouse in Fordyce is the primary official source. Birth certificates cost $12 and death certificates are $10 per copy from the state.
The Arkansas State Archives at 1100 North Street, Little Rock, (501) 682-6900, holds Confederate pension files, military records, land grants, and microfilmed county materials for Dallas County. The Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives (SARA) at 201 Hwy 195 S, Washington, AR 71862, phone (870) 983-2633, covers 12 southwest Arkansas counties and holds records that supplement the county courthouse holdings. SARA is a closer option for Dallas County researchers than the main State Archives in Little Rock. The Archives is free to visit 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.
Land Records and Federal Resources
The Bureau of Land Management database holds federal land patents for Dallas County from the 1840s onward. These patents document the original federal land transfers in the county and can establish when your ancestor first purchased land after the county was formed. Many Dallas County patents date to the late 1840s and 1850s when families were actively buying land in this part of south Arkansas.
Federal records for Dallas County are at the National Archives at Fort Worth, 501 W Felix Street, Fort Worth, TX 76115, phone (817) 831-5620. Military pension files, Freedmen's Bureau records from 1865 to 1872, and federal census records for Arkansas are all available there. The Freedmen's Bureau collection for south Arkansas covers Dallas County and includes labor contracts, ration records, and registers of freedpeople that can help trace African American families in the county after the Civil War.
Nearby Counties
Dallas County borders Clark County, Bradley County, Cleveland County, Calhoun County, and Ouachita County. Families in south-central Arkansas often had connections across these county lines, and the parent counties of Clark and Bradley are especially important for pre-1846 Dallas County research.