Mississippi County Obituary Records
Mississippi County obituary records span from the mid-1800s and cover one of the most active research areas in northeast Arkansas, with two county seats at Blytheville and Osceola. Whether you are searching for a death notice tied to a Delta farming family from the early 1900s or need records from a more recent passing, this page walks you through the county clerk, circuit clerk, historical society museum, and free online databases that hold Mississippi County obituary and death records. Knowing which district your ancestor lived in will help you find the right set of files faster.
Mississippi County Clerk Office
The Mississippi County Clerk is located at 200 W. Walnut Street, Blytheville, AR 72315. The phone number is (870) 763-3212. The clerk's office holds military records dating from 1850 and probate records from 1865. Those probate files are particularly useful for obituary research since estate cases frequently name the deceased, list heirs, and record the date of death.
When you contact the office, have the full name of the person you are searching and an approximate death year ready. Staff can help you locate the right files. Fees apply for copies, so ask about current rates before you order. Mail requests are accepted but walk-in service is the fastest route for same-day access to older records.
Probate records starting in 1865 give this county one of the longer-running sets of estate documents in northeast Arkansas. If your ancestor owned land or left any property when they died, there is a solid chance a probate case was filed and that case file will contain death information that supplements or replaces a missing obituary notice.
Circuit Clerk and Court Records
Mississippi County operates two circuit clerk offices because the county has dual seats of government. The Blytheville office is located at 206 North 2nd Street, Blytheville, AR 72316, with phone (870) 762-2332. The Osceola office serves the southern district and is reachable at (870) 563-6471. Both offices handle court records that can connect directly to obituary research through estate proceedings, guardianship cases, and civil filings tied to a deceased person's affairs.
Court records held by the circuit clerk are searchable through Arkansas CourtConnect, the statewide public access portal maintained by the Administrative Office of Courts. You can search by name or case number and pull up probate and civil case summaries. This is especially useful if you cannot travel to Blytheville or Osceola in person. Start with the online system to identify case numbers, then contact the local office for copies of specific documents.
Note: The Blytheville and Osceola offices each maintain separate records for their respective districts. Always confirm which side of the county your ancestor lived on before requesting files.
Historical and Genealogical Society Museum
The Mississippi County Historical and Genealogical Society is a strong local resource for obituary research. The society operates a museum and research center in an old storefront in the center of Osceola. The mailing address is P.O. Box 483, Osceola, AR 72370. The research center includes a library of local records, family histories, and genealogical materials that are not available through any online database.
Volunteers at the museum have compiled indexes, clipping files, and county-specific collections over many years. If you are researching a family with deep roots in the Osceola area or anywhere in the southern part of the county, reaching out to the society before your trip can save hours of searching. They can tell you what they hold and whether a prior researcher has already done relevant work on a family name you are tracking.
The ARGenWeb project maintains a Mississippi County page with links to transcribed records and local genealogy resources. The screenshot below shows the ARGenWeb Mississippi County page, a volunteer-run resource covering obituaries, cemetery records, and family histories for the county.
The ARGenWeb page at ARGenWeb Mississippi County includes links to cemetery transcriptions, surname indexes, and obituary contributions from volunteer researchers working this area of the Delta.
Funeral Home Records
Funeral home records are among the most detailed sources for Mississippi County obituary research. FamilySearch holds the Holt Funeral Home Records from 1937 to 1955 for this county. Funeral home logs typically include the full name, date of death, cause of death, age at death, and next of kin. That level of detail often exceeds what a newspaper ran in the same era.
Beyond Holt, multiple funeral homes operated in Blytheville, Osceola, Manila, Leachville, and Joiner during the twentieth century. Some of those records have been preserved and indexed. Check FamilySearch for any additional collections that may have been uploaded since this research was compiled. The site is free and does not require a paid subscription for most Arkansas records.
FamilySearch also holds Mississippi County Probate Records from 1865 to 1952. These are digitized and browsable at no cost. For deaths that occurred during that window, a probate search is worth running in parallel with any obituary or death certificate search you conduct.
Death Certificates and Vital Records
Death certificates for Mississippi County are filed with the state, not kept at the county courthouse. The Arkansas Department of Health Vital Records office handles all official death certificate requests. Records go back to February 1, 1914, with limited records for some cities from 1881 onward.
The fee is $10 for the first certified copy and $8 for each additional copy ordered at the same time. A $10 non-refundable search fee applies when no record is found. Walk-in service is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the state office in Little Rock. Mail requests take four to six weeks. Online orders can be placed through VitalChek with additional service fees.
Death certificates become public records after 50 years under Arkansas Code Title 20, Chapter 18. Until that period passes, access is limited to immediate family members, legal representatives, and others with a direct and tangible interest. For research on older deaths, certificates from 1914 through 1969 are available as digitized images through Ancestry.com and for free at the Arkansas State Archives reading room in Little Rock.
Online Databases for Mississippi County Obituaries
Several databases cover Mississippi County obituary and death records. The Arkansas State Archives "In Remembrance" database indexes deaths from 1819 to 1920 and pulls from church records, cemetery transcriptions, newspaper obituaries, and county documents. It is a free search tool and a good starting point for pre-1914 research.
The Arkansas Digital Archives holds digitized newspapers from across the state. Delta-area papers from Blytheville and Osceola may be included in the collection. Checking for obituary columns in historical issues is worth the time, particularly for deaths in the mid-twentieth century when newspaper notices were common but not always indexed elsewhere.
- FamilySearch: Probate Records 1865-1952, free to search
- FamilySearch: Holt Funeral Home Records 1937-1955
- Arkansas State Archives "In Remembrance" database, deaths 1819-1920
- Arkansas Digital Archives: digitized newspapers and indexes
- ARGenWeb Mississippi County: cemetery records, transcribed obituaries
- CourtConnect: probate and estate case filings by name
The Arkansas Genealogical Society publishes the Arkansas Family Historian quarterly and maintains research guidance for all 75 counties. Membership provides access to their index collections and connects you with researchers who specialize in this part of the state.
Mississippi County Library Resources
The Mississippi County Library is located at 200 W. Walnut Street, Blytheville, AR 72315 with phone (870) 762-2432. Public libraries across Arkansas provide in-library access to genealogy databases that are otherwise subscription-based, including Ancestry Library Edition and Newspapers.com. If you cannot afford a subscription, the library is the place to go.
The CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock holds newspaper microfilm and county records for all 75 Arkansas counties. If your research needs a run of a local paper not available digitally, the Butler Center likely has it on film. Their collection includes the Arkansas Gazette Obituaries Index covering 1819 to 1879.
Note: The Arkansas State Library at One Capitol Mall in Little Rock also provides remote access to GenealogyBank and HeritageQuest for Arkansas cardholders. Check with your local library for remote access options.
Cities in Mississippi County
The main population centers in Mississippi County are Blytheville and Osceola, each serving as a seat for its respective judicial district. Neither city reaches the population threshold for a dedicated city page on this site. When searching for obituaries, knowing which city your ancestor lived near will determine which courthouse district to search first.
Other communities in the county include Manila, Leachville, and Joiner. Records for these smaller towns fall under the jurisdiction of the nearest district. Funeral home records from these smaller communities may also be indexed in the FamilySearch collections noted above.
Nearby Counties
Research in this part of northeast Arkansas often crosses county lines. The following counties border Mississippi County and maintain their own records collections:
Delta families moved frequently across county lines in search of farmland and work. If an obituary search in Mississippi County comes up short, checking adjacent counties is a logical next step before concluding a record does not exist.