Howard County Obituary Records
Howard County obituary records and death notices are maintained across county offices, the local library, and genealogy archives centered in Nashville, the county seat. This page covers where to find historical obituaries, recent death notices, and probate records for Howard County, Arkansas. Records in this county go back to 1874, covering over 150 years of family history in southwest Arkansas.
Howard County Clerk and Records Office
The Howard County Clerk's office is at 421 N. Main Street, Nashville, AR 71852. The phone number is (870) 845-7501. The Clerk maintains marriage records from 1874, probate records from 1874, and land records from 1874. All three record types start with the same year, which reflects when the county organized and began keeping formal records.
For obituary research, the probate records are the most useful set held by the County Clerk. Probate filings name the deceased, note the date of death, list surviving family members, and often describe property held at the time of death. These records can substitute for a published obituary when newspaper coverage is sparse, which was common in rural Howard County during the 1800s and early 1900s.
The Circuit Clerk is at the same address with phone extension 2. Court records held by the circuit clerk include civil, criminal, and divorce records. Online access for case searches is available through Arkansas CourtConnect, the state judiciary's free public search system. You can search by name or case number from any location.
Note: For mail requests, include the full name, approximate dates, and the type of record you need. Payment should be included with the request.
ARGenWeb Howard County Resources
The ARGenWeb project maintains a county page for Howard County at argenweb.net/howard/. Volunteers have contributed transcribed records, cemetery listings, and family histories over the years. This is a free resource and one of the better options for pre-1950 deaths in Howard County. The ARGenWeb network has been active for decades and often has indexed materials that are not in the major commercial databases.
The screenshot below shows the ARGenWeb Howard County page, a free volunteer genealogy resource for obituary and death record research.
The ARGenWeb page for Howard County links to transcribed obituaries, cemetery records, and county history materials built by local volunteers over many years.
The FamilySearch wiki page for Howard County genealogy is also available at familysearch.org. This page lists available record sets, explains what years are covered, and links to digitized collections that are searchable through FamilySearch for free. It is a useful orientation page if you are just starting your research.
Nashville Public Library Archives
The Howard County Library is at 314 N. Main Street, Nashville, AR 71852. The phone number is (870) 845-5466. The library can be contacted for local obituary archives and may have microfilm copies of Nashville-area newspapers that are not available through online databases. Newspaper obituary columns are often the most detailed source for deaths in the mid-20th century, and local library microfilm collections frequently cover papers that were never digitized.
Library staff can help you identify what newspaper holdings are available and what years are on file. If the local library does not have what you need, the CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock maintains newspaper microfilm for papers from across the state. The Butler Center also holds the Arkansas Gazette Obituaries Index from 1819 to 1879, with more than 14,000 entries. Southwest Arkansas families appeared regularly in the Gazette throughout the 1800s.
The Howard County Historical Society is also based in Nashville and can be a useful contact for records that are not digitized. Historical society volunteers often maintain collections of obituary clippings, cemetery lists, and family files that researchers donate over the years. If you are searching for a specific family and standard databases come up short, a local historical society contact is worth the effort.
Statewide Death Records and Vital Statistics
Arkansas death certificates are not held at the county level. The Arkansas Department of Health Vital Records office in Little Rock handles all certified death certificate requests. Records start from 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 Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Mail orders take 4-6 weeks.
Under Arkansas Code Title 20, Chapter 18, death certificates are restricted for 50 years. After that window, they become public records. Immediate family members can access certificates for more recent deaths with valid photo ID. Online ordering is available through VitalChek with additional fees.
The Arkansas State Archives holds death certificate indexes from 1914 to 1948 and 1967 to 1971. Their "In Remembrance" database covers deaths from 1819 to 1920 and pulls from church records, cemetery records, mortality censuses, and newspaper obituaries. Howard County records from this period may appear in that database. The Arkansas Digital Archives also holds digitized historical newspapers and other materials that may include death notices from Nashville-area papers.
FamilySearch and Genealogy Databases
FamilySearch is the best free database for older Howard County death records. Arkansas Probate Records from 1817 to 1979 and Arkansas Wills and Probate Records from 1783 to 1998 are both available at no cost. The Arkansas Death Index 1914 to 1950 has around 594,000 entries and can confirm a death date before you order a certificate from the state. You can search all of these without creating an account, though signing in adds more search features.
Ancestry holds digitized Arkansas Death Certificates for 1914 to 1969 as actual images. These same certificates are available free at Arkansas State Archives research rooms if you do not have an Ancestry subscription. HeritageQuest is free with most Arkansas public library cards and has census records and family histories that can round out your research. Newspapers.com and GenealogyBank both index historical Arkansas newspapers and can return obituary notices from Nashville papers on subscription.
The Arkansas Genealogical Society maintains resources and a county volunteer network. Their publication "Arkansas Family Historian" has run since 1962 and covers records across all 75 counties. For Howard County, reaching out to the society may connect you with local researchers who know what materials are available at the county level.
- FamilySearch - Free Arkansas probate and death records
- ARGenWeb Howard County - Volunteer transcribed records
- Arkansas Digital Archives - Historical newspapers and indexes
- Arkansas State Archives - "In Remembrance" 1819-1920 database
- GenealogyTrails Arkansas - Free transcribed obituaries
Cities in Howard County
Nashville is the county seat and main population center in Howard County. It does not meet the population threshold for a dedicated city page on this site, but it is the location for county offices, the public library, and the historical society. Other communities in Howard County include Dierks, Mineral Springs, Center Point, and Umpire. Records for these smaller towns are handled through county offices in Nashville.
Nearby Counties
These counties border Howard County and may have related records for families with ties across county lines:
Southwest Arkansas families often had roots in multiple neighboring counties. Searching nearby counties is a practical step when Howard County records are incomplete for a particular time period.