Search Union County Obituaries
Union County obituary records and death notices are maintained in El Dorado, the county seat of the largest county by area in Arkansas. Whether you are tracing a family through the oil-boom communities of the 1920s or looking for a recent death notice from the El Dorado area, this page covers the clerk offices, library collections, historical society resources, and online databases that hold Union County obituary and death information. The county has well-preserved records and active local genealogy institutions that can assist with research in ways that online tools alone cannot.
Union County Clerk Office
The Union County Clerk is Mandi Fudge, reachable at (870) 864-1910. The clerk's office maintains probate records, marriage records, and other county-level filings at the courthouse in El Dorado. For obituary research, probate and estate records are among the most useful secondary sources available here. When someone in Union County died with property, an estate case was typically opened. That file names the deceased, records the death date, lists heirs, and often includes letters or affidavits that provide detail not found in a published notice.
Union County was formed November 2, 1829, and records go back to that early period. The county's history as an oil-production center from the 1920s onward brought a large and diverse population, which means there is a wide range of records to search across different ethnic and occupational communities. If you are researching someone who came to Union County during the oil boom years, records from that period may be especially rich because the population surge generated more court and probate activity.
The courthouse is a notable structure built during the 1920s oil boom, with 40 freestanding ionic columns and a marble atrium. The building is part of Union County's recorded history, and visiting for in-person research gives access to records that predate any digital system. Call ahead to confirm what you need is available in person and whether staff can locate the specific record before you make a trip.
Circuit Clerk and Court Records
The Union County Circuit Clerk is Cheryl Wilson, reachable at (870) 864-1940. The circuit clerk handles court filings that tie directly to death research, including probate petitions, estate administration cases, and civil matters involving deceased individuals. CourtConnect, the Arkansas judiciary's public access portal, covers Union County filings and allows name-based searches. For recent cases, CourtConnect is the fastest starting point before a visit or written request.
FamilySearch holds Arkansas Probate Records from 1817 to 1979 at no charge, and many Union County estate files are included. The FamilySearch Arkansas Wills and Probate Records collection from 1783 to 1998 extends coverage even further. Both collections are free and searchable by name, which makes them a practical tool for remote research before contacting the county.
For online tax and real estate records related to estate research, Union County has searchable online records. These can confirm property ownership and help connect a deceased person to a specific location within the county, which in turn points toward the right newspaper district and courthouse records.
Note: Estate filings from the oil-boom era of the 1920s can be particularly detailed because the population surge and high property values generated more complex probate cases than in quieter periods of the county's history.
Barton Library Historical Collection
The Barton Library in El Dorado maintains a historical collection that is a key resource for Union County obituary research. Local libraries in major county seats often hold materials not available anywhere online, including donated family files, local newspaper microfilm, funeral home records, and church death registers. For a county with as much history as Union, the library collection is likely to have depth that supplements and sometimes surpasses what genealogy databases carry.
Library staff can assist with on-site research. If you are not able to visit, the library may be able to respond to written research inquiries. Contacting the library directly to ask what is available for a specific time period or family name is the best approach before making a trip from out of the area. The Arkansas Digital Archives has digitized a number of historical Arkansas newspapers and may include El Dorado area papers, which is worth checking for keyword-searchable obituary columns from the early 1900s.
The screenshot below shows the El Dorado and Union County resource page used for obituary research in the county.
This resource provides access to Union County obituary materials connected to El Dorado, the county seat and largest city in the county.
Union County Historical Society
The Union County Historical Society publishes a quarterly journal called "Tracks and Traces." Historical society publications like this often contain transcribed obituaries, family histories, and death notices drawn from local sources that are not indexed anywhere online. If you are researching a Union County family, browsing back issues of Tracks and Traces can turn up references that no database search would find.
Historical societies also maintain volunteer networks and local knowledge that is hard to replicate. Members often have access to privately held materials, unpublished family files, and church records that never make it into a formal archive. Reaching out to the Union County Historical Society directly may open doors that standard research approaches do not.
The screenshot below shows the Union County Library, another key resource for historical obituary research in El Dorado and the surrounding area.
The Union County Library in El Dorado holds a historical collection that may include materials specific to the county's oil-boom era and earlier settlement periods.
Online Obituary Databases for Union County
Several databases carry Union County obituary records. FamilySearch is free and holds probate records, cemetery transcriptions, and church records. Find A Grave has extensive coverage of Union County cemeteries with headstone photos submitted by volunteers. BillionGraves covers additional cemeteries and may have entries not yet on Find A Grave.
The USGenWeb Obituary Project has some Union County entries. The ARGenWeb county page provides links to transcribed records and local researcher contacts. For recent obituaries, Legacy.com aggregates death notices from Arkansas newspapers. Local funeral homes in El Dorado and surrounding communities post current obituaries on their own websites, which is often the fastest path when you know approximately when and where someone died.
For free transcribed records, GenealogyTrails Arkansas and Arkansas Genealogy host volunteer-contributed materials. The Arkansas State Archives accepts research requests by mail and email and can help locate Union County holdings for periods not covered by digital resources.
Death Certificates and Vital Records
Arkansas death certificates are filed at the state level. The Arkansas Department of Health Vital Records office handles all official requests. Certificates for deaths from 1914 forward are on file. Records before that year may be incomplete.
Under Arkansas Code Title 20, Chapter 18, death certificates are restricted for 50 years. After that restriction period, records become available to the public. Immediate family members can request certificates for deaths within the restriction period with proper identification. Public access to probate and court records falls under Arkansas Code Section 25-19-105.
Cities in Union County
El Dorado is the county seat and largest city in Union County, with a qualifying population for a dedicated page on this site. El Dorado is the main records center for the county, and the clerk offices, library, and historical society are all based there.
Other communities in Union County include Smackover, Norphlet, Junction City, and Huttig. Records for these smaller towns are maintained through the county clerk and circuit clerk offices in El Dorado.
Nearby Counties
Families in southern Arkansas often had ties that crossed county lines. The following counties border Union County and maintain their own records collections:
Checking neighboring counties is worthwhile when Union County records are incomplete. People in the southern Arkansas oil region moved frequently, and an ancestor may appear in a neighboring county's records even if they spent most of their life in Union County.