A Guide to Genealogy
Research in Arkansas
Military Records
Many military records are found at the Genealogical library, the National Archives, and other federal and state archives. For Arkansas the following sources are also very helpful:
Colonial and Indian Wars
War of 1812
Bounty land in Arkansas, Illinois, and Missouri was granted to soldiers who served in the War of 1812. Copies of the bounty land warrants are available at the Family History Library (FHL films 983,163-77). They provide the name of the soldier, rank, unit, and date of warrant. A list of 6,600 grantees, arranged by county name, is in Katheren Christensen, comp., Arkansas Military Bounty Grants (War of 1812) (Arkansas Ancestors, 1971; FHL book 976.7 R2c).
Civil War
Soldiers from Arkansas served in both the Union and Confederate armies. Indexes and the compiled military service records are available at the National Archives.
Arkansas pension records for Confederate veterans are located at the Arkansas History Commission. Pension records for Union veterans are available only at the National Archives.
In 1911 a special census was taken of confederate veterans. Returns are available for 40 of the 75 counties. Abstracts of the questionnaires have been published in Bobbie J. McLane and Capioloa Gazner, Arkansas 1911 Census of Confederate Veterans, 3 vols. (N.p.: Arkansas Ancestors, 1977-1981; FHL 976.7 X2m). All of these censuses are at the Arkansas Historical Commission.
University of Arkansas Civil War Collections
Spanish American War
World War I
World War II
Korean War
Vietnam War
Desert Storm
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This page was compiled by Edward Hayden.
Copyright © 1998 by Edward Hayden, Coordinator. All rights
reserved.
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