Saving family histories
Local genealogists undertake obituary project
EL DORADO — Members of the Union County Genealogical Society have taken on a huge task — they are clipping new obituaries from the newspaper, gathering old obits supplied by local residents, laminating those last notices and filing them in a cabinet at the Barton Library in El Dorado.
Family members of residents who have died in Union County sometimes find stacks of obituaries when they clean out homes and closets and genealogy members are urging those family members to bring the copies to the library to be included in the file.
Genealogy members have been working on the project from 2 until 4 p.m. on Thursdays in the conference room at the library, 200 E. Fifth St., El Dorado, and “we need your help,” said Jan Fournier and Carolyn Smith.
“We are making permanent files of all obituaries we can locate,” Fournier said. “If you have ever collected obituaries or have any you would allow us to copy and put a record of in our files, we are making an appeal to you to share any old obituaries you have.”
The obituary collection project was started in October 2015, when genealogy members began cutting obituaries from the El Dorado News-Times, in memory of Martha Sue Wright, who died in February 2015, Smith said.
“Someone gave Martha Sue a bunch of obits,” Smith said, explaining that money to fund the project was donated in memory of Wright, Betty Hamilton and Louis Reed.
In August, members of the local genealogy group went to visit Shreve Memorial Library — Broadmoor Branch — in Shreveport, La., and that’s when the idea to start the permanent obituary collection was born.
So far, the oldest obituary that has been donated for the permanent collection is Sarah Stegall’s final notice — who died on Dec. 26, 1925. Her obituary appeared in the Dec. 27 newspaper that year. Genealogy members have already collected and filed several hundred obituaries.
“People can bring copies of old obits and we will make copies and give them back the originals,” Smith said. Genealogy members will continue to clip obituaries through 2016, and will then go back and file older obituaries.
Obituaries are being glued on 4X6 index cards, covered with “peel and stick Lamine transparent,” which is an acid free coating that is purchased in rolls, Smith explained. Jim Mullins has been alphabetizing the cards and placing them in the file cabinet.
“We are putting these files in our genealogy collection for an information source — other than microfilm or a computer,” Fournier said. “Any contributions will be greatly appreciated.”
Smith said anyone with old obituaries can leave them at Barton Library. For more information, call Dorathy Boulden, staff genealogist at the library, at 870-863-5447 or dboulden@bartonlibrary.org.
The library is open from 9:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; from 1 until 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays; from 1 until 5 p.m. on Saturdays and is closed on Sunday.