Arkansas Church Records

Before 1900 the largest religious groups in Arkansas were the Baptist and Methodist Episcopal (now United Methodist). The Family History Library has many church records for Arkansas and several histories of local churches. The following directories may help you locate other church records:

A Directory of Churches and Religious Organizations in the State of Arkansas. Little Rock: Historical Records Survey 1942. (Family History Library book 976.7 K24h; film 823676 item 6.)

Guide to Vital Statistics Records in Arkansas: Volume II, Church Archives. Little Rock: Historical Records Survey, 194-. (Family History LIbrary book 976.7 K2h; film 873998 item 2.)

Many denominations have collected their records into central repositories. You can write to the following addresses to learn where the records are located:

Baptist
Arkansas Baptist State Convention Collection Riley Library Ouachita Baptist University 410 Ouachita Arkedelphia, AR 71998 Telephone: 870-245-5000 Fax: 870-245-5500

Jacynda Ammons OBU Box 3729 Arkadelphia, AR 71998 [mailto:ammonsj@obu.edu ammonsj@obu.edu] Telephone: 870-245-5332 website: http://www.obu.edu/library/baptistrecords.htm

Methodist
North Arkansas Conference Depository Olin C. Bailey Library Hendrix College 1600 Washington Street Conway, AR 72032 Telephone: 501-336-9321 Fax: 501-336-9001 E-mail: [mailto:arkmethodist@hendrix.edu arkmethodist@hendrix.edu] http://www.gcah.org/Conference/umac/arc.htm

Roman Catholic
Drouin Collection 1621-1967 of French Canadian records indexed at Ancestry.com. This collection has over 15 million entries for French Canadian genealogical and vital records. Be sure to search for spelling variations of the ancestor's name. This index includes Quebec notarial, vital, and church records, Acadian Catholic records, Ontario French Catholic records, early French Catholic records in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, and Wisconsin.