Izard County Genealogy Records
Izard County genealogy records begin in 1825, when this north Arkansas Ozark county was formed from Independence County. The county seat is Melbourne, and the courthouse holds marriage registers, probate files, and land records from 1825 for family history research spanning 200 years of settlement in this rural part of the Ozark highlands.
Izard County at a Glance
Izard County Courthouse Genealogy Records
The Izard County Clerk's office is at 9 E. Main Street, Melbourne, AR 72556, phone (870) 368-4316. The Clerk holds marriage records from 1825 and probate records from 1825. Izard County was created on October 27, 1825, from Independence County, with courthouse records beginning in the same year. The Circuit Court Clerk at the same courthouse holds divorce filings, court records, and land records from 1825. Birth and death records at the county level begin in 1914.
Izard County is one of the older counties in Arkansas, and its 1825 start date means that the courthouse record base is nearly 200 years deep. The county sits in the Ozark hills along the White River and its tributaries, and early settlement in this area followed the river valleys. Many pioneer families came from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia, and the early courthouse records from 1825 through the 1840s document the founding generation of these Ozark settlers.
Izard County was itself the parent county for several later counties including Fulton (1842) and Cleburne (1883). This means that researchers looking for pre-formation records of families who later settled in Fulton or Cleburne counties may find those records in the Izard County courthouse in Melbourne. Understanding this parent-child county relationship is essential for tracing families through the various county reorganizations in north-central Arkansas.
Note: Izard County was formed from Independence County in 1825 and later became the parent county for Fulton County (1842) and part of Cleburne County (1883).
Izard County Genealogy on FamilySearch
The FamilySearch Izard County wiki lists available records and links to digitized collections. Marriage records from 1825 are 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 available for Izard County and names heads of household from just five years after the county was formed. This early census coverage means that researchers can cross-reference the census against marriage and probate records from the same period to build very detailed family pictures for the founding generation of Ozark settlers. Many families who appear in the 1830 Izard County census were recent arrivals from Tennessee, Kentucky, or Virginia.
FamilySearch also provides military records for Arkansas. Civil War pension files for Izard County veterans are available through FamilySearch and contain detailed family history information. Like many Ozark counties, Izard County had significant Unionist sentiment during the war, and some men from the county served in Union regiments. Both Confederate and Union pension files are available and typically name spouses, children, and birthplaces.
ARGenWeb Izard County Resources
The ARGenWeb Izard County page provides free genealogical resources compiled by volunteers. Cemetery surveys, family history submissions, and historical documents for this north Arkansas county are available on the site.
Izard County has many small family cemeteries established on private farmland across the Ozark hills during the 19th century. The ARGenWeb volunteers have transcribed a number of these rural burial sites, and their records document graves that date back to the earliest settlement period. Some stones record families from the 1820s and 1830s that are only named in the courthouse records of the same period.
The ARGenWeb Izard County page provides cemetery records, family history submissions, and genealogical resources for researchers tracing families in the north Arkansas Ozarks.
Family histories on the ARGenWeb site for Izard County sometimes trace families from their origins in Tennessee, Kentucky, or Virginia through their arrival in the Ozark hills in the 1820s and 1830s. Given the county's record depth going back to 1825, some submitted genealogies cover six or seven generations of Izard County residents. Searching by surname is always a productive early step.
Vital Records and State Archives
The Arkansas Department of Health holds birth and death records for Izard County from 1914. The state marriage index starts in January 1917. For events before those dates, the county courthouse in Melbourne 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, and microfilmed county materials for Izard County. The Northeast Arkansas Regional Archives (NEARA) in Powhatan is a closer regional option for Izard County researchers. 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. The BLM land records database holds federal land patents for Izard County from the 1820s onward.
Nearby Counties
Izard County borders Independence County, Sharp County, Fulton County, Baxter County, Stone County, and Cleburne County. Independence County holds pre-1825 records for Izard County families. Izard County itself holds pre-formation records for Fulton County families who lived in that area before 1842.