Little River County Genealogy Records
Little River County genealogy records begin in 1867, when this southwest Arkansas county was formed from Hempstead and Sevier counties. The county seat is Ashdown, and the courthouse holds marriage registers, probate files, and land records for family history research near the Texas and Oklahoma borders.
Little River County at a Glance
Little River County Courthouse Genealogy Records
The Little River County Clerk's office is at 351 N. 2nd Street, Ashdown, AR 71822, phone (870) 898-7200. The Clerk holds marriage records from 1867 and probate records from 1867. Little River County was created in 1867 from parts of Hempstead County and Sevier County. The Circuit Court Clerk at the courthouse holds divorce filings, court records, and land records from 1867. Birth and death records at the county level begin in 1914.
Little River County sits in the far southwest corner of Arkansas, bordered by Texas to the south and with Oklahoma not far to the west. The county's location made it part of a migration corridor during the 19th century, as families from the older southern states moved into Arkansas and then continued west into Texas and Indian Territory. Little River County records from the late 1860s and 1870s capture families at this crossroads, some of whom stayed and some of whom moved on within a generation.
For research before 1867, the two parent counties provide the earlier record base. Hempstead County records at Hope go back to 1837 and cover the northern part of the Little River County area. Sevier County records at De Queen go back to 1828 and cover the southern portion. Which parent county to search depends on where in Little River County your ancestor was living before 1867. Both parent counties have courthouse records that predate the Civil War and can trace families through the antebellum period.
Note: Little River County was formed in 1867 from Hempstead and Sevier counties, so pre-1867 family records are held in those two parent county courthouses at Hope and De Queen.
Little River County Genealogy on FamilySearch
The FamilySearch Little River County wiki lists available records and links to digitized collections. Marriage records from 1867 are in the statewide Arkansas marriage index on FamilySearch. Probate records are indexed for the county, and census records run from 1870 through 1940.
The 1870 census is the earliest federal enumeration for Little River County and was taken just three years after the county was formed. It captures the founding generation of settlers in the new county and is an important document for identifying families who moved into the area during the post-Civil War period. The 1880 census provides fuller detail, listing every household member by name with ages, birthplaces, and occupations. Together these two censuses give a solid picture of who was in Little River County during its first two decades.
FamilySearch has indexed Slave Schedules for the parent counties of Hempstead and Sevier from the 1850 and 1860 censuses. For African American genealogy in Little River County, these schedules list enslaved individuals by age and sex under the enslaving household's name. Cross-referencing them against the 1870 census population schedule is the standard method for identifying families who moved from enslaved status into free households in the county's early years. The Freedmen's Bureau records from southwest Arkansas, held at the National Archives at Fort Worth, cover this region and include labor contracts and marriage registers from 1865 to 1869.
ARGenWeb Little River County Resources
The ARGenWeb Little River 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.
Little River County cemeteries reflect the county's position at the edge of Arkansas near the Texas border. Some burial sites document families who were in the county for only one or two generations before moving on, while others show families who stayed and put down deep roots. The ARGenWeb transcriptions cover both community cemeteries and small family plots on rural land.
The ARGenWeb Little River County page provides cemetery records, family history submissions, and genealogical resources for researchers tracing southwest Arkansas families near the Texas border.
Family histories on the ARGenWeb site for Little River County trace families from their origins in the parent counties and older southern states through their settlement in this corner of Arkansas. Some submissions document connections to Texas families, which is useful for researchers who need to follow a family across the state line.
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 Little River County. SARA holds county records, family papers, and historical manuscripts from this region. For Little River County researchers, SARA is a key supplement to the courthouse because it holds materials that document families across the southwest Arkansas region before the individual county boundaries were drawn.
The Arkansas State Archives in Little Rock holds Confederate pension files, military records, and microfilmed county materials for Little River County. Federal records including Freedmen's Bureau materials are at the National Archives at Fort Worth, 501 W Felix Street, Fort Worth, TX 76115, phone (817) 831-5620. The Arkansas Department of Health holds birth and death records from 1914.
Nearby Counties
Little River County borders Hempstead County, Sevier County, Miller County, and Lafayette County. Hempstead County and Sevier County are the two parent counties and hold pre-1867 records for Little River County families. The southern border meets Texas.