Researching Arkansas and Michigan

Arkansas

If you have had any relatives from the state of Arkansas there may be relatives buried in the cemeteries there. Even if they did not live there, so a variety of reasons a person may have been buried there. So it is worthwhile to check different locations in search of your ancestors.

Using the database of Arkansas Gravestones, there are some 929,000 gravestone images online and more added each month.

Use the quick search box in the upper right corner, placing a surname. If it is a common surname (Jones, Smith, etc) add a given name. However since given names can vary with even nicknames used, if you can start with a family name. Keep the search for all the counties of Arkansas.

If you find a name of interest, click on the name to view the photo of the headstone. Just below the photo will be the text of what was written on the headstone – super useful if the stone is hard to read. There can all types of additional information on a headstone.  

This on J. Delford Andrews, who was born Oct. 20, 1914, died on Feb. 4, 1957, his wife was Mildred C. Andrews, who was born Aug. 25, 1914 and died Nov. 26, 1998. Especially useful is that the marriage date is also on the stone; Oct. 6, 1935. Also the cemetery name is provided and the county name.

The site offers other methods to search such as by county solely or by the specific name of a cemetery. Of course just searching by a surname is good to do.

Michigan

Michigan being a larger state has had a long history and any people live within its boundaries. Again if you had a relative live there, or even in a neighboring state, you will want to check out ‘Seeking Michigan‘ databases.

There are death records in Michigan (1897-1920), Michigan census records (1827-1874 and 1884 to 1894)–great since the 1890 Federal Census was destroyed, also Civil War Service Records, photos from the Civil War and scenes around Michigan, all and more available online.

For category you search, once you call up that section, there is a search box in the upper right corner. Keep in mind to follow the dates, no sense looking for an ancestor you know died before 1897. There is over 1 million death records still within the time frame to examine.

Photo: Headstone for J. Delford and Mildred Andrews in Arkansas.

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