Hempstead County Obituaries
Hempstead County obituary records stretch back to the early 1800s, giving researchers access to over two centuries of death notices, probate files, and burial records. Whether you are tracing family roots in Hope or searching for a death notice from a small rural community in the county, this page covers the key offices, archives, and online tools you will need. The county clerk holds marriage and probate records from 1823, making this one of the older record sets in southwest Arkansas.
Hempstead County Clerk Records
The Hempstead County Clerk is the first stop for probate and marriage records. The office is at P.O. Box 1420, Hope, AR 71801-1420. You can reach them at (870) 777-2241. Office hours run Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM.
The Clerk keeps marriage records from 1823 and probate records from 1823. Land records go back to 1900. For certified copies, standard fees apply. For mailed requests, include the full name of the deceased, approximate dates, and a self-addressed stamped envelope. The office does not perform extended genealogical research but staff will help you locate materials once you arrive in person or describe your specific request.
Marriage license fees are $60.00 and must be paid in cash. Credit or debit cards are accepted with a processing fee for other services. Both parties must appear in person with a photo ID and Social Security card for new licenses. If you are only requesting copies of older records, you can mail in your request with the required payment included.
Note: The Hempstead County Clerk website is at hempsteadcountyar.com/county-clerk/ and has forms available for download along with fee schedules.
Circuit Clerk and Court Records
The Hempstead County Circuit Clerk is at 400 S. Washington Street, Hope, AR 71801. The phone number is (870) 777-2381. This office holds court records going back to 1819, along with divorce records, criminal records, and civil case records.
Court records are often overlooked for obituary research, but they are worth checking. Every time someone died with property in the county, an estate case was likely opened. Those probate files name the deceased, note the date of death, list surviving heirs, and sometimes include affidavits about the cause of death or burial location. That level of detail is hard to find anywhere else, especially for deaths before newspapers published regular obituary columns.
Online access is available through the Arkansas CourtConnect system. You can search by name or case number and pull up case summaries at no cost. This is a good starting point if you are researching from out of state and want to see what is on file before making a trip to Hope.
Funeral Home and Cemetery Records
Local funeral homes in Hope maintain their own records that often predate newspaper archives. Brazzel-Oakcrest Funeral Homes and Herndon-Fuqua Funeral Homes both operate in Hope and may hold historical records for families in the county. Funeral home logs typically include the full name, date of death, cause of death, age, and next of kin. Contact the funeral home directly to ask what years they have on file and whether they will share records with family members.
The Arkansas Gravestones database contains cemetery records for Hempstead County. This is a free resource that volunteers have built over many years by photographing and transcribing headstones from local cemeteries. If you know the general location where your ancestor was buried, searching by county will bring up available entries. Find a Grave and BillionGraves also cover many Hempstead County cemeteries and can supplement what the Arkansas Gravestones database has indexed.
Note: The Arkansas State Archives holds the "In Remembrance" database covering Arkansas deaths from 1819 to 1920. Hempstead County deaths from this period may appear there from church records, cemetery records, and early newspaper sources.
ARGenWeb Obituary Project
The ARGenWeb project runs a county-specific page for Hempstead County with links to transcribed records, cemetery listings, and researcher contact information. Volunteers have contributed obituary indexes, family histories, and other materials over several decades. This is a free resource and one of the most useful starting points for older death records in the county.
The screenshot below shows the ARGenWeb Hempstead County page, a volunteer genealogy resource with transcribed obituary records and local history materials.
The ARGenWeb page for Hempstead County links to indexed death records, cemetery transcriptions, and county history resources compiled by local researchers.
GenealogyTrails also hosts transcribed Hempstead County obituaries from various sources. These are not complete collections but can fill gaps when the main databases do not have what you need. The Hempstead County Genealogical Society published "Court of Common Pleas and Circuit Court, Hempstead County, Arkansas Territory 1819-1822" in 1990, and the society maintains chancery court records indexes and family histories that go back to the territorial period.
Statewide Death Records and Archives
Arkansas death certificates are filed with the state. The Arkansas Department of Health Vital Records office handles all certified death certificate requests. Records go back to February 1, 1914. A first certified copy costs $10.00 and each additional copy ordered at the same time is $8.00. Walk-in service is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the state office in Little Rock.
Under Arkansas Code Title 20, Chapter 18, death records are confidential for 50 years. After that period, they become public record. For deaths more than 50 years ago, access is more straightforward. Immediate family members can request certificates for more recent deaths with proper identification.
The Arkansas State Archives holds printed indexes of death certificates from 1914 to 1948 and 1967 to 1971. The "In Remembrance" database covers deaths from 1819 to 1920 and includes sources from Hempstead County. The Arkansas Digital Archives holds digitized newspapers and other materials that may include Hempstead County death notices from the 1800s and early 1900s.
FamilySearch holds Arkansas Probate Records from 1817 to 1979 and Arkansas Wills and Probate Records from 1783 to 1998. Both collections are free to search and cover Hempstead County records. The Arkansas Death Index 1914 to 1950 on FamilySearch has around 594,000 entries and can help you confirm a death date and certificate number before ordering a copy from the state.
Hempstead County Library Resources
The Hempstead County Library is at 400 S. Elm Street, Hope, AR 71801. The phone is (870) 777-4621. The library has an Arkansas Room collection with local history materials, microfilm reader access, and online database access. For obituary research, the library may have microfilm copies of local newspapers that are not available digitally. Staff can help point you to what years and papers are available.
The CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock holds newspaper microfilm for papers from across the state. If the local Hope papers are not available at the county library, the Butler Center is worth contacting. They also have the Arkansas Gazette Obituaries Index from 1819 to 1879 with over 14,000 entries. For southwest Arkansas families, the Gazette was one of the main papers that published death notices during the 1800s.
The Arkansas Genealogical Society serves the whole state and can connect you with Hempstead County researchers. Their quarterly publication and member network often have local knowledge that online databases do not. If you are stuck on a specific family or time period, reaching out to the society is a good move.
Online Genealogy Databases
Several free and subscription databases cover Hempstead County obituary records. FamilySearch is free and has the most depth for older records. Ancestry holds Arkansas Death Certificates for 1914 to 1969 as actual digitized images, which are also available free at the Arkansas State Archives research rooms. HeritageQuest is available free with a library card from most Arkansas public libraries and includes census records and family histories that can supplement obituary research.
Newspapers.com and GenealogyBank both index historical Arkansas newspapers and can return obituary notices from the Hope Star and other local papers. These are subscription services but both offer trial access. Chronicling America at the Library of Congress has some free Arkansas newspapers digitized from the late 1800s and early 1900s.
- FamilySearch - Free Arkansas probate records 1817-1979
- Arkansas Digital Archives - Digitized newspapers and indexes
- Arkansas State Archives - "In Remembrance" death database 1819-1920
- ARGenWeb Hempstead County - Volunteer transcribed records
- GenealogyTrails Arkansas - Transcribed obituaries by county
Cities in Hempstead County
Hope is the county seat of Hempstead County and the main population center. Hope does not meet the population threshold for a dedicated city page on this site, but it is the primary location for county office records, funeral homes, and the county library. When searching for obituaries, the Hope area will be the center of most county records activity. Other communities in Hempstead County include Fulton, Blevins, Emmet, Saratoga, and Mineral Springs.
Nearby Counties
If your research extends to neighboring areas, these counties border Hempstead County and have their own record collections:
Families in southwest Arkansas often had ties across county lines, particularly along the Red River corridor. Checking neighboring counties can fill gaps when Hempstead County records are incomplete for a specific period.