Washington County, Arkansas Genealogy

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

Description
The county was named for George Washington. It is located in the northwest area of the state.

County Courthouse
Washington County Courthouse 280 N College Ave #300 Fayetteville, AR 72701 Phone: 501-444-1711 Washington County Website County Clerk has marriage records from 1845 and probate records from 1828; Clerk Circuit Court has divorce, court and land records; City Librarian has cemetery records

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

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 Washington County page on the website, The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture.

Bible Records

 * Washington County Bible Records at Arkansas Genealogy
 * Washington County Bible Records at Arkansas USGenWeb Project Archives

Biographies

 * Family Biographies from The History of Washington County, Arkansas (1889) published by Goodspeed are available free on the My Genealogy Hound website.

Census Records

 * 1830 Census -  Genealogy Trails
 * 1840 Census -  My Heritage
 * 1850 Census with Index - USGenWeb Washington County Archives

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * 1875-1899 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * Churches in Fayetteville AR -  ChurchAngel
 * Churches in Springdale, AR -  ChurchAngel
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records

 * 1833-1889 (*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1835-1878 (*); County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1839-1877 (*); Chancery Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1877-1951 (*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * Records Inventory and Retention Schedule, Circuit Clerk and Recorder at WashingtonCountyAR.gov

Funeral Homes

 * Beard's Funeral Chapel in Fayetteville
 * Epting Funeral Home in Fayetteville
 * Moore's Chapel Funeral Home in Fayetteville
 * Nelson-Berna Funeral Home and Crematory of Fayetteville in Fayetteville

Genealogies

 * Biographies from The History of Washington County, Arkansas (1889) published by Goodspeed Publishing Company are available free on the My Genealogy Hound website.

Land and Property Records
Federal Land Patents, Homestead and Cash Entry Patents Before 1908 -  USGenWeb Washington County Archives,  Land Records 1834-1991, Fayetteville Public Library Land Index, 1830-1903

Washington County Archives Land Records

Local Histories

 * History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas. 1889. Chicago, IL, USA: Goodspeed Publishing. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust,, Ancestry ($);.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Arkansas (1813-1925)
 * Family Maps of Washington County, Arkansas Genealogy (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
 * Gold Bug Historic Maps - reflect changes in county boundaries
 * Interactive Battle Map for Arkansas
 * Map of 1909 Washington County, Arkansas with numerous small settlements. (My Genealogy Hound)
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places
 * Arkansas State Archives State Maps Collection at Arkansas Digital Archives

Military Records
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, Washington County on page 191.]
 * Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions. Washington, D.C., 1852. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1969, and 1991. Reprints include "an Added Index to States." 973 M24ur; digital version at Ancestry ($). [Includes veterans from this county; Arkansas section begins on page 439.]

Mexican War
 * Fayetteville Roster Mexican War -  Washington County ARGenWeb

Civil War Civil War service men from Washington County served in various regiments. Men often joined a regiment or a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are the military units that were formed in or had many men from Washington County.


 * - 1st Battalion, Arkansas Cavalry (Stirman's) (Confederate), Companies D and E
 * - 16th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate), Company G
 * - 17th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Griffith's) (Confederate), Companies D and E
 * - 34th Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Confederate), Companies A, B, C, H and K
 * - Witherspoon's Battalion, Arkansas Cavalry (Confederate)
 * - 1st Regiment, Arkansas Cavalry (Union)
 * - 1st Regiment, Arkansas Infantry (Union)
 * - 3rd Regiment, Arkansas Cavalry (Union) Company C

'''Online Records


 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1890-1963 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1891-1939 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1901-1929 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * Confederate Soldiers Buried in Washington County - Washington County ARGenWeb
 * Arkansas Civil War Biographies - Washington County ARGenWeb
 * United Daughters of Confederacy - Prairie Grove, Arkansas

Also see Arkansas in the Civil War

Civil War Battle

The following Civil War battles were fought in Washington County.


 * November 28, 1862 = Cane Hill also known as Canehill, Boston Mountains
 * December 7, 1862 = Prairie Grove also known as Fayetteville


 * Map showing Civil War battles in Arkansas

Newspapers
'''Historical online newspapers '''Current online newspapers
 * Northwest Arkansas Times, July 1937 - December 1977 at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Fayetteville Democrat, August 1917 - October 1923 at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Daily Fayetteville Democrat (Fayetteville, Arkansas), July 1915 - July 1916 at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Fayetteville Daily Democrat (Fayetteville, Arkansas), February 1921 - July 1936 at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1800s-1999 U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999 at Ancestry - index ($)
 * Northwest Arkansas Times and others Online
 * Northwest Arkansas Times
 * Fayetteville Free Weekly

Obituaries

 * Obituaries submitted to Washington County ARGenWeb
 * Obituary Records: 1868-2010 | Courtesy of the Fayetteville Public Library | This index covers three newspapers: Northwest Arkansas Times, Fayetteville Weekly Democrate and the Fayetteville Daily Democrate

Other Records

 * Penny Postcards from Washington County -  USGenWeb Washington County Archives
 * National Register of Historic Places for Washington County AR

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1783-1998 Arkansas Wills and Probate Records 1783-1998 at Ancestry.com — index and images ($)
 * 1817-1979 (*) at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; images
 * 1829-1916 Washington County, Arkansas Wills Records at SamPubCo - Browsable index of testators of wills - free
 * 1829-1931 (*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1837-1887 (*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images

School Records

 * St. John's College of Arkansas -  Washington County ARGenWeb

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Birth

 * 1900 - 1953 - Washington County Birth Index 1900-1953. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Marriage

 * 1779-1966 Arkansas, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1845-1869 Marriages 1845-1869 at Southeastern Genealogy ($)
 * 1845 - 1941 Washington County Archive Marriage Record Search, 1845-1941
 * 1845 - 1922 - Washington County Marriage Books D-R Index 1845-1922 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1860 - 1976 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1887 - 1949 - Washington County Marriage Books I-Z, A1-C1 Index 1887-1949 in at FamilySearch - free. - How to Use this Collection
 * Washington County Marriages - submitted to Washington County ARGenWeb
 * Arkansas Marriage Records -  GenWed.com
 * 1917-1969 Arkansas, Marriage Certificates, 1917-1969 at Ancestry.com - index and images ($)

Death

 * 1914-1969 Arkansas, Death Certificates, 1914-1969 at Ancestry.com - index and images ($)
 * 1935-1961 Arkansas, Death Index, 1935-1961 at MyHeritage - index and images ($)
 * Obituaries submitted to Washington County ARGenWeb

Washington County Death Records Index 1914-1923

Divorce

 * 1923-1969 Arkansas, Divorces, 1923-1969 at Ancestry.com - index ($)

Voter Records

 * 1868-1910 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection

Family History Centers

 * Springdale Arkansas Jones Family Center Family History Center

Societies
Northwest Arkansas Genealogical Society Benton Public Library 405 S. Main St. Bentonville, AR 72712 Telephone: (479) 271-6820 E-mail: [mailto:genealogy@bentonvillear.com genealogy@bentonvillear.com] Webpage Facebook Serving Benton, Washington, Carroll, and Madison Counties

Websites

 * ARGenWeb. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or complete transcriptions
 * USGenWeb Archives. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
 * RootsWeb resources. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
 * Linkpendium. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
 * CyndisList. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
 * - The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records