Phillips County Genealogy Records
Phillips County genealogy records begin in 1820, making this one of the oldest documented counties in Arkansas. Formed from Arkansas County and Lawrence County, the county seat is Helena-West Helena, and the courthouse holds marriage registers, probate files, and land records for family history research in this historic Mississippi River delta county.
Phillips County at a Glance
Phillips County Courthouse Genealogy Records
The Phillips County Clerk's office is at 620 Cherry Street, Helena, AR 72342, phone (870) 338-5505. The Clerk holds marriage records from 1820 and probate records from 1820. Phillips County was created on May 1, 1820, from parts of Arkansas County and Lawrence County. The Circuit Court Clerk at the courthouse holds divorce filings, court records, and land records from 1820. Birth and death records at the county level begin in 1914.
Phillips County is one of the oldest counties in Arkansas, organized in 1820 just one year after Arkansas Territory was established. Helena, on the Mississippi River, was a major river port and one of the most significant cities in antebellum Arkansas. The early courthouse records from the 1820s document a sophisticated mercantile and planter society that had established itself quickly along the river. Phillips County courthouse materials from this early period are among the richest genealogical sources in the state.
Phillips County was a parent county for several later organizations. Crittenden County was formed from Phillips County in 1825, Monroe County in 1829, and Lee County in 1873. This means that families in those counties before their formation dates have their earlier records in the Phillips County courthouse. Researchers tracing delta families who later appear in Crittenden, Monroe, or Lee counties often need to work backward through Phillips County materials to find the pre-formation documentation.
Note: Phillips County records go back to 1820 and served as the parent county for Crittenden (1825), Monroe (1829), and Lee (1873) counties. Pre-formation records for those counties are in the Phillips County courthouse at Helena.
Phillips County Genealogy on FamilySearch
The FamilySearch Phillips County wiki lists available records and links to digitized collections. Marriage records from 1820 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 enumeration for Phillips County and shows the established planter families who had come to Helena and the surrounding delta in the 1820s. The 1850 census, which names every household member, is the key document for antebellum research. For African American genealogy, the 1850 and 1860 Slave Schedules for Phillips County list a large enslaved population under the names of Helena's prominent planter families. These schedules, combined with the 1870 census and the Freedmen's Bureau records, form the standard documentary chain for tracing Black families in Phillips County.
FamilySearch has indexed the Freedmen's Bureau records for east Arkansas, which include a large volume of material from the Helena area. The Bureau maintained an active presence in Helena given the city's strategic importance during the Civil War, and the records from 1865 to 1869 are among the most comprehensive in Arkansas for African American genealogy. Labor contracts, marriage registers, and ration records from the Helena Bureau office name many formerly enslaved individuals and their family connections.
ARGenWeb Phillips County Resources
The ARGenWeb Phillips County page provides free genealogical resources compiled by volunteers. Cemetery surveys, family history submissions, and historical documents for this historic Mississippi River delta county are available on the site.
Phillips County cemeteries include some of the oldest burial sites in Arkansas, with graves dating to the 1820s in the Helena area. The ARGenWeb volunteers have transcribed a range of these sites, including both the historic Helena cemeteries that document the planter class and rural burial grounds that preserve records of African American families from the post-Civil War period.
The ARGenWeb Phillips County page provides cemetery records, family history submissions, and genealogical resources for researchers tracing families in this historic Mississippi River delta county.
Family histories on the ARGenWeb site for Phillips County span nearly two centuries of documentation given the county's 1820 record start. Some compiled genealogies trace families through the full arc of Helena's development from river port to modern city, with records extending across the parent and daughter county relationships that shaped the east Arkansas delta.
Vital Records and State Archives
The Arkansas Department of Health holds birth and death records for Phillips County from 1914. The state marriage index starts in January 1917. For events before those dates, the county courthouse in Helena 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 Phillips County. Freedmen's Bureau records for east Arkansas are at the National Archives at Fort Worth, 501 W Felix Street, Fort Worth, TX 76115, phone (817) 831-5620. The BLM land records database holds federal land patents for Phillips County from the 1820s onward.
Nearby Counties
Phillips County borders Crittenden County, Lee County, Monroe County, Woodruff County, and St. Francis County. The eastern border runs along the Mississippi River. Crittenden, Monroe, and Lee counties were all formed from Phillips County and hold post-formation records for families who moved into those daughter counties.