Early Arkansas Records: The County Sheriff Census

This sixth-generation Arkansas female often wonders what the first-generation (documented) Arkansas female on my maternal side experienced during her life. My journey of discovery started with my grandmother. Severe allergies in my youth required me to limit my outdoor time. My siblings and cousins would be playing in the backyard while I watched through the window. My cousin Veda Toombs would bring me something from outside every day: maybe a wildflower, a berry, an odd-shaped stick, or a rock. Whatever she decided to share with me came from her understanding that I needed to be a part of the outside cousins. She brought the outside to me.

While inside, my grandmother, Lillie Stewart Toombs, shared stories of her life memories. She would tell me about the multiple children her mother birthed but whose lives did not see adulthood. My great-grandmother is Neta Roland Stewart. Her mother is Mariah Holyfield Roland. “Skeet” is the name most people called Mariah. The oral history said she rode a white horse. I wondered if Skeet was reflective of her body type, as in a version of mosquito. My grandmother’s body was long and thin, but elegant. I could easily imagine someone referencing her look as something similar to a mosquito. This information that was given orally to a child would guide the research the adult version of that child would conduct to discover Mariah’s mother’s name. The 1870 U.S. Census for Conway County, Arkansas, showed a sixteen-year-old Mariah living with her mother Mary and two sisters, Rena and Nancy. This record says Mary was born in Arkansas around the year 1825. What was Arkansas like then? There is evidence in official records and in the natural beauty of Arkansas. The mountains have not shifted. The rivers still flow. Some land cleared for housing retains some of the natural beauty of the location. When driving around Conway County, I imagine what I am witnessing what Mary may have also witnessed.

Browsing the databases in the Ancestry Library Edition subscription at the Central Arkansas Library System, I noticed an update for the Arkansas databases: Arkansas, U.S., County Sheriff Census, 1829 is now available. There are twenty-one counties covering the territory of Arkansas. The earliest record is in 1813 for Arkansas County. The last four counties gathered their information in 1829: Pope, Hot Spring, Jefferson, and Union. Pulaski County produced a Sheriff Census in 1818, and Conway County produced one in 1825.

This database allowed me to add detail to the information gathered on Mary Holyfield, who lived in Conway County during her lifetime. The Sheriff Census is in a simple format. It lists the year and the county. It labels people as “white persons” or “colored persons.” The category of “white persons” recognizes male or female. Males have the sub-category of ages with four groupings. The categories are “under eighteen years,” “eighteen to forty-five,” “over forty-five years,” and “twenty-one years and upwards.” The female category has two sub-categories, “over age 14” and “under age 14.”  The “colored persons” category has six sub-categories. The first two categories are male and female. A “free” person of color represents as male or female. If owned by another individual, the person was an age assigned to a slash mark. Enslaved people are not listed by gender on this census.

Townships within the county are listed. Pulaski County lists five townships: Little Red River, Vaugine, Big Rock, Peyatte, and Saline. Townships in Conway County include Cadron and Welborn. The surnames and locations listed are useful research tools when developing a theory on life possibilities of the person you are researching. Combining this database with newspaper databases provides a glimpse of the world of your ancestors were part of.

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CALS has many research tools to offer. In the Ancestry Library Edition, which is in-library access only, you can research family history by looking for obituaries, burial notices, church records, immigration files, census data, and more. It includes historical maps and many other genealogy resources, and it covers the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and other regions.

Rhonda Stewart is the genealogy and local history specialist for the Central Arkansas Library System’s Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, housed in the CALS Bobby L. Roberts Library of Arkansas History & Art.