How to Look Up an Old Obituary

Old death notices, or obituaries, can be retrieved from many online sources or back issues of print newspapers.

Obituaries, or notices of a person's death, also contain interesting information about a person's life, accomplishments, interests, education, community involvement and family. Formerly published only in print newspapers, the advent of the Internet has made obituaries of millions of people, from all places and times in recorded history, available to the diligent researcher.

Instructions

1. Consult a general clearinghouse site like Obituary Central (www.obitcentral.com), which lists large databases and other reference sources allowing you to search obituaries of each state (and within them, counties and cities), federal census records, historical newspaper collections and genealogical archives. This site can provide you with general information to get started. From here, you can find free information as well as directions for signing up for free trials on sites that require paid membership

2. Search another general site like Obituary Links Page (www.obitlinkspage.com), also organized by state, which grants access to old newspapers, obituaries, and other obituary sources like the Social Security Death Index, newspapers and genealogical databases. This site provides information on Canadian obituary sources as well, searchable by province.

3. Begin a free seven-day trial at Archives.com, a genealogical site that charges $39.95 (as of April 2011) for a one-year membership. It culls information from public databases (census, country clerk's offices, military sources, church documents, death registers, cemetery records) and makes them easily searchable by a person's last name.

4. Find celebrity obituaries (as well as those of everyday people) on sites like Legacy.com (www.legacy.com). It offers obituaries from more than 800 newspapers from the U.S. and around the world, as well as provides user-generated obituaries. Search by state or country, newspaper, or first and last name.

5. Expand your search internationally with Obituary Depot (obituarydepot.com), which offers coverage of obituaries by state (U.S. and Australia), province (Canada), and by country for New Zealand, Germany, South Africa, Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland), the Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Greece and France.

6. Visit your local library. Depending on its size, it will hold collections of newspapers, often saved on microfiche (which look like old film reels and are "read" by machine that is backlit). You can search by newspaper and/or time period for the death notice you seek. A librarian will show you how to use the microfiche machine. If your library does not have a specific newspaper, request an inter-library loan to get this material from another branch or larger library.

7. Don't despair if you have trouble tracking down lesser known or smaller newspapers at your library. Consult an online source like NewspaperARCHIVE.com (www.newspaperarchive.com), which claims to be the "largest historical newspaper database online,'' containing millions of newspapers covering 400 years of obituaries, funeral announcements and death records for both famous and ordinary people around the world. Search by name or by keyword. This site offers free trials, as well as several paid subscription plans ranging from $5.99 to $9.99 per month (as of April 2011).

Tips & Warnings

• Explore free sites first. Obituaries are public records, and with a little effort, you should be able to find a notice of any death you are seeking, particularly if it is more recent or occurred in a larger, metropolitan area with a major newspaper.

• Be aware that many online sites charge a fee to read full obituaries.

References

• Obituary Central
• Obituaries Links Page
• Archives.com; Find Online Obituaries, Newspapers, Cemetery and Death Records
• Legacy.com
• Obituary Depot
• NewspaperARCHIVE.com; Obituaries