Arkansas Obituaries

The Arkansas Gazette, founded in 1819, was the longest-running newspaper west of the Mississippi until it closed in 1991. The Arkansas State Archives holds the state’s newspaper collection and indexes death records from newspapers and other sources.

Recent Arkansas obituaries (2000 to today)

Most obituaries published since about 2000 are online. Daily papers post paid death notices and family-written obituaries in an Obituaries section, usually hosted by Legacy.com, and keep them online with a guest book. The largest daily papers in Arkansas are:

• Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
• Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
• Southwest Times Record (Fort Smith)
• Jonesboro Sun
• Pine Bluff Commercial

Legacy.com’s Arkansas page searches the obituaries of most of these papers and many smaller ones at once. Funeral homes also post obituaries on their own websites, often before the newspaper does and sometimes instead of it: search the person’s name with the town and “obituary” or “funeral home.” For obituaries no longer online, ask your public or state library: many offer NewsBank or ProQuest databases with the full text of recent newspapers, free with a library card.

Arkansas obituaries in historic newspapers

William Woodruff printed the first Arkansas Gazette at Arkansas Post in 1819 and moved it to Little Rock two years later. For much of the 1800s it was the main record of deaths in the territory and state, along with rival papers such as the True Democrat.

County weeklies spread after the Civil War, as railroads opened the Delta and the Ozarks. Rural Arkansas registered deaths unevenly until well into the 1900s (statewide registration began in 1914), so newspapers are often the only record of a death before then.

The Arkansas State Archives has preserved more than 278,000 pages of Arkansas newspapers dating to 1830 and is digitizing early titles for Chronicling America. Its long-running death records index, formerly called In Remembrance, points to obituaries, church records, cemetery records and other sources.

Where to find older Arkansas obituaries

Digitized Arkansas newspapers

• Arkansas newspapers on Chronicling America — Free Arkansas titles digitized by the Arkansas State Archives for the Library of Congress.

Archives and libraries

• Arkansas State Archives — The state’s newspaper collection and death records index, with research help in Little Rock.
• Central Arkansas Library System — Home of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, with Arkansas newspapers and local history collections.
• Arkansas Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to Arkansas newspaper archives, indexes and microfilm, with local links.

Also search the nationwide archives: Chronicling America, FamilySearch, Find a Grave, Newspapers.com. See all nationwide obituary resources.

Arkansas death records

Arkansas began statewide death registration in 1914. The Department of Health issues certified copies to family and others with a legal interest; older certificates and indexes are at the Arkansas State Archives in Little Rock.

• Arkansas Department of Health, Vital Records — the office that issues Arkansas death certificates, with ordering instructions and fees.
• Where to Write for Vital Records: Arkansas — the CDC’s summary of where to order, current fees and which years the office holds.
• Arkansas Vital Records, FamilySearch Research Wiki — free death indexes and certificate collections, with the years each covers.

Tips for finding an obituary in Arkansas

• Search the county paper. Most Arkansas obituaries ran in the county seat's weekly, which the State Archives has on microfilm.
• Use the Butler Center. The Central Arkansas Library System's Butler Center has Arkansas newspapers and family files in Little Rock.
• Remember the 1914 start. For deaths before statewide registration, rely on newspapers, cemetery records and probate files.
• Look beyond the word “obituary.” Older papers reported deaths under headings like “Died,” “Deaths,” local news and personals columns, funeral notices and cards of thanks, and often listed married women under the husband’s name (“Mrs. John Smith”). See death notices vs. obituaries.

Common questions