Faulkner County Genealogy Records
Faulkner County genealogy records begin in 1873, when this central Arkansas county was formed from Pulaski and Conway counties. The county seat is Conway on Interstate 40 north of Little Rock, and the courthouse holds marriage registers, probate files, and court records for family history research from that year through the present.
Faulkner County at a Glance
Faulkner County Courthouse Genealogy Records
The Faulkner County Courthouse is at 801 Locust Street, Conway, AR 72032, phone (501) 450-4910. The County Clerk maintains marriage records from 1873 and probate records from 1873. Faulkner County was created on April 12, 1873, from Pulaski County and Conway County. Despite a courthouse fire in the county's history, no record loss was reported. The Circuit Court Clerk holds court records from 1873, chancery court records from 1873 to 1955, and land records from 1873. Birth and death records at the county level begin in 1914.
Faulkner County was formed from Conway County and Pulaski County. Families who lived in this area before April 1873 will appear in one of those two parent counties. Conway County records in Morrilton include land records from 1825 and probate records from 1837, while Pulaski County records in Little Rock go back to the early territorial period. Determining which parent county to search depends on which township your ancestor lived in before Faulkner County was created.
The county is home to three private universities — Hendrix College, the University of Central Arkansas, and Central Baptist College — and has historical ties to the Methodist and Baptist traditions that influenced much of central Arkansas settlement. Church records from the area can supplement courthouse files for families who were members of early Methodist and Baptist congregations in the county's towns and rural areas.
Note: Faulkner County was formed in 1873 from Pulaski and Conway counties, so pre-1873 family records for this area are held in those two parent county courthouses.
Faulkner County Genealogy on FamilySearch
The FamilySearch Faulkner County wiki lists available records and links to digitized collections. Marriage records from 1873 are in the statewide Arkansas marriage index on FamilySearch. Probate records from 1873 to 1950 are indexed. Court records from 1873 to 1900, dockets from 1873 to 1912, and chancery court records from 1873 to 1955 are all accessible through FamilySearch. Census records for the county run from 1880 through 1940.
The 1880 census is the first complete federal census for Faulkner County, taken seven years after the county was formed. It lists every household member with ages, birthplaces, and relationships, and cross-referencing it against early courthouse records is a standard method for building family groups in the county. Many Faulkner County families in 1880 had recently moved from Conway or Pulaski county, and the census birthplace data traces them back through those counties to older southern states.
FamilySearch has digitized many of the Faulkner County court and chancery records from the 19th century. These records are searchable online and include civil cases, estate settlements, and guardianship proceedings that can name family members not mentioned in other sources. If you have hit a dead end in probate or census records, the chancery court files are worth searching for mentions of your family name.
ARGenWeb Faulkner County Resources
The ARGenWeb Faulkner County page provides free genealogical resources compiled by volunteers. The site includes cemetery transcriptions, family history submissions, and links to additional resources for this central Arkansas county.
Cemetery records in Faulkner County include both urban burial grounds in Conway and rural farm cemeteries scattered across the county's townships. The ARGenWeb volunteers have documented many of these sites, and their transcriptions preserve stone readings for graves that have weathered since the surveys were conducted.
The ARGenWeb Faulkner County page provides cemetery records, family history submissions, and genealogical resources for researchers tracing families in this central Arkansas county.
The Genealogy Trails Faulkner County page is another free resource with a broader collection of materials. It includes biographies, birth and death records, census records, church records, marriage records, military records, and obituaries. Some of the obituary transcriptions from Conway and other Faulkner County newspapers are particularly useful for identifying family connections that are not in courthouse files.
Vital Records and State Archives
The Arkansas Department of Health maintains birth and death records for Faulkner County from 1914. The state marriage index starts in January 1917. For events before those dates, the courthouse in Conway is the 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, and microfilmed county materials for Faulkner County. The Arkansas Genealogy death records index for Faulkner County covers 1924 to 1933 and provides an alphabetical listing with dates that can help narrow down searches before you request a certified copy from the state.
Cities in Faulkner County
The qualifying city in Faulkner County for this site is Conway, the county seat and one of the fastest-growing cities in Arkansas. Conway has its own page with city-specific genealogy resources and courthouse information.
Nearby Counties
Faulkner County borders Conway County, Perry County, Pulaski County, Saline County, Van Buren County, and Cleburne County. The parent counties of Pulaski and Conway hold pre-1873 records for families who lived in the Faulkner County area before the county was formed.