Unlocking the Past – Finding Obituaries for Genealogy Research

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Obituary Databases

Obituary databases can be an essential tool for genealogical research. They can be incredibly helpful for determining death dates, locations and relatives’ names. However, finding these records can be challenging. This is largely because obituaries are a secondary source and rely on fallible human memory. They are also often published months after a person’s death, meaning they may be missing from certain resources.

When individuals wish to trace their family history or gather information about deceased relatives, a common question is how to find obituaries, exploring online databases, local archives, and newspapers becomes a practical approach to uncovering valuable details about the lives and legacies of loved ones.

To find obituaries, you can search for them on genealogy websites and in online newspaper archives. Many sites offer free searches, and others require a subscription. Searching in multiple sites will increase the likelihood of finding an obituary for your ancestor.

Using genealogy websites can be useful for researching obituaries because they contain information unavailable in other resources such as state archives. Obituaries in these databases can provide important information about your ancestors, such as their occupation, religion, and other notable aspects of their life.

To access obituary databases, narrow down the date range and location you are searching. Providing as much detail as possible will help you locate the record. This is especially true if you search for a very old obituary, as first or last name variations and spellings can vary. This is because family members dictated or wrote many obituaries, and they can misspell names.

Newspapers

Newspapers are often among the most useful documentation, and they can reveal a lot about an ancestor’s life. They can include birth, marriage, death announcements, court cases, gossip, and other interesting news. Fortunately, there are plenty of online newspaper archives.

Many are free, but others require a subscription. The best ones provide a range of newspaper titles, including local and national newspapers, plus ethnic newspapers, such as those for African Americans. Some even offer obituaries.

Be sure to use searches — placing names in quotation marks and using AND, OR and NOT is helpful. Also, remember that items of regional interest could sometimes spread nationally, so check papers beyond your ancestor’s hometown.

Start by searching for your ancestor’s name or a variation of their name (such as a middle initial) in the newspaper index and obituaries. Remember to search for other relatives, such as spouses and children. As you explore, keep track of what you’ve learned. This can help you focus your searches in the future. Researching just one person at a time can also be helpful so that you stay calm with information. However, if you discover something about another ancestor while exploring your focus person, document it. This will save you time later because you won’t have to search for that ancestor again.

Newspaper Indexes

Newspaper indexes can be a major aid in identifying articles containing genealogical information. They can help researchers narrow their search by listing the title of a newspaper, the date it was published, and the name of the individual being searched (or a general subject such as “Accidents,” “Schools,” or “Football”).

In addition to obituaries, historical newspapers can provide valuable information about many other events in your family’s life, including birthdays, weddings, illnesses, and other accidents; sports accomplishments; social columns and “who visited who” lists; legal records such as lawsuits or estate sales; and more.

Most digitized newspapers are available on subscription sites. However, you can access some of them through free websites such as Chronicling America, state newspaper project sites, and local library sites. Remember that each site has priorities and methods for sourcing digitized pages with different geographical, cultural and chronological strengths. Regardless of the size of the site you choose, it’s important to take your time and thoroughly explore all the resources. Be sure to try alternate spellings of names; search using a first and last name or initials, and widen your time frame.

Newspaper Transcriptions

Unlike other online sites that have scanned whole pages and allowed the searcher to select a portion of the page containing the surname or place, some have already transcribed the articles in an easy-to-read typed format. Articles can include weddings, funerals, obituaries, political elections, church activities, school programs, new businesses, town disasters, court cases, etc. They can also contain various general news items, business reports, social and cultural controversies, science, medicine, and agriculture.

Newspapers are one of the most valuable resources for historians, not just because they provide a chronicle of events as they happened at the time, but because they can reveal long-term trends in all areas. For example, newspaper articles can show how many cholera outbreaks have occurred in a region over the years.

However, newspapers are not easy to transcribe because of the layout and the fact that they have been printed on paper with various marks and stains. It is important to ensure that a transcript is accurate, and this can be done by providing that the transcription box is empty and only allowing the original text to be entered.