Clay County Arkansas Obituaries
Clay County obituary records stretch back to the county's formation in 1873, making this northeastern Arkansas county a rich territory for genealogy research. With two county seats in Corning and Piggott, records are split between two districts, and knowing which side of the county your ancestor lived in will help you find the right files faster. This page covers the key offices, archives, and online databases where Clay County obituary and death records are held.
Two County Seats in Clay County
Clay County is one of a small number of Arkansas counties with two county seats. Corning serves the western district and Piggott serves the eastern district. This setup dates to 1888 and means that records for residents in the eastern part of the county, near Piggott, are filed separately from those in the western part near Corning. If you are not sure which district your ancestor lived in, start by checking census records or land records to locate their home.
The county was originally called Clayton County when it formed in 1873, then renamed Clay County. That name change matters for very early records. Pre-1873 records may be found in counties that previously covered this area. If you are searching for deaths in the earliest years, check county formation histories before assuming a record should be in Clay County files.
The Clay County Genealogical and Historical Society is located at 361 W. Main Street in Piggott. You can reach them by email at scotstout@aol.com. This volunteer organization maintains local research materials and can point you toward records that are not indexed online.
Clay County Library and Newspaper Records
The Clay County Library holds local newspaper excerpts from the Clay County Courier. This is a key resource for obituary research because small-town papers in Arkansas routinely published death notices and obituaries throughout the 1900s. The library has indexed various obituaries of Clay County residents, giving researchers a searchable starting point before they dig into full newspaper runs.
A Clay County Newspapers index is available online and covers multiple local publications. Checking this index first can save hours of searching through unindexed microfilm. When a name appears in the index, you can then track down the full paper for the complete text of the obituary notice.
The image below shows the Clay County website, which provides links to county offices and local resources for records research.
The Clay County website includes contact information for county offices including the county clerk, which handles probate and land records that often accompany obituary research.
ARGenWeb and Volunteer Indexes
The ARGenWeb project maintains a dedicated Clay County page with links to local records, transcribed materials, and contact information for county researchers. Volunteers have contributed obituaries, cemetery records, and the 1880 census for this county over many years. These free resources are not comprehensive, but they cover gaps in the period before statewide databases existed.
The screenshot below shows the ARGenWeb Clay County page, a long-running volunteer genealogy project with transcribed obituaries and cemetery records for the county.
The ARGenWeb Clay County page links to obituary indexes, cemetery lists, census records, and other volunteer-compiled materials. If you are stuck on a family, the county page often has contact information for local researchers who know the area well.
The USGenWeb Obituary Project also holds submitted Clay County obituaries. These are contributed by individuals who transcribed notices from newspapers, funeral home records, or family documents. Coverage is uneven, but it is worth checking before paying for a subscription database.
FamilySearch Probate Records for Clay County
FamilySearch holds digitized Clay County Probate Records spanning 1881 to 1955. This collection includes Administrators and Guardians Bonds and Wills. Probate filings are among the most valuable secondary sources for obituary research because they document the death, name the deceased's family members, and often include affidavits that list the date and place of death. Access to this collection on FamilySearch is free with a free account.
When you find a probate case, note the case number and look up any related court filings. Letters of administration, inventory filings, and final accounting documents can all add detail to what you know about when and how someone died. For deaths between 1914 and 1969, the Arkansas Death Certificates collection on FamilySearch has actual digitized certificates that may include cause of death, burial location, and names of informants.
Arkansas CourtConnect at caseinfo.arcourts.gov covers more recent probate filings and lets you search by name across multiple counties. For Clay County cases filed after the cutoff of the FamilySearch collection, CourtConnect is the right place to look.
Note: The Arkansas Death Index, 1914-1950, available on FamilySearch, contains roughly 594,000 deaths and includes county, gender, age, and certificate number. Use it to find the certificate number before ordering from the state.
Arkansas State Archives and Death Certificates
The Arkansas State Archives in Little Rock maintains the "In Remembrance" database, an electronic index of Arkansas deaths from 1819 to 1920. This index pulls from church publications, cemetery records, mortality censuses, and newspaper obituaries held in the archives. It is free and searchable online. Clay County entries in this database may include records that never made it into a local newspaper or county clerk file.
The State Archives also holds printed death certificate indexes covering 1914-1923, 1924-1933, 1934-1940, and 1941-1948. Researchers can visit the archives at One Capitol Mall in Little Rock or contact them at state.archives@arkansas.gov or (501) 682-6900. Mail requests are accepted for records not available online.
For recent deaths, official death certificates are filed with the Arkansas Department of Health Vital Records office. Certificates go back to February 1914. The fee is $10 for the first certified copy and $8 for each additional copy ordered at the same time. Under Arkansas Code Title 20, Chapter 18, death certificates are restricted for 50 years, after which they become public record.
Genealogy Research Tools and Databases
Several databases are useful for Clay County obituary searches beyond the county-specific resources. The Arkansas Digital Archives holds digitized historical newspapers and photographs, including some from northeast Arkansas. Local papers from the Corning and Piggott areas may be included in these collections. Checking there for obituary columns from the early and mid-1900s is worth the time.
The CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock holds newspaper microfilm for Arkansas counties and provides access to Ancestry.com and Newspapers.com for in-library use. If you cannot find a Clay County obituary online, visiting the Butler Center with a list of names and date ranges is one of the most productive research trips you can make.
The Arkansas Genealogical Society publishes the Arkansas Family Historian quarterly, which since 1962 has included transcribed records, research notes, and obituary indexes from counties across the state. Membership also connects you to a network of county-level volunteers who may have Clay County research materials not available anywhere online.
Note: GenealogyTrails Arkansas hosts free transcribed records contributed by volunteers and sometimes covers Clay County materials not found in major databases.
Cities in Clay County
The two main cities in Clay County are Corning and Piggott. Corning is the county seat for the western district and Piggott is the county seat for the eastern district. Neither meets the population threshold for a dedicated city page on this site. When searching for obituaries, always note which city your ancestor lived near to determine which courthouse district handled their records.
Other communities in the county include Rector, Knobel, Peach Orchard, and St. Francis. Records for these smaller towns fall under whichever judicial district they are geographically assigned to. Check district maps if you are unsure which courthouse to contact for a particular community.
Nearby Counties
If your research leads outside Clay County, the bordering counties all have their own records collections and courthouse offices:
Families in this corner of northeast Arkansas often crossed county lines for church, work, and commerce. Checking neighboring counties can fill gaps when Clay County records are incomplete or missing for a particular period.