Pike County, Arkansas Genealogy

United States Arkansas  Pike County

Guide to Pike County, Arkansas ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

County Courthouse
Pike County Courthouse PO Box 219 Murfreesboro, AR 71958 Phone: 870.285.2231 County Clerk has marriage, probate, court, land and military discharge records from 1895.

Government and Related Websites

 * PublicRecords.com (unofficial site) Provides links to County officials and public records.

Parent County

 * 1833--Pike County was created 1 November 1833 from Clark and Hempstead Counties.

County seat: Murfreesboro

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Arkansas county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Arkansas County Boundary Maps" (1813-1925) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
1895 A courthouse fire destroyed most records.

Places/Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog'

Neighboring Counties
Clark • Hempstead • Howard • Montgomery • Nevada • Polk •

History Timeline
Emphasis for this timeline is on events that affected migration, records, or record-keeping. Unless otherwise mentioned, the events below were taken from the Pike County page on the website, The Encyclopedia of Pike History and Culture.

Maps

 * Maps of Arkansas (1813-1925)
 * Family Maps of (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.

Revolutionary War

 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census]. 1841. Digital version at Google Books. 1967 reprint: 973 X2pc 1840. [See Arkansas, Pike County on page 191.] 

Civil War

 * - 16th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate), Company H
 * - 33rd Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate)
 * - 3rd Regiment, Arkansas Cavalry (Union), Companies C, I, and M

Probate Records
Online Probate Records
 * 1783 – 1998 Arkansas Wills and Probate Records 1783-1998 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1817 – 1979 at FamilySearch — images
 * Probate Records 1895-1918 Pike County portion of the collection: : Arkansas Probate Records, 1817-1979 FamilySearch Historical Collections (Free, browse images)
 * Includes Probate records 1895-1908; Wills 1895-1918.

Vital Records
See also How to order Arkansas Vital Records

Marriage

 * 1895-1954 - Pike County Marriage Books A-K Index 1895-1954 in at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1895-1925 - Pike County Marriage Books A-B, E-F Index 1895-1925 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.

Genealogy Societies and Libraries

 * List of Arkansas Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical & Genealogical Societies

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Societies
The Pike County Archives and History Society is located in the new Archives offices at 112 N. Washington Avenue Murfreesboro, Arkansas Phone: 870-285-9157 E-mail: pcahs@windstream.net