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Are there any FREE public access death records?

March 21st, 2011 3 comments

My great grandfather died a few years back, and i never really had the chance to get to know him. he traveled the country with his wife, until he died. i could ask her, but she is old, and i dont want to make her cry, so im using any other resource i can to try to find out more about my family history

You can search the Social Security Death Index, which is not the same as a certificate at:
http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ or http://www.familysearch.org/ENG/search/frameset_search.asp once you have located it in the index you would have a better idea of where to either order the death certificate or where to search for it online.

There are other Death Indexes that you can search, most notably the California Death Index 1940-1997 at http://www.deathindexes.com/california/i… , which is the (free version) at Rootsweb.

A Genealogy Guide for Finding Obituaries, Cemetery Burials and Death Records for the state of California can be found at http://www.deathindexes.com/california/i… free and some fee.

Texas and Ohio death certificates are available on FamilySearch.org on their pilot site at: http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsear…. Also, a new beta site on FamilySearch.org has more records at: http://fsbeta.familysearch.org/s/collection/list several states were added.

There are a few websites that have some vital records at no charge. For example, the state of Missouri has death certificates for the years 1910-1958 on their website at: http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources… A few pre 1910 birth and death certificates are also available on the site but all of their records have not been transcribed yet.

There are many other indexes and some that have some actual death certificates online but knowing the time period and state would go a long way toward helping someone locate them. However, there is no centralized location where all death records/certificates that are online can be searched.

As for your great grandfather, the only thing that you will be able to find out about him from these records will be when and possibly how he died and who his family was; you won’t be able to find out what kind of person he was or any interesting stories about his life. Maybe you great grandmother would like to talk about him and tell you some of his stories or about their travels. Try an ice-breaker like asking to see travel photos and see what happens…she might surprise you.