ARKANSAS GENEALOGY

LOCAL HISTORIES, LOCAL RECORDS

To determine the Newberry's holdings for Arkansas local histories and record transcriptions, consult the computer and card catalogs under the name of the county as a subject heading. The majority of such titles are found in the computer catalog, very few in the card catalog. Occasionally such works will be found under a subject heading for a city or town (for example, Hot Springs). The following titles should also be of interest:

Allen, Desmond W. Arkansas Death Record Index. Conway, AK: Arkansas Research, 1996-1997.
3 volumes on the 2nd floor open shelf covering: 1914-1923 (Call No. Local History Ref F410.A553), 1924-1933 (Call No. Local History Ref F410.A555), and 1934-1940 (Call No. Local History Ref F410.A554).

Allen, Desmond W. Arkansas Land Patents Granted Through 30 June 1908. Conway, AK: Arkansas Research, 1991. 57 volumes.
Call No. folio F410.A45.
Consult computer catalog for county by county volume contents.

Arkansas Family Historian. The quarterly of the Arkansas Genealogical Society.
Volumes 1-31 (1962-1993) on microfiche (Call No. Microfiche 2820), thereafter available in hard copy (Call No. folio F410.A7).
See also: Cemetery Inscriptions Published in Thirty Years of the Arkansas Family Historian (Call No. folio F410.C45 1992).

MILITARY

Also see the Newberry pathfinder sheet Confederate Research.

Allen, Desmond W. Index to Arkansas Confederate Soldiers. Conway, AK: Arkansas Research, 1990. 3 volumes.
Call No. Local History Ref E553.3.A44 (2nd floor open shelf).
See also Frances T. Ingmire's Arkansas Confederate Veterans and Widows Pensions Applications. Call No. Local History Ref F410.I53 (2nd floor open shelf).

Allen, Desmond W. Arkansas' Damned Yankees: An Index to Union Soldiers in Arkansas Regiments. Conway, AK: Arkansas Research, 1987.
Call No. Local History Ref F410.A44 (2nd floor open shelf).
See also Allen's Arkansas Union Solders Pension Application Index. Call No. Local History Ref F410.A46 (2nd floor open shelf)

Arkansas. Adjutant General. Report. Washington, D.C., 1867.
Call No. U1881.O4 (also Microfiche 3405).
Rosters of white Federal regiments only.

CENSUS

Microfilm holdings complete 1830-1880, plus 1880 soundex index. Published indexes 1830-1870. Partial transcription of 1880 mortality schedules shelved with census indexes.

SPECIAL TOPIC: AFRICAN-AMERICAN RESEARCH

See also the African American Genealogy pathfinder sheet. The following Freedmen's Bureau records may be especially useful for research during the period immediately following the Civil War.

Freedmen's Bureau Assistant Commissioner's Records.
Call No. Microfilm 715.
Reels 35-44 contain labor contracts arranged by year and thereunder by employer surname.

Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records. 21 reels.
Call No. Microfilm 1171.
Consult the description of these records in volume 1 of the Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Field Offices of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, Call No. Local History Ref E185.2.U56 1973 (2nd floor open shelf), as well as the catalog record for this set on the Newberry's computer catalog, to determine which reels might be useful for you.

Freedmen's Bureau Claims Division Records. 6 reels.
Call No. Microfilm 1170.
Records of claims by United States Colored Troops veterans and widows for backpay and bounty.

Those with ancestry in and around Little Rock after the Civil War may also want to consult reel 3 of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Signature Books (Call No. Microfilm 709). For a description of these records see the African American Genealogical Sourcebook, Call No. Local History Ref E185.96.A444 (2nd floor open shelf), pp. 59-62.