Lafayette County Genealogy Records
Lafayette County genealogy records begin in 1828, when this southwest Arkansas county was formed from Hempstead County. The county seat is Lewisville, and the courthouse holds marriage registers, probate files, and land records for family history research in this small county near the Texas and Louisiana borders.
Lafayette County at a Glance
Lafayette County Courthouse Genealogy Records
The Lafayette County Clerk's office is at 3 W. 3rd Street, Lewisville, AR 71845, phone (870) 921-4878. The Clerk holds marriage records from 1828 and probate records from 1828. Lafayette County was created on October 15, 1827, from Hempstead County, with courthouse records beginning the following year. The Circuit Court Clerk at the same courthouse holds divorce filings, court records, and land records from 1828. Birth and death records at the county level begin in 1914.
Lafayette County's 1828 record date makes it one of the earlier documented counties in southwest Arkansas. Lewisville was the original capital of Arkansas Territory in the late 1820s before the capital moved to Little Rock, which means the early Lafayette County records were created at a significant moment in Arkansas history. The probate and land records from the late 1820s and 1830s document the founding generation of families in this corner of the state.
Lafayette County was also the parent county for Columbia County, formed in 1852. This means that pre-1853 records for families who later lived in Columbia County are held in the Lafayette County courthouse in Lewisville. If you are tracing a family in Magnolia or elsewhere in Columbia County before 1853, the Lafayette County records are the place to start. Many families moved between these two neighboring counties in the mid-19th century.
Note: Lafayette County was formed from Hempstead County in 1827 and was itself the parent county for Columbia County, which was formed in 1852.
Lafayette County Genealogy on FamilySearch
The FamilySearch Lafayette County wiki lists available records and links to digitized collections. Marriage records from 1828 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 Lafayette County and captures households from the second year of the county's existence. Cross-referencing the 1830 census against the early courthouse records from 1828 and 1829 gives a picture of the founding families in this part of southwest Arkansas. Many Lafayette County pioneer families came from older southern states including Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, and the Carolinas, and the census birthplace data can trace them to those earlier homes.
FamilySearch also provides military records for Arkansas. Civil War pension files for Lafayette County veterans contain sworn statements with marriage dates, children's names, and birthplaces. Lafayette County was in the southwest Arkansas region that saw significant Confederate military activity, and many men from the county served in the Confederate Army. The pension files from Confederate veterans and their widows are among the most detailed family history records available for this period.
ARGenWeb Lafayette County Resources
The ARGenWeb Lafayette County page provides free genealogical resources compiled by volunteers. Cemetery surveys, family history submissions, and historical documents for this southwest Arkansas county are available on the site.
Lafayette County cemeteries include family graveyards dating back to the early settlement period in the late 1820s and 1830s. The ARGenWeb volunteers have transcribed a number of these burial sites, preserving stone readings for graves that document families from the territorial period. These are important records given that Lewisville was briefly the territorial capital, and the founding families here were among the earliest in Arkansas.
The ARGenWeb Lafayette County page provides cemetery records, family history submissions, and genealogical resources for researchers tracing southwest Arkansas families.
Family histories on the ARGenWeb site for Lafayette County sometimes trace families from their origins in older southern states through their settlement in this corner of Arkansas. The county's early record date of 1828 means that some compiled genealogies cover a particularly long span of documented Arkansas residence.
Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives
The Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives (SARA) at 201 Hwy 195 S, Washington, AR 71862, phone (870) 983-2633, covers 12 southwest Arkansas counties including Lafayette County. SARA holds county records, family papers, and historical manuscripts from this region. Washington, where SARA is located, was the first capital of Arkansas Territory, and its collections include early territorial-period records that complement what is available in the Lafayette County courthouse.
The Arkansas State Archives at 1100 North Street, Little Rock, (501) 682-6900, holds Confederate pension files, military records, and microfilmed county materials for Lafayette County. The Arkansas Department of Health holds birth and death records from 1914. The BLM land records database holds federal land patents for Lafayette County from the late 1820s onward.
Nearby Counties
Lafayette County borders Hempstead County, Columbia County, Miller County, and Little River County. The southern and western borders of Lafayette County meet Texas and Louisiana. Hempstead County holds pre-1828 records for Lafayette County families. Columbia County, formed from Lafayette in 1852, is the other key county for this research area.