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.
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 Arkansas obituaries
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 county-by-county links.
Nationwide newspaper archives
- Chronicling America, Library of Congress — Free digitized newspapers from every state. Narrow a search to Arkansas and the years you need.
- Google News Archive — Free scans of hundreds of older newspapers, browsable by title and date.
- Internet Archive newspapers — Free digitized newspapers and microfilm uploaded by libraries.
- FamilySearch — Free obituary indexes, death records and the Social Security Death Index (free account).
- Find a Grave — Volunteer-built cemetery memorials, many with transcribed obituaries.
- Newspapers.com — Large subscription archive of U.S. papers. Many public libraries offer free access.
- GenealogyBank — Subscription archive of historic newspapers and modern obituaries.
- Legacy.com — Obituaries published since about 2000 in most U.S. daily newspapers.
Tips for finding an obituary in Arkansas
- Pin down the date and place first. A death index or death certificate gives the exact date and county, and then you only need to search the local papers for the following week or two.
- Search more than one town. Obituaries often ran in the paper where the person was born or had lived before, not just where they died. Small-town weeklies sometimes published a notice weeks later.
- 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. See death notices vs. obituaries.
- Try every spelling. Search initials, nicknames and misspellings, and for married women in older papers, search the husband’s name (“Mrs. John Smith”). Digitized text often misreads old type.
- Ask a librarian. Many public libraries and state archives will look up an obituary for free or a small fee, and newspaper microfilm can often be borrowed through interlibrary loan.