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County Resources, Lawrence County

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Marriage Records of Lawrence County, Arkansas, 1820-1850
By James Logan Morgan, ISBN 1-56546-167-3, 40 pages, $12.00
Click here to view a list of people included
Marriage records are vital to genealogists! Researchers interested in Lawrence County are fortunate the early records are extant. This compilation is taken from the earliest available books, and supplemented with newspaper items and census records. The names of the parties are given, along with their ages and residences when listed in the record, and the date of the marriage along with the name of the person who performed the ceremony. In some cases, names of parents, witnesses, previous spouses, and others are mentioned.

Early Lawrence County, Arkansas, Records, 1817-1830
By Marion Stark Craig, ISBN 1-56546-071-5, 52 pages, $15.00

Great news for researchers interested in northern Arkansas in territorial times: this book contains a full transcription of Lawrence County, Arkansas, Circuit Court Records, 1818-1830, and abstracts from Lawrence County Deed Book B, 1817-1825. The Circuit Court records include the Court of Common Pleas records (1821), which existed for a short time in Arkansas. All these records can be very helpful to genealogists--even minute details can add color to an ancestor's life. (The records show one man's apology to a woman about whom he had made slanderous remarks.) Seemingly mundane court matters at least show the person was alive at a particular time. Land records are very important in tracing family lines--often marriages are implied and family relationships are mentioned. Lawrence County was formed January 15, 1815, as part of Missouri Territory. It included most of the northern part of what is now Arkansas. The first post office in Arkansas was established at Davidsonville, the first seat of Lawrence County, on June 28, 1817. Parts of Lawrence County went to form Independence County in 1820, Greene County in 1833, Randolph County in 1835, and Sharp County in 1868.

Lawrence County, Arkansas, Tax Records, 1829-1838
By Burton Ray Knotts, ISBN 1-56546-095-2, 108 pages, $18.00

Tax records are a wonderful source for family historians. They show, year by year, who's living in the county, and what they're paying taxes on. Land descriptions often place those folks on the map. In 1829, Lawrence County included most of what is now Sharp, Randolph, Clay, Greene, Craighead, and Poinsett Counties. If you have early families in these counties, this book is a must for you. It contains a transcription of the information just as found in the original records and a full-name index to the material.

Lawrence County, Arkansas, Loose Probate Papers, 1815-1890
By Marion S. Craig, ISBN 0-941765-81-4, 300 pages, $28.00

Researchers are fortunate the loose packets of papers filed in connection with probate court cases have been preserved for Lawrence County, the parent county of Greene (1833), Independence (1820), Randolph (1835), and Sharp (1868) Counties. Dr. Marion Stark Craig created this volume as a finding aid/index to the 26 rolls of microfilm containing the probate case files. Originally published 1983, it was reprinted by Morgan Books 1986, and is now available from Arkansas Research.

Families of Confederate Soldiers of Lawrence County, Arkansas, 1863
By James Logan Morgan, ISBN 0-941765-83-0, 23 pages, $10.00

During the war, state aid was provided to needy families of soldiers, and the resulting records show soldiers' names, units, status, county from which enrolled, and names and ages of wives and children. Originally published 1982.

Arkansas Land Patents: Jackson, Lawrence, and Woodruff Counties
ISBN 1-56546-027-8, 79 pages, $14.00

What are land patents? All of what is now Arkansas was once owned by the federal government--it is a public domain land state. People who purchased land from the federal government received documents called land patents. Land was obtained through purchase, military warrants, homesteads, scrip acts and other laws that allowed the land to be transferred out of federal hands. The paperwork generated in those sales can be very helpful to genealogists. Copies of the land patents make interesting additions to published family histories but the land entry case files are most apt to have helpful details about families or clues that help piece together information from other sources.

What information is included? The county volumes of land patents list patentee's name, volume and page of the patent book, land office, document and miscellaneous document numbers, type of transaction, precise legal description, and number of acres. Introductory information describes in great detail how to get copies of the patents and land entry case files, how to use other land record sources, how to integrate the information with other sources, what is found in a typical homestead case file, where and when the Arkansas land offices operated, and a selected bibliography. County maps are also included. The time period covered by this information is earliest settlement through 30 June 1908. Information from 156,784 patent documents is included. These county volumes are based on current-day county boundaries.

Arkansas Confederate Pension Applications from Fulton, Independence, Izard, Lawrence, Randolph and Sharp Counties
ISBN 0-941765-59-8, 44 pp, 1,849 veterans, $10.00

This book is an index to Confederate veterans who applied for pensions from the State of Arkansas. Information includes: veteran's name, widow or mother's name, company, unit, year(s) of enrollment, county from which applied and death dates of the veteran and his widow. Also included is a list of pensioners granted awards through legislative acts and a list of residents of the Confederate Home. Pensioners in this book are cross-referenced to the 1911 Arkansas Confederate Veteran census. A detailed summary of pension legislation and suggestions for further research are included. Pensions were based on the state of residence at the time of eligibility.

Arkansas State Donation and Swamp Lands: Lawrence, Randolph, and Sharp Counties
Compiled by Desmond Walls Allen, ISBN 1-56546-269-6, 117 pages, $18.00
Click here to view the names listed in this book

See our detailed explanation about donation and swamp lands under our "Land Records" category. (Then click your "back" browser button to return to this page.)

Index to Arkansas' World War I Soldiers from Lawrence, Randolph, and Sharp Counties
ISBN 1-56546-237-8, 58 pages, $15.00

Click here to view a list of Lawrence County World War I Soldiers

Click here to learn more about these records on our World War I page

Lawrence County was created: 15 January 1815.
Parent County: New Madrid Co., Missouri.
Progeny Counties: Greene 1833, Independence 1820, Randolph 1835, Sharp 1868.
County Boundary Changes: E boundary defined 30 October 1823, line with Independence changed 26 December 1840, part annexed to Fulton 18 January 1855, part to Randolph 18 January 1861, part annexed from Sharp 21 March 1917 and part annexed to Sharp 24 March 1917.
County Records: Records are mostly extant from county formation.

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