Arkansas, Sebastian County Births and Deaths - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Arkansas Sebastian County

What Is in the Collection?
This collection includes birth and death records from the Sebastian county clerk’s office in Fort Smith, Arkansas and the Fort Smith city clerk’s office, for the years 1877 to 1963. The records are generally handwritten on pre-printed pages.

County and city officials began keeping records from the time the county was formed and the city was incorporated. Birth and death records were created to keep track of the vital events happening in the lives of the citizens, to safeguard their legal interests, and for public health reasons.

The birth and death records are usually reliable depending upon the reliability of the informant.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
Birth records usually include the following information:


 * Child’s name
 * Birth date
 * Birth place
 * Sex
 * Race
 * Parents' names
 * Parents' ages
 * Birth place of parents
 * Occupations of parents
 * Number of other children in the family

Death records usually include the following information:


 * Name of deceased
 * Age
 * Sex
 * Race
 * Social Status (Married, divorced, single, widowed)
 * Occupation
 * Birth Place
 * Last Residence
 * How long in this state
 * Death place
 * Death date
 * Father’s name
 * Mother’s name
 * Cause of Death
 * Duration of illness
 * Burial place

How Do I Search the Collection?
You can search the index or view the images or both. Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * Name of the person
 * The location or date of the event

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

For more tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
If these are indexes, the original records may contain additional information than was not indexed, or the information might have been indexed incorrectly. You may want to search for the original record at the Fort Smith Library.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * In case you need to find this record again later, copy the citation below in the Citing This Collection section. It's always a good idea to keep your citation on a Research Log. This is an important tool to help keep track of what you have and have not found.  Family search wiki has a  Example Research Log that you can download and use.
 * Use the age or estimated birth date to find other county or Arkansas Vital Records such as birth, baptism, marriage, and death records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find additional family members in the United States Census, 1880 (FamilySearch Historical Records) or the United States Census, 1900 (FamilySearch Historical Records) or the United States Census, 1920 (FamilySearch Historical Records) or the United States Census, 1940 (FamilySearch Historical Records). Search the state censuses as well.
 * Use the information found in the record to find United States, Internal Revenue Assessment Lists (FamilySearch Historical Records).
 * Use the information found in the record to find United States, Bureau of Land Management Tract Books (FamilySearch Historical Records).
 * Search for death or burial information in BillionGraves Index or at Find A Grave.
 * If applicable, search for immigration and naturalization records as well.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you find possible relatives.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching a nearby locality.
 * Try different spellings of your ancestor’s name.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Check the infobox above for additional FamilySearch websites and related websites that may assist you in finding similar records.

Citing This Collection
A citation is a note that shows where you found information. Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Using citations allow others to find the same records. Below are the proper citations to use for this whole collection as well as for individual records:

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry): Top of Page