Lonoke County Genealogy Records
Lonoke County genealogy records begin in 1873, when this central Arkansas county was formed from Pulaski and Prairie counties. The county seat is the city of Lonoke, and the courthouse holds marriage registers, probate files, and land records for family history research in this agricultural county east of Little Rock.
Lonoke County at a Glance
Lonoke County Courthouse Genealogy Records
The Lonoke County Clerk's office is at 301 N. Center Street, Lonoke, AR 72086, phone (501) 676-2368. The Clerk holds marriage records from 1873 and probate records from 1873. Lonoke County was created on April 16, 1873, from parts of Pulaski County and Prairie County. The Circuit Court Clerk at the courthouse holds divorce filings, court records, and land records from 1873. Birth and death records at the county level begin in 1914.
Lonoke County was formed in 1873 along the line of the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad, and the county's development in its early decades was closely tied to that rail corridor. The county seat of Lonoke grew as a railroad town, and many of the families documented in the early courthouse records came to the area in connection with agricultural development along the railroad line. The early land and probate records from the 1870s and 1880s document this founding generation of Lonoke County settlers.
For research before 1873, the two parent counties provide the earlier record base. Pulaski County records at Little Rock go back to 1820 and are especially deep because Little Rock has been the state capital since 1821. Prairie County records at Des Arc and DeValls Bluff go back to 1846. The portion of Lonoke County your ancestor lived in before the county was formed determines which parent county courthouse to search. Many families in the western part of Lonoke County came from Pulaski County records, while those in the eastern townships are more likely in Prairie County materials.
Note: Lonoke County was formed in 1873 from Pulaski and Prairie counties. Pre-1873 family records are held in those two parent county courthouses at Little Rock and Des Arc.
Lonoke County Genealogy on FamilySearch
The FamilySearch Lonoke 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 are indexed for the county, and census records run from 1880 through 1940.
The 1880 census is the first complete federal census for Lonoke County, taken seven years after the county was organized. It names every household member with ages, birthplaces, and occupations and is the standard starting point for Lonoke County family research. The census entries for Lonoke County in 1880 reflect the early agricultural character of the county, with many farm families documented alongside the merchants and tradespeople of the town of Lonoke itself.
FamilySearch has indexed Slave Schedules for Pulaski and Prairie counties from the 1850 and 1860 censuses. For African American genealogy in Lonoke County, these schedules document enslaved people in the parent county areas that later became Lonoke County. Cross-referencing the slave schedules against the 1870 and 1880 Lonoke County census population schedules is the primary method for tracing Black families in this county back through the slavery period. The Freedmen's Bureau records from central Arkansas also cover this area and are held at the National Archives at Fort Worth.
ARGenWeb Lonoke County Resources
The ARGenWeb Lonoke County page provides free genealogical resources compiled by volunteers. Cemetery surveys, family history submissions, and historical documents for this central Arkansas county are available on the site.
Lonoke County cemeteries include both church burial grounds and rural family plots that date back to the 1870s and 1880s. The ARGenWeb transcriptions preserve stone readings from these sites, which are especially useful for identifying family clusters in the years before vital records registration began in 1914.
The ARGenWeb Lonoke County page provides cemetery records, family history submissions, and genealogical resources for researchers tracing central Arkansas families east of Little Rock.
Family histories on the ARGenWeb site for Lonoke County trace families from the founding period in the 1870s through the 20th century. Because the county is close to Little Rock, some family histories document individuals who moved between Lonoke County and Pulaski County over time, which can help researchers track mobile families across county lines.
Lonoke County Clerk Office Records
The Lonoke County Clerk's office in the county courthouse handles marriage licenses, probate filings, and county court records. The courthouse is in downtown Lonoke, the small county seat city that shares its name with the county.
The Lonoke County Clerk's office at 301 N. Center Street holds marriage records from 1873 and probate records from 1873 for genealogical research.
Researchers visiting in person can access the marriage record books and probate index at the clerk's office. The Circuit Court Clerk, also in the courthouse, holds land records and court filings. For records from the county's earliest years in the 1870s, in-person research at the courthouse is often the most reliable option since older materials may not be fully indexed in online databases.
Vital Records and State Archives
The Arkansas Department of Health holds birth and death records for Lonoke County from 1914. The state marriage index starts in January 1917. For events before those dates, the county courthouse in Lonoke is the primary official source. Birth certificates cost $12 and death certificates are $10 per copy from the state.
The Arkansas State Archives in Little Rock holds Confederate pension files, military records, and microfilmed county materials for Lonoke County. The Archives is free and open Monday through Friday. 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.
Nearby Counties
Lonoke County borders Pulaski County, Prairie County, Jefferson County, Arkansas County, White County, and Faulkner County. Pulaski County and Prairie County are the two parent counties and hold pre-1873 records for Lonoke County families. Cabot, the largest city in Lonoke County, is located in the northwestern part of the county near the Pulaski County line.