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| Marriage license for Taylor Kirkpatric and Sarah Bishop in Hempstead County, 1869, Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives |
Arkansas marriage records are filed in county
courthouses and recorded in each county’s own designated book. Arkansas has 75
counties, but some counties have more than one courthouse or county seat. The
task may seem daunting, but there are a few indexes that will help.
The Arkansas State Archives has printed marriage
indexes available for many counties. The Archives also hold marriage records
from all 75 counties on microfilm. Arkansas vital records also produced a
marriage index on microfiche, but it only covers 1933 to 1939.
In Arkansas, county marriage records do not include
parents’ names or dates of birth for the individuals getting married. Some
states, like Ohio, do include this information. Arkansas’s records, however, will
give you the residences of the individuals getting married and their ages. If
one of the people getting married is underage, researchers can sometimes find a
note attached from the parents or guardians that gives the couple permission to
wed.
Marriage records can provide the foundation to
interesting backstories. For example, if you find a note “do not publish”
written on the license, it means the couple didn’t want the marriage announced
in the newspaper. Sometimes couples even went to different counties to avoid
people knowing they were getting married. Finding those records can reveal
aspects about your relatives’ lives you never knew.
If you can’t find a marriage record in the county
you think your ancestors married in, you might look in newspapers. Many local
newspapers published names of people who took out marriage licenses in the
county. The Arkansas State Archives holds thousands of rolls of microfilm from
newspapers across Arkansas, and the odds are good you can find one for the area
you’re researching.
Some newspapers ran articles on recent engagements
and marriages. You might find a blurb about your ancestors getting married, the
dress she wore or other information. That information can lead you to find out
where they wed and if a license was applied for in a different county.
Lastly, you might check church records for a mention
in the minutes or register. The Arkansas State Archives keeps hundreds of
church minutes, registers, rolls and more in its archives. These records can be
found in a resource guide on our website at http://ahc.digital-ar.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p16790coll13/id/297.
Divorce
records can be a little trickier to find. Divorce records are also filed at a
county level. Generally, divorce records are filed in chancery or civil courts
unless, like in Pulaski County, they have designated a specific book for
divorces. Divorce records are county records, but on occasion, you may have to look
at circuit court records to find them.
Early
divorce cases are somewhat rare, but they did happen. In Arkansas, women could
not file for divorce. On some records, you will find the words: “on her account
or her friend,” which means a male filed for her. Later, in the late 1800s,
women could and did file on their own account.
After
finding when the couple divorced, the next step is to look at the loose court
records, if they exist. These records will have all the trial transcripts filed
to justify the dissolution of the marriage. Many of the early county records
are available on microfilm at the Arkansas State Archives. For more modern
divorce records you may need to contact the county courthouse or search through
online databases such as the Administrative Office of the Courts CourtConnect website
at https://caseinfo.arcourts.gov/cconnect/PROD/public/ck_public_qry_main.cp_main_idx
For
many researchers trying to narrow down when a divorce happened can be a
challenge. Many of these records have indexes at the beginning of the county
records, but if you can’t find information there, you can again turn to
newspapers. In the same section where the marriages are published, newspapers
often listed divorces. You can eliminate counties by browsing through the areas
you suspect the divorce took place. However, there is a small chance the
divorce wasn’t published.
Next
month, we will look at wills and probate records and how to use them in your
research.
Researchers
who need help can contact our staff. We are here to provide some research
services and to help individuals start their genealogical research. Find more
information about our services by contacting the Arkansas State Archives at
501-682-6900 or start researching by visiting our website. Researchers may also find records online through our
online catalog.
