Obituary Records Genealogy
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Genealogy Obituary Records Search

Obituary and Memorial Search

• Ancestry.com Obituary Collection
  Ancestry.com has complied a large collection of obituaries in its own databases and links to obits across the Web.
  
  
• Chronicling America
  Newspapers from The Library of Congress 1836 - 1922 contain many obituaries.
  
  
• Genealogy Bank Obits
  Over 24.8 million obituaries from 1977 to today in 900 newspapers.
  
  
• Legacy
  Search Legacy for newspaper obituaries from 1930 to present day. Most current obituaries from the United States are included as well as many from Australia, Bermuda, Canada, England, New Zealand, Norther Ireland, Republic of Ireland, and Scotland.
  
  
• Obituary Daily Times
  Rootsweb has over 16 million user-contributed obituaries from all around the world.
  
  
• Public Libraries
  Libraries generally have archives of local newspapers and will do a lookup for a nominal fee.

What Can You Learn from an Obituary?

• Photographs
• Birthplace
• Birth date
• Death date
• Cause of death
• Place of Burial
• Spouse name
• Children's names and their spouse's names
• Grandchildren's names and their spouses
• Parent's names
• Sibling's names and their spouse
• Military Service
• Education
• Occupation and places worked
• Interests and Hobbies
• Character traits
  
  Not only can an obituary tell the life story of the person, it gives many clues for additional research. Because many newspapers charge to print an obituary at the time of death, the length of the obit can vary according to the family's means.