POLK
CO. ARKANSAS CENSUS
BY
GEORGIA Deane Helderlein
1860
-- 1870 POLK CO. ARKANSAS CENSUS>
The main purpose of this web page is to share
the 1860 and 1870 Polk Co., AR Census with genealogists that are interested in
that particular part of Arkansas. They were previously
transcribed from microfilm into a soft covered book to be sold. The first
publication transcribed was the 1870 Polk County, AR census which listed 3,362
persons. The second one, the 1860 Polk County, AR Census showed 4,191
records. This comparison shows the devastation and loss of lives due to
the Civil War.
Originally, Hempstead was one of five counties
created in 1818 when the Territory of Missouri was separated, and the southern
part was named Arkansas Territory. Hempstead covered a large area, and
gradually portions of that county formed new counties. Miller County was
first formed in 1820. Lafayette County was organized in 1827, Sevier
County was formed from Hempstead and Miller Counties in 1828. Union County
was created from Hempstead and Clark Counties in 1829.
The citizens living in the northern section of
Sevier County found the distance to travel for legal matters very difficult and
time consuming. In 1844, Polk County was formed from Sevier County.
In 1873, Howard County was organized from parts of Hempstead, Polk, Sevier and
Pike Counties.
Some of my families lived first in Hempstead
County, then Sevier County, then Polk County and then Howard County. many
of them lived along the Saline River and probably never moved, but the counties
changed.
Many of my ancestors arrived in Southwestern
Arkansas by 1821, and most are buried in that area. They were Joseph
McCraven/McRaven in 1821, Cornelius Stewart and Jacob Waggoner in 1824.
The Campbells were said to be the earliest white settlers. Among other
families were Douglass, Hunter, Wakely, Moore, Sanders, Poston, Burke, Overturf,
Kesterson, James, Graham, Ward, Edwards, and many others.
The Polk County, Arkansas Court House was
burned during the Civil War and again in 1883. My first major research in
that area was for marriage records for the 19 children of Benjamin McCraven and
his two wives, Anna Stewart and Hannah (unknown) McCraven. That was the
purpose for this transcription.
I have divided the two census's into two
sections each. This is due to their large size. The 1860 census is
divided with about 360 families in each section. The 1870 census has
approximately 210 families in each of its two sections. In searching
through the Index for your specific families, the names are listed as I viewed
them from microfilm. There are no question marks or underscoring of names
unless it was absolutely impossible to see or determine the information.
The first 6 files are in "Word For
Windows format". For those Mac folks and others who do not have Word for
Windows, go down to the last four files. They are done in HTML. These files are
currently under construction, so at the present they are a bit difficult to
read. I hope to have them straightened out very shortly. Hopefully everyone will
be able to access these files. The HTML files are not as comprehensive as the
Word files but they do include all of the families. In the conversion, I have
attempted to make the information look as close to the original as possible.
Most of the information is self-explanatory. You should also be aware that due
to the large size of these records, that the downloading time may be lengthy
depending upon the speed of your computer. On the Microsoft Word version a
little box might appear asking for a Network Password. Just hit
"Cancel" and the data base will shortly open up.
Perhaps the quickest way to find out if you
have an ancestor in this county is to use the index. The index contains every
name of every individual who was in the county. All names are listed
alphabetically. If you know of any corrections to these census, please send me
an email.
INDEX TO 1860 POLK COUNTY CENSUS
1860
POLK COUNTY CENSUS - PART I
1860
POLK COUNTY CENSUS - PART II
INDEX
TO 1870 POLK COUNTY CENSUS
1870
POLK COUNTY CENSUS - PART I
1870
POLK COUNTY CENSUS - PART II
1860
POLK COUNTY CENSUS - PART I "HTML"
1860
POLK COUNTY CENSUS - PART II "HTML"
1870
POLK COUNTY CENSUS - PART I "HTML"
1870
POLK COUNTY CENSUS - PART II "HTML"
CENSUS
DEDICATION PAGE
If
you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at the link
below.
