Arkansas Cemetery Records
This entry was originally written by Wendy Bebout Elliott, Ph.D., FUGA for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
Local county genealogical and historical organizations have copied, cataloged, and published records of local cemeteries. Most of these are in the collection at the Arkansas History Commission; many are in the Daughters of the American Revolution Library (DAR). Most of those in the DAR collection have been microfilmed by the FHL.
The Arkansas Family Historian, a publication of the Arkansas Genealogical Society (see Arkansas Periodicals, Newspapers, and Manuscript Collections), publishes transcriptions of gravestones from cemeteries, as do many local and regional periodicals. No statewide index to cemetery records exists, but notable publications include the following:
- Andreas, Leonardo, comp. Graveyards in Arkansas. Salt Lake City: filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1974.
- Cemetery Records of Arkansas. 8 vols. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1957.
- Daughters of the American Revolution, Prudence Hall Chapter. Index to Sources for Arkansas Cemetery Inscriptions. North Little Rock: Daughters of the American Revolution, ca. 1976. An excellent guide to compiled cemetery records for the state.
- Knight, Rena Marie. Civil War Soldiers Buried in Arkansas National Cemeteries. Jacksonville, Ark.: the author, 1996. Alphabetical arrangement of primarily Union soldiers; it includes name, unit, death, cemetery, and grave number.
- ______. Confederate Soldiers Buried in Arkansas: A Compilation Representative of All Confederate States. Jacksonville, Ark.: the author, 1999. Contains an alphabetical list of soldiers with rank, service unit, cemetery where buried, and county. Some birth and death details are included.
- Roberts, Lewis E. Cemetery Inscriptions Published in Thirty Years of The Arkansas Family Historian. Reprint. Hot Springs, Ark.: Arkansas Genealogical Society, 1992.
Many online cemetery transcriptions can be located here: Arkansas Cemetery Records
