Death Records Now

Obituaries offer a wealth of information about your family. They have important facts about the deceased and important dates that you can use to piece together clues about the history of your family. Here’s how you can find details to research from obituaries.

We all think differently and we all have different ways of processing information, which makes genealogy and ancestry research very confusing. Different historians and different family members keep records in different ways so sometimes finding the facts you need to piece together a family history are elusive.

There are thousands of databases out there claiming to have the answers, but in reality if you are disorganized, those databases are only going to make the confusion worse. And to top it off repetition in names, facts and even certain dates can cause further confusion. To clear up the confusion, here is the basic guideline of what to look for in an obituary and how to keep it all organized.

Searching for Clues in Obituaries

An obituary is the final record of a person’s life, information is included that can lead you to some amazing discoveries about your family. When you look at an obituary it is important that you pinpoint those bits of information and make a note of them. First read the obituary through once or twice just to get an idea of the information included. Then underline the important pieces of information. Read it over again to make sure you underlined everything of importance. Here are the things you will want to look for in an obituary:

• The deceased’s full name
• Age
• Gender
• Date of birth
• Date of death
• Place or City of Residence
• Occupation
• Military Service
• Church Affiliation
• Life events
• Awards or Accomplishments
• Names of survivors
• Place where funeral or memorial service is held
• Place of internment

Maximizing the Genealogical Value of Obituaries

Once you’ve read and reread the obituary and you’ve underlined the important pieces of information, the next step is to organize the information in a way you can access later and have a complete understanding of what it is you found important. You can download forms for free that can help you research genealogical clues from obituaries at Obituarieshelp.org

The first thing to do is copy down the information point by point. Then make notes about each point.

Questions to ask yourself as you go through each point are:

• What information does this clue provide?
• What public or historical records exist that will provide further information?
• Where can I find those records?

The notes you make about each point can be anything related to genealogy research:

• Personal notes – maybe you were reminded about a conversation you had with a relative about this point.
• Family history notes – maybe another ancestor was a member of the same organization.
• Notes about what you’ll want to research about this information – perhaps you want to look up how long this person was a member of this organization.
• Where records that expand on this information might exist – make notes as to where you can find the answers to your questions.

Other notes might include tidbits of information from:

• Phone book
• City business directory
• Internet
• Church directory
• School databases

Taking the time to go through obituaries carefully can go a long way to helping you find clues to your family history and connecting you to your ancestors and relatives. Names, places, and dates are just the starting point. There is so much to learn from obituaries, but you have to read between the lines. Not all the information will be there ready for you to see, you’ll have to do a little digging and a little research. Making notes and keeping your notes organized will help you get the information you are looking for.

Melanie Walters

http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi
California Death Records 9,366,786 records from 1940 thru 1997

Warning 1: It is an index; the most you’ll get is name, sex, birthdate, birth state, father’s surname, mother’s maiden name, residence at time of death, death date. That’s the most; many records have blank fields.

Warning 2: It is supported by advertising. The ads rotate. Sometimes the ad asks for a name and leads you to a pay site. Scroll down past the ad.

www.findagrave.com is nation-wide and free. It has some entries for California. The entries range from the simple (John Smith, 1903 – 1971) to the elaborate; some have biographies, cause of death (especially if the person died in an accident, in battle, or of a disease) and links to spouses and/or parents and/or children.

You can find obituaries in old newspapers on microfilm in libraries. They usually don’t mention cause of death, but they usually have a mini-biography.

I am trying to located an obituary for my grandfather’s brother, who I believe to have died in 1980.
I am not sure if he was living in New York or Florida at the time of his death, but I do know that he was born in New York around 1911.
Does New York or Florida have free access to public records such as obituaries?

If you want his death certificate, look in the public records by going to the Vital Records Office of the town where he died. Obituaries, though, are not public records. They are newspaper items.

I’m not trying to quibble. I’m trying to point out the difference so that you don’t spend time going in the wrong direction.

The person has just disappeared & I do not need a death certificate or anything just want to know if something happened to this person.

Google the person’s name and the word "obituaries." If there was an obituary, then you’ll likely find a link to it. You can also try looking them up in the Social Security Death Index (address below), though if they died this year, it’s probably a little early for it to have been reported.

At least this is a start.

For example, I am trying to locate a childhood friend here in California whom I haven’t seen in almost 20 years. I went to a couple of those online "people finding" sites…and sure enough, they say they can provide me with all kinds of current information about her…marriage, divorce, death, etc. etc. For a large fee they can they can provide all kinds of information "from the public record". But yet, when I go to the county records office and try to obtain the exact same information…I am denied access because this information is only given to "immediate family members."

This perplexes me. Can anyone explain this?

Official town and city hall records can be quite difficult to obtain. But the newspaper information (Births, obituaries, marriages, etc.) can be found by anyone willing to sift through it.