Sevier County Genealogy Records
Sevier County genealogy records begin in 1830, when this southwest Arkansas county was formed from Hempstead County. The county seat is De Queen, and the courthouse holds marriage registers, probate files, and land records for family history research in this part of southwest Arkansas near the Oklahoma border.
Sevier County at a Glance
Sevier County Courthouse Genealogy Records
The Sevier County Clerk's office is at 115 N. 3rd Street, De Queen, AR 71832, phone (870) 584-3055. The Clerk holds marriage records from 1830 and probate records from 1830. Sevier County was created on October 17, 1828, from Hempstead County, with courthouse records beginning in 1830. The Circuit Court Clerk at the courthouse holds divorce filings, court records, and land records. Birth and death records at the county level begin in 1914.
Sevier County is one of the older documented counties in southwest Arkansas, with records going back to 1830. The county sits near the Oklahoma (formerly Indian Territory) border, and its early settlers came from older southern states through a variety of routes, including through Tennessee and across the Red River country. The early courthouse records from the 1830s document these founding families as they established homesteads in this corner of Arkansas.
Sevier County was a parent county for both Polk County (formed 1844) and Little River County (formed 1867). Families in the Polk County area before 1844 and in the Little River County area before 1867 have their earlier records in the Sevier County courthouse. Researchers tracing families from Mena or Ashdown before those counties were formed should begin at the Sevier County courthouse in De Queen. For pre-1828 research, Hempstead County records at Hope go back to 1837 and cover the Sevier County area in the pre-formation period.
Note: Sevier County records go back to 1830 and served as the parent county for Polk County (1844) and Little River County (1867). Pre-1828 records are in Hempstead County at Hope.
Sevier County Genealogy on FamilySearch
The FamilySearch Sevier County wiki lists available records and links to digitized collections. Marriage records from 1830 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 Sevier County, taken two years after the county was formed. It captures households from the founding period and is a key document for tracing early southwest Arkansas families. The 1850 census, which names every household member, is the key antebellum document, with birthplace data pointing back to Tennessee, Alabama, and the older southern states.
FamilySearch has indexed Slave Schedules for Sevier County from 1850 and 1860. For African American genealogy, these schedules combined with the 1870 census and the Freedmen's Bureau records for southwest Arkansas form the standard documentary chain for tracing Black families in this county. The SARA collections in Washington, Arkansas are also relevant given the county's position in the southwest Arkansas region.
ARGenWeb Sevier County Resources
The ARGenWeb Sevier 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.
Sevier County cemeteries document families from the 1830s through the present. The ARGenWeb volunteers have transcribed a range of these burial sites, preserving records that document both the founding generation of settlers and families who came to the county in later decades.
The ARGenWeb Sevier County page provides cemetery records, family history submissions, and genealogical resources for researchers tracing southwest Arkansas families in the De Queen area.
Family histories on the ARGenWeb site for Sevier County trace families through the Hempstead County parent connection and into the daughter counties of Polk and Little River. Some submitted genealogies document family lines across this cluster of southwest Arkansas counties.
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 Sevier County. SARA holds county records, family papers, and historical manuscripts from this region and is especially valuable for Sevier County research given the county's early 1828 organization and its role as parent to Polk and Little River counties. The Washington archives can supplement what is available in the Sevier County courthouse for the earliest period of settlement.
The Arkansas State Archives in Little Rock holds Confederate pension files, military records, and microfilmed county materials for Sevier County. The Arkansas Department of Health holds birth and death records from 1914. Federal records are at the National Archives at Fort Worth, 501 W Felix Street, Fort Worth, TX 76115, phone (817) 831-5620.
Nearby Counties
Sevier County borders Hempstead County, Howard County, Polk County, and Little River County. The western border meets Oklahoma. Hempstead County is the parent county. Polk County and Little River County were both formed from Sevier County and hold post-formation records for families in those areas.