Mississippi County Genealogy Records
Mississippi County genealogy records begin in 1834, when this northeast Arkansas delta county was formed from Crittenden County. Mississippi County operates two separate district courthouses — Blytheville for the Northern District and Osceola for the Southern District — and identifying your ancestor's district is the first step before researching county records.
Mississippi County at a Glance
Mississippi County Courthouse Genealogy Records
Mississippi County has two clerk offices. The Northern District Clerk is at 200 W. Walnut Street, Blytheville, AR 72315, phone (870) 762-2332. The Southern District Clerk is at 210 W. Hale Avenue, Osceola, AR 72370, phone (870) 563-6471. Each district maintains its own marriage records, probate records, and court files. Records in both districts date from 1834. Birth and death records at the county level begin in 1914.
Mississippi County was created on November 1, 1833, from Crittenden County and sits at the very northeast tip of Arkansas along the Mississippi River. The county is entirely in the delta flatlands and was one of the state's major cotton-producing regions. The two-district structure reflects the county's size and the difficulty of traveling across the flat but extensive county. Families in the northern townships near Blytheville filed their records in the Blytheville courthouse, while families in the southern townships near Osceola used the courthouse there.
Mississippi County has a deep African American genealogy heritage given its delta cotton history. The county had a large enslaved population before the Civil War, and the Freedmen's Bureau records from 1865 to 1869 for this area are an important source for tracing Black families. For pre-1834 research, Crittenden County records at Marion go back to 1826 and cover the entire Mississippi County area before the county was organized. Crittenden County is the first place to look for families who were in this part of northeast Arkansas before 1834.
Note: Mississippi County has two district courthouses. The Northern District courthouse is in Blytheville and the Southern District courthouse is in Osceola. Records for each district are maintained separately.
Mississippi County Genealogy on FamilySearch
The FamilySearch Mississippi County wiki lists available records and links to digitized collections. Marriage records from 1834 are in the statewide Arkansas marriage index on FamilySearch. Probate records are indexed for the county, and census records run from 1840 through 1940.
The 1840 census is the first federal enumeration for Mississippi County and shows the early delta farming population spread across the two districts. For African American genealogy in Mississippi County, the 1870 and 1880 census population schedules are the key post-war documents. The 1870 census names formerly enslaved individuals as free heads of household for the first time and is a primary tool for identifying Black families in the county after emancipation.
FamilySearch has indexed the antebellum Slave Schedules for Crittenden County, which covered the Mississippi County area before 1834, as well as the Slave Schedules for Mississippi County itself from 1850 and 1860. These schedules list enslaved people by age and sex under the enslaving household's name. Cross-referencing these against the 1870 census population schedule and the Freedmen's Bureau records is the standard method for tracing African American families in this county back through the slavery period. Blytheville Public Library also holds local genealogy resources and microfilm collections for the northern district.
ARGenWeb Mississippi County Resources
The ARGenWeb Mississippi County page provides free genealogical resources compiled by volunteers. Cemetery surveys, family history submissions, and historical documents for this northeast Arkansas delta county are available on the site.
Mississippi County cemeteries span both the northern and southern districts and include both plantation-era family graveyards and community burial grounds that document African American families from the post-Civil War period. The ARGenWeb transcriptions cover sites in both the Blytheville and Osceola areas, giving researchers a way to identify which district a family was centered in.
The ARGenWeb Mississippi County page provides cemetery records, family history submissions, and genealogical resources for researchers tracing northeast Arkansas delta families.
Family histories on the ARGenWeb site for Mississippi County document families from both districts and sometimes trace connections across the Mississippi River into the Missouri and Tennessee counties on the opposite bank, which is relevant because some families moved back and forth across the river in the 19th century.
Vital Records and State Archives
The Arkansas Department of Health holds birth and death records for Mississippi County from 1914. The state marriage index starts in January 1917. For events before those dates, the appropriate district courthouse is the primary 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 Mississippi County. Freedmen's Bureau records for northeast Arkansas are at the National Archives at Fort Worth, 501 W Felix Street, Fort Worth, TX 76115, phone (817) 831-5620.
Nearby Counties
Mississippi County borders Crittenden County, Poinsett County, Greene County, and Clay County. The eastern border runs along the Mississippi River. Crittenden County is the parent county and holds pre-1834 records for Mississippi County families. Blytheville, in the Northern District, is the largest city in the county.