Chicot County Obituaries and Death Records
Chicot County obituary records reach back to the 1820s, giving researchers a deep well of historical material for this Delta county in southeast Arkansas. Whether you are tracking down a death notice from the mid-1800s or looking for a recent passing in Lake Village or Dermott, this page points you to the county clerk, online databases, and genealogy archives that hold Chicot County records. Marriage and probate records have been maintained here since 1839, and court records go back even further to 1824. This guide covers the key sources and how to use them.
Chicot County Clerk Office
The Chicot County Clerk is the starting point for most records research in this county. The office is located at 108 Main Street, Lake Village, AR 71653. You can reach the clerk by phone at 870-265-8000. The clerk maintains marriage and probate records from 1839 and court records from 1824. Those dates make this one of the earlier-documented counties in the state for this type of material.
Land and divorce records are also on file with the clerk. If you need a copy of a record, come prepared with the full name of the person you are researching, the approximate year, and the type of record you want. Staff can help you locate a file, but you will typically need to conduct your own search through the physical records or ask specifically what they can pull for you.
For vital records like official death certificates, those are handled at the state level. The Arkansas Department of Health Vital Records office processes death certificate requests for deaths from 1914 forward. The county clerk does not issue death certificates but probate and court records often contain death-related information that supplements a death certificate search.
Probate Records and Estate Filings
Probate records are one of the most useful tools for obituary research. When someone died with property in Chicot County, an estate case was typically opened at the courthouse. Those cases name the deceased, note the date of death, and list heirs. They can include affidavits, inventory lists, and other documents that tell you a great deal about a person's life and death.
FamilySearch has digitized Chicot County Probate Records from 1839 to 1931. That collection includes wills, guardianship bonds, administration bonds, letters of administration, letters of guardianship, and minutes. These records are free to access and do not require a paid subscription. You can search by name and browse scanned images of the original documents from any computer.
For more recent probate cases, the Arkansas judiciary's public access system is the right tool. CourtConnect lets you search probate cases by name, case number, or case type. It covers Chicot County along with most other Arkansas counties. Case summaries are viewable online, though full files may require an in-person or mail request to the courthouse.
Note: Probate records are public once the case is closed, making them a strong complement to newspaper obituary searches for any time period.
ARGenWeb and Free Online Databases
The ARGenWeb project has a dedicated Chicot County page with free genealogy resources contributed by volunteers. The page links to cemetery listings, county history, and records that have been transcribed and posted online over the years. It is a good first stop for any researcher new to this county.
The screenshot below is from the ARGenWeb Chicot County page, a volunteer-run genealogy resource for the county.
The ARGenWeb page for Chicot County connects researchers to transcribed records, cemetery data, and links to other county-specific resources compiled by local volunteers.
The USGenWeb Archives project also holds contributed records for Chicot County. Volunteers have uploaded obituary transcriptions, cemetery surveys, and other local documents to that system over the years. The quality and completeness vary by contributor, but it is free and worth checking before paying for a subscription service.
GenealogyTrails maintains Arkansas county pages that include some Chicot County obituary content. For African American family history research, which is especially relevant in Delta counties like Chicot, these free databases can fill gaps left by official records that were inconsistently maintained for Black residents in earlier eras.
Local Funeral Home Records
Funeral home records are often the most detailed source for obituary research. They typically include the full name, date of death, cause of death, age at death, parents or spouse, and sometimes the burial location. Those details go beyond what a newspaper notice usually provides.
Active funeral homes in Chicot County include Bishop King Funeral Home in Lake Village and Dillard Funeral Home, which serves both Dermott and Eudora. If your ancestor died in this county and you need details that are not in a published obituary, contacting these funeral homes directly is a reasonable next step. Some older records may have been donated to the Arkansas State Archives or a local historical collection.
The Arkansas State Archives holds funeral home record collections for several counties. It is worth checking their catalog to see if any Chicot County funeral home records have been transferred to the archives, particularly for the period before 1960.
Death Certificates and Vital Records
Arkansas death certificates from 1914 forward are kept by the state. The Arkansas Department of Health processes requests for certified copies. You will need the full name of the deceased, the date of death, and the county of death. Fees apply and vary based on how many copies you need.
Death certificates are restricted for 50 years under Arkansas law. After that period ends, records become accessible to the public. Immediate family members can request certificates for recent deaths with proper identification. For historical research on deaths prior to 1914, other sources such as church records, probate files, and cemetery surveys are your best options since the state did not systematically collect vital statistics before that year.
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas has a Chicot County article that provides historical context useful for placing research in the right time frame and understanding how the county's records were organized at different points in its history.
Genealogy and Historical Research Tools
The Arkansas Genealogical Society serves the whole state and maintains a network of county-level contacts. If you hit a wall with Chicot County research, the society can often point you to a local volunteer or a resource you may have missed. Membership provides access to their library holdings and publication indexes.
For newspaper archives, the Arkansas Digital Archives has digitized historical papers from across the state. Local papers from Lake Village and the surrounding Delta region may be included. Obituary columns in smaller papers often contained more personal detail than those in larger city papers, so a local newspaper search can turn up material you would not find elsewhere.
The CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock holds newspaper microfilm and other historical collections. If a specific issue of a Lake Village or Chicot County paper is not available digitally, the Butler Center may have it on microfilm. Staff can assist with research requests.
Note: GenealogyTrails Arkansas and Arkansas Genealogy both host free transcribed records contributed by volunteers and are worth checking for Chicot County material.
Cities in Chicot County
Lake Village is the county seat and the main population center in Chicot County. Dermott and Eudora are the other significant communities. None of these cities meet the population threshold for a dedicated city page on this site, but records for all of them are held at the county level in Lake Village. When you contact the county clerk or circuit clerk, simply note which town your ancestor lived in so staff can direct you to the right records.
Families in this part of the Arkansas Delta often had ties to neighboring Mississippi, Louisiana, and to adjacent Arkansas counties. Cross-checking your research in neighboring counties and states is a common step for Delta genealogy.
Nearby Counties
If your research takes you to neighboring areas, the following counties border Chicot County and maintain their own records collections:
Delta families frequently moved between counties and states, so checking records in all adjacent counties is a standard part of thorough research in this part of Arkansas.