Cross County, Arkansas Genealogy

United States

Arkansas

Cross County

 

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

Arkansas Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Wynne Organized: November 15, 1862 Parent County(s): Crittenden, Poinsett, and St. Francis Neighboring Counties Crittenden  • Jackson  • Poinsett  • St. Francis  • Woodruff See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption This page is available for adoption Casqui province capital, the Parkin Archeological State Park, circa 1539 by Herb Roe, Cross CO., Arkansas

County Information

Description

The county was named for the Confederate Colonel David C. Cross. It is located in the northeast of the state.

County Courthouse

Cross County Courthouse
705 Union Ave E #8;
Wynne, AR 72396
Phone: 870.238.5735
Cross County Website

County Clerk has marriage and probate records from 1863, tax and county court records from 1865;
Clerk Circuit Court has court and land records from 1865;
Chancery Circuit Clerk has divorce records from 1866;
County Historical Society has newspapers from 1935, cemetery records and family histories.

Cross County, Arkansas

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Major Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1914	1863	1914	1865	1865	1863	1830
*State birth and death records began in 1914. Limited compliance until the 1920s

Record Loss

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Boundary Changes

1862--Cross County was created 15 November 1862 from Crittenden, Poinsett, and St. Francis  Counties. County seat: Wynne 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.

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:

Cities
Cherry Valley Hickory Ridge	Parkin	Wynne (county seat)
Unincorporated communities
Levesque Twist	Wittsburg	Vanndale
Townships
Bedford Brushy Lake Coldwater Ellis	Fair Oaks Hickory Ridge Mitchell Searcy	Smith Twist Tyronza Wynne

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

• 1803 - The sparse population of the area consisted of French hunters, Cherokee, and a few English frontiersmen.
• 1830s - The Cherokee were removed via the Trail of Tear and settlers from Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and Missouri moved in.
• 1862 November 15 - The Arkansas General Assembly created Cross County.
• 1882 - The first railroad was completed across Cross County.
• 1900-1927 - The growth of Vanndale and Wynne along the railroad balanced the decline of river cities such as Wittsburg. This transfer of population was increased by flooding in the river valley when the St. Francis River broke through its levees in 1912 and 1913, and especially in the Flood of 1927.

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Cross, Arkansas online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Findagrave.com ARGenWeb ARGenWeb Archives Tombstone Project Arkansas Gravestones Cemetery Records by Interment Billion Graves
TombstoneTranscriptions in Print (Often more complete)	Family History Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	Findagrave.com Billion Graves Cemetery Records by Accessgenealogy FamilySearch Places
See Arkansas Cemeteries for more information

Census Records

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1870	3,915	—
1880	5,050	29.0%
1890	7,693	52.3%
1900	11,051	43.7%
1910	14,042	27.1%
1920	18,579	32.3%
1930	25,723	38.5%
1940	26,046	1.3%
1950	24,757	−4.9%
1960	19,551	−21.0%
1970	19,783	1.2%
1980	20,434	3.3%
1990	19,225	−5.9%
2000	19,526	1.6%
2010	17,870	−8.5%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

Church Records

• 1875-1899 - Nebraska, Church Records, 1875-1899 at FamilySearch — index- How to Use this Collection

List of Churches and Church Parishes

• FamilySearch Places

Guardianship

• Probate Records 1857-1943 Cross County portion of the collection: Arkansas Probate Records, 1817-1979: Arkansas Probate Records, 1817-1979 FamilySearch Historical Collections (Free, browse images)- How to Use this Collection
  • Includes Administration and guardian bonds and letters 1863-1921; Administration settlements 1866-1911; Dockets 1874-1922; Probate case files 1898-1930; Probate record index 1866-1878; Probate records 1857-1887; Wills 1863-1943.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Cross County. They may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more about local histories, see Arkansas Local Histories.

• Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Eastern Arkansas. 1890. Chicago, St. Louis : The Goodspeed Publishing Co. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust, Internet Archive; At various libraries (WorldCat).
• History of Cross County, Arkansas, 1955. 1955. By Robert W. Chowning. Wynne, Arkansas : Wynne Progress. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library ; At various libraries (WorldCat).

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Maps of Arkansas (1813-1925)
• FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military Records

Civil War

• 1861-1865 - Arkansas Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index- How to Use this Collection
• 1890-1963 - Arkansas Confederate Soldier Home,1890-1963 at FamilySearch — index and images- How to Use this Collection
• 1891-1939 - Arkansas Ex-Confederate Pension Records, 1891-1939 at FamilySearch — index and images- How to Use this Collection
• 1901-1929 - Arkansas Confederate Pensions, 1901-1929 at FamilySearch — index and images- How to Use this Collection

Newspapers

Finding More Arkansas Newspapers Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Cross newspapers in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat
• FamilySearch. Do a Cross County, Arkansas Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see, FamilySearch Catalog Places Search).
• Fayetteville Democrat at Ancestry.com ($)
• Fayetteville Daily Democrat at Ancestry.com ($)
• Daily Fayetteville Democrat at Ancestry.com ($)
• Northwest Arkansas Times at Ancestry.com ($)
• Courier Times at Ancestry.com ($)

Probate Records

Online Probate Records

• 1783 – 1998 Arkansas Wills and Probate Records 1783-1998 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
• 1817 – 1979 Arkansas Probate Records 1817-1979 at FamilySearch — images- How to Use this Collection
• Probate Records 1857-1943 Cross County portion of the collection: Arkansas Probate Records, 1817-1979: Arkansas Probate Records, 1817-1979 FamilySearch Historical Collections (Free, browse images)- How to Use this Collection
  • Includes Administration and guardian bonds and letters 1863-1921; Administration settlements 1866-1911; Dockets 1874-1922; Probate case files 1898-1930; Probate record index 1866-1878; Probate records 1857-1887; Wills 1863-1943.

Social Security Records

• 1935-2014 United States Social Security Death Index 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.

Vital Records

Birth

Birth Records reveal
Yes or Maybe ⇒	Y	M
Name of Child
Birth Date and Place
Parent's Names
Mother's Maiden Name
Parent's Ages
Father's Occupation
Current Residence
Name of Doctor or Midwife

In 1877, a few county and city clerks started keeping birth and death records.

In 1914, the state law required all county clerks to record births and forward them to the state.

• Arkansas Births and Christenings, 1812-1965 at FamilySearch. (Free, index only)
  • Small file, but worth searching. Most entries were user-submitted.

See also: • Arkansas Online Genealogy Records, • How to Find Arkansas Birth Records and • Arkansas Vital Records—Birth.

Marriage

• 1779-1966 - Arkansas, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
• 1860 - 1976 - Arkansas Church Marriages, 1860-1976 at FamilySearch — index and images- How to Use this Collection
• 1863 - 1952 - Cross County Marriage Books A-Z, A1-G1 Index 1863-1952 in Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957 at FamilySearch - free.- How to Use this Collection
• 1865 - 1922 - Cross County Marriage Books A-O Index 1865-1922 in International Genealogical Index at FamilySearch - free.
• 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 ($)
• 1935-1961 Arkansas, Death Index, 1935-1961 at MyHeritage - index and images ($)

Divorce

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

Voter Records

• 1868-1910 - Arkansas, County Voter Registration Records, 1868-1910 at FamilySearch — index and images- How to Use this Collection

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Cross County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Arkansas Archives and Libraries.

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.

• Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

Libraries

Listed below are libraries in Cross County. For state-wide library facilities, see Arkansas Archives and Libraries.

Societies

Listed below are societies in Cross County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Arkansas Societies.

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
• Linkpendium. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
• CyndisList. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
• FamilySearch Catalog - 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

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.