Finding AncestorsBefore Emancipation · 1865
Ancestry Research Hub

A path to your enslaved ancestors

Research before 1865 requires a different approach. Begin with the state where your ancestors were held (from the first arrivals of the 1600s to Emancipation), then work backward from the 1870 census — the first to name formerly enslaved people.

AR

Arkansas

Statehood 1836 · Upper South

Slavery c.1720s–1865 Emancipation: 1865 (13th Amendment; Union-held areas earlier)

Slavery came to Arkansas with the French at Arkansas Post and expanded along the Arkansas and Mississippi River lowlands. Many enslaved people were brought from Tennessee, Kentucky and the Carolinas in the 1840s–50s. During the Civil War, enslavers 'refugeed' thousands of enslaved people to Texas.

Slavery Research Institutions

Arkansas State ArchivesCounty records microfilm, photographs and manuscripts.Butler Center for Arkansas Studies (CALS)Arkansas genealogy and African American collections.Encyclopedia of ArkansasBackground on counties, plantations and communities.

Where to Search Arkansas Records

Open a pre-filled Arkansas search on each repository. You don't need an account to start.

Arkansas State ArchivesFamilySearch: Arkansas recordsAncestry: search ArkansasNARA — Freedmen's Bureau Records

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Key Records

  • County probate and circuit court records
  • Tax assessments listing enslaved people as taxable property
  • 1850 & 1860 Slave Schedules
  • Freedmen's Bureau records (Little Rock, Helena, Pine Bluff)
  • Records of enslaved people held by Cherokee, Choctaw and Creek on the western border

Research Tips

  • If a family 'disappears' in 1863, look for refugeed enslavers in East Texas.
  • County formation changed often, so check the parent county for early records.
  • WPA narratives include many accounts from people living in Arkansas in the 1930s.

National Resources, 1600s to Emancipation

Databases that cover every state, from the Atlantic crossings to the search for family after freedom.

SlaveVoyages: Trans-Atlantic & Intra-American DatabasesShip voyages 1514–1866, including the coastwise trade between U.S. ports.Enslaved.org: Peoples of the Historical Slave TradeLinked records of named enslaved individuals drawn from many databases.Freedom on the Move: Runaway AdvertisementsThousands of transcribed fugitive notices from newspapers, 1700s–1865.Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery'Information Wanted' ads placed by freedpeople searching for family.Library of Congress: Born in Slavery (WPA Narratives)More than 2,300 first-person accounts of formerly enslaved people.National Archives: African American ResearchFreedmen's Bureau, Freedman's Bank, slave manifests, USCT service records.FamilySearch: Freedmen's Bureau RecordsFree indexed labor contracts, marriages and rations records, 1865–1872.

General Methodology