UNION PARISH, LA HISTORY AND LOOKUP
Parish History Books
*None Listed
Union Parish, Louisiana: A Genealogical Overview
Located in the rolling hills of North-Central Louisiana, Union Parish is a region rich in timber and agricultural history. It is characterized by its rural landscape, numerous waterways, including the Ouachita River and Bayou D’Arbonne, and small, close-knit communities. Its history is deeply rooted in the antebellum cotton culture of the Deep South, pioneer settlement from the eastern states, and the timber boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
I. Parish Formation and Evolution
Understanding Union Parish’s formation from a much larger parent parish is critical for locating the correct records for ancestors who were in the region before 1839.
- 1839: Parish Formed: Union Parish was established on March 13, 1839, by an act of the Louisiana State Legislature.
- Parent Parish: It was created from the northern portion of Ouachita Parish. Records prior to 1839 for this area would be located in Ouachita Parish records in Monroe.
- Subsequent Parish Formations: Union Parish was later partitioned itself. In 1873, its southern and western portions were combined with pieces of Ouachita, Jackson, and Bienville parishes to create Lincoln Parish. Researchers with ancestors in the southern part of the parish must be aware of this boundary change.
- Name Origin: The parish was named to reflect the prevailing sentiment of national unity and pro-Union ideals in the United States during the period of its formation.
- Parish Seat History: The first parish seat was a now-extinct community called Union Courthouse. In 1840, the seat was permanently moved to Farmerville, where it remains today.
II. Settlement and Early History
- Early Inhabitants: The region was originally the territory of the Caddo Confederacy of Native Americans. By the time of European settlement, the area was also used as hunting grounds by the Choctaw and other groups.
- Pioneer Settlement and Economy: The first significant non-native settlement began in the 1820s and 1830s with the arrival of pioneers, primarily from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. They were drawn by the fertile land along the bayous and rivers. The antebellum economy was overwhelmingly based on large cotton plantations operated with the labor of enslaved African Americans. After the Civil War, the economy shifted to sharecropping, lumber, and small-scale farming.
III. Genealogical Records and Resources
This section provides practical information for locating ancestral records specific to Union Parish.
- Clerk of Court’s Office: Union Parish Clerk of Court: Located at 100 E Bayou St, Farmerville, LA 71241. This office is the primary repository for parish records including land records (conveyances and mortgages), probate records (called “successions” in Louisiana), and marriage licenses from the parish’s formation in 1839.
- Vital Records:
- Birth and Death Records: Statewide registration in Louisiana began in 1914, with full compliance by around 1918. These records are held by the Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Vital Records and Statistics. For records prior to this date, researchers should consult church records, census records, newspapers, and family bibles.
- Marriage Records: Marriage records from 1839 to the present are held by the Union Parish Clerk of Court.
- Libraries with Genealogy Collections:
- Union Parish Library: Located at 202 W. Jackson St., Farmerville, LA 71241. This is the best local resource, with a dedicated genealogy room containing local family histories, census records, and other historical materials.
- Ouachita Parish Public Library, Special Collections: Located in nearby Monroe, this is a major regional resource for Northeast Louisiana genealogy.
- Louisiana State Archives: Located in Baton Rouge, this is the central repository for state-level historical records.
- Bordering Jurisdictions:
- Union County, AR
- Ashley County, AR
- Morehouse Parish, LA
- Ouachita Parish, LA
- Lincoln Parish, LA
- Claiborne Parish, LA