Genealogy Roots Blog

Online Death Records and Indexes - New Additions and Updates

2010-01-02T09:56:00.004-07:00

The Online Searchable Death Indexes and Records Directory has been updated with links to the following items...

Alabama
- Madison County: City of Huntsville Cemetery Burials Search

Arkansas
- Carroll County Historical and Genealogical Society - Cemetery Grave Marker Index
- Yell County Cemetery Records

California
- Los Angeles County: Inglewood Park Cemetery Burials Index 1974-present; See: Online Los Angeles, California Death Records & Indexes

Connecticut
- Fairfield County Cemeteries

Florida
- Broward County: Jewish Cemeteries (ongoing project) presently has Jewish burials in Evergreen Cemetery, Fort Lauderdale (Excel file)

Georgia
- Georgia Non-Indexed Death Certificates, 1928-1930
- Georgia Death Certificate Summaries 1914-1927 and 1930 from FamilySearch Labs (Updated: year 1930 added)

Idaho
- Canyon County: City of Nampa Cemetery Interment Database

Indiana
- Clark County Cemeteries
- Parke County Cemeteries

Kansas
- Cherokee County Obituary Index 2000-2007

Massachusetts
- Essex County: City of Peabody Archives - Birth, Marriage and Death Records 1855-1880 (death records go to 1879)
- Essex County: Spring Grove Cemetery Burials (Andover, MA)

Michigan
- Ogemaw County Death Records Index
- Saint Clair County: Lakeside Cemetery Records Search (Port Huron, Michigan)

Minnesota
- Hennepin County: Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery - Burial Search
- Marshall County: Holt Weekly News 1911-1952 (scanned newspaper pages - includes obituaries)
- Mower County Cemeteries
- Pennington County: Historic St. Pauli Church, Thief River Falls, Minnesota (includes baptisms, funerals and other listings)

Mississippi
- Adams County: Natchez Jewish Cemetery List

Missouri
- Gentry and Worth Counties: Cemetery Transcriptions (PDF files)
- Saint Louis County: Cold Water Cemetery Burials (DAR Cemetery in Florissant, MO); See: Online St. Louis, Missouri Death Records, Indexes & Obituaries

Nebraska
- Adams County: Hastings Regional Center Cemetery Records, 1889-1959
- Lancaster County: Nebraska State Historical Society Genealogy and Other Indexes (includes: Wyuka Cemetery Interments, Lincoln, 1877-Feb. 1881; and many other indexes)

New Hampshire
- Hillsborough County: Cemeteries of Bedford, NH
- Hillsborough County: Pelham Historical Society Genealogy On-Line Library (includes early town clerk vital records, cemetery inscriptions and more)

New Mexico
- Bernalillo County Cemeteries
- Chaves County Cemeteries
- Dona Ana County Cemeteries and Funeral Home Records
- Lincoln County Cemeteries and Deaths 1913-1919
- Lincoln County: Catholic Funeral Records from St. Rita Parish, Carrizozo, Nov 1897-April 1956
- Socorro County Cemeteries

New York
- Erie County Lodge Cemetery Records (Jewish Cemetery in Buffalo, NY)
- Rockland County Cemetery Records Search

North Carolina
- Buncombe County: Index of Obituaries in the Asheville Citizen-Times and other area Newspapers 1977-1989

Ohio
- Ohio Obituaries Index 1810s-present from the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center; for selected counties (update: 300,000 more entries added; now has 1.5 million entries)
- Hamilton County Ohio Wills Index, 1791-1901 (PDF files)
- Hamilton County Probate Court: Probate Case and Archived Records Search (includes births, marriages, wills, naturalizations and more; some unindexed)
- For the above two see: Online Cincinnati & Hamilton County, Ohio Death Records & Indexes

South Carolina
- South Carolina Death Index 1915-1958 (update: year 1958 added)
- Florence County Library Obituary Index - assorted years (update: more years added)

Tennessee
- Tennessee Death Index 1914-1930 (update: years 1929 and 1930 added)
- Knox County Death Records and Obituaries Indexes (includes: Index of Obituaries Published in The Hickory Daily Record, 1915-1989; Funeral Records from Shuford Funeral Home, 1908-1957; Knox County, TN Death Records, 1914-1925)

Texas
- Franklin County News Archive 1870-Sept 1875 (includes some obituaries)
- Lamar County Death and Cemetery Records Database

Utah
- Utah Death Certificates Index 1904-1958 (update: more years added)

West Virginia
- Cabell County: Huntington, West Virginia Newspapers Obituary Indexes (PDF files)
- Mercer County: Walnut Grove Cemetery Burials (in Bluefield, West Virginia)

Wisconsin
- Douglas County Cemeteries
- Milwaukee County: Kuryer Polski Death Notice Index 1900-1931 (Milwaukee Polish Language Newspaper)
- Shawano County Genealogy Indexes (includes cemetery burials, obituaries and more)

See: Online Searchable Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Maria von Trapp in the Social Security Death Index

2006-08-01T00:06:00.005-06:00

Maria von Trapp, Austrian-born matriarch of the famous singing von Trapp family of Sound of Music fame, passed away in Vermont in 1987, and she can be found listed in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) ...

Name: MARIA TRAPP
Birth: 26 Jan 1905
Death: Apr 1987
Last Residence: 05672 (Stowe, Lamoille, VT)
Last Benefit: (none specified)
Social Security Number: 009-32-2317
Issued: Vermont

Note that her surname lacks the "von" part and her death date is given as April 1987 without a specific day. Maria actually died on 28 March 1987 as can be seen in this listing from Ancestry's Vermont Death Index -- See: Vermont Death Indexes and Records ...

Given, Middle Name, Surname: Maria A Vontrapp
Birth Date: January 26, 1905
Death Date: March 28, 1987
Place of Death: Morristown, VT
Residence: Stowe, VT
Gender: F; Age: 82; Race: White
Marriage Status: Widowed
Birthplace: OTHER

When using the SSDI if you come upon a month and year only for the death date you can usually get the correct date from other sources such as the person's death certificate. Try the online death records directory for some online indexes and sources.

Also, when searching for surnames that contain more than one word you might try different variations like... Trapp, Vontrapp or von Trapp.

Maria von Trapp is buried in the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont, along with her husband, Georg Ritter von Trapp, who died on 30 May 1947, and Hedwig von Trapp (1917–1972), daughter of Georg and his first wife, Agathe. (The photo at left: Maria von Trapp, 1944.)

Georg and Agathe (Whitehead) von Trapp had seven children, all born in Austria: Rupert, Agathe, Maria, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna and Martina. Agathe von Trapp died in 1922 of scarlet fever. Georg and Maria (Kutschera) von Trapp, who married in 1927, had three children: Rosmarie, Eleonore, and Johannes. The first two were born in Austria. Johannes was born in Philadelphia while the von Trapps were visiting Pennsylvania on a singing tour. The family later settled in the United States.

Maria's Book
The Story of the Trapp Family Singers (Amazon link) by Maria Augusta von Trapp - this is Maria's book that inspired the Sound of Music Broadway musical and movie.

Sound of Music Fun
In the Sound of Music movie, the real Maria von Trapp, along with one of her daughters and a granddaughter, did a "walk-on" and can be seen briefly in the "I Have Confidence" segment behind Julie Andrews. Click here for Sound of Music DVD ordering information from Amazon.com

More von Trapp Genealogy
For more information on genealogy records related to the von Trapp family see: Immigration Records for the Singing von Trapp Family

Recently Added Online Death Records Indexes

2008-02-11T08:49:00.002-07:00

Links to the items listed below were recently added to: Online Searchable Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

California
- San Diego County Probate Court Search 1974-recent

Florida
- Sarasota County: Cemeteries of Sarasota County Florida - A Record of Births, Deaths, and Burials (PDF files)

Georgia
- Fulton County: Franklin Garrett Atlanta Necrology Database 1857-1931

Indiana
- Fort Wayne & Allen County Area Obituary Index 1841 to mid-January 2008 (update: more years added)

Kansas
- Saline County: Gypsum Cemetery Burials -- in Salina, Kansas

Massachusetts
- City of Boston Historic Burying Grounds Initiative -- includes transcriptions of historic gravestones 1630-1841

Michigan
- Calhoun County: Battle Creek Memorial Park Cemetery Burials
- Charlevoix County: Charlevoix Courier Obituaries Index 1982-2007 -- includes online digitized copies of the obituaries (update: more years added)
- Clinton County Genealogy Indexes (from Newspapers) -- includes indexes for some births, marriages and deaths
- Kalamazoo County: Local Newspaper Index - Kalamazoo Gazette
- Wayne County: Detroit Area Death Notices for Assorted Years 1800s-2003 (not complete)
- Wayne County: Trenton Historical Society Genealogy Databases -- includes indexes for obituaries, death certificates, cemetery burials and census records
- Wayne County: Wyandotte Death Index, up to 1962

New York City
- Manhattan: Trinity Church - Parish Registers & Churchyards (at Broadway and Wall Street) - includes baptism, marriage & burial records
- Early Brooklyn & Queens Town Death Database pre-1900 (not complete)

Ohio
- Gallia County Genealogical Society - Cemetery Records
- Hamilton County: St. Joseph New Cemetery Burials (Catholic cemetery in Cincinnati)
- Madison County: Plain City Burial Records Index

Oklahoma
- Muskogee Newspaper Death and Obituary Indexes 1920-1929 -- also has some listings for later years

Oregon
- Oregon Obituaries Index (partial) from the Genealogical Forum of Oregon
- Jackson County Genealogical Indexes for Obituaries, Cemeteries and Death Certificates -- also has other genealogy indexes

Pennsylvania
- Somerset County: WPA Records Project Cemetery Transcriptions

South Carolina
- Florence County Obituary Index 1895-1928 & 1996-present
- Lexington County Probate Court Indexes -- includes Estate indexes 1865-1994, plus some marriage indexes (PDF files)

Tennessee
- Tennessee Death Index 1914-1923 (statewide) update: the year 1923 added
- Davidson County: Nashville City Cemetery Grave Search 1846-1979 -- most are prior to 1900
- Davidson County Cemetery Survey

Texas
- Texas Public Records Databases -- includes recent vital records indexes for Crane, Mitchell and Washington Counties

West Virgnia
- West Virginia Death Index 1917-1957 (update: year 1957 added)

Wisconsin
- Wood County: Marshfield Public Library Genealogy Index -- indexes some births, marriages, deaths, obituaries and other items from Marshfield newspapers

See: Online Death Indexes, Records and Obituaries

This list was updated on 21 December 2009.

Recently Added Online Birth and Marriage Records Indexes

2009-11-12T10:10:00.003-07:00

Links to the items listed below were recently added to: Online Birth and Marriage Records Indexes or its supplementary state webpages.

Alabama
- Madison County Marriage License Index 1809-Feb 1973 (update: more years added)

Delaware
- Delaware State Birth Records, 1861-1908 from FamilySearch Labs (not yet complete)

Georgia
- Morgan County Marriage Records Searchable Database

Hawaii
- Hawaii State Archives Genealogy Indexes (includes some marriage indexes)

Illinois
- Cook County and Chicago: Historical Cook County Vital Records - Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates
- Cook County Marriages 1900-1920: Index and Images of Marriage Licenses and Returns (from FamilySearch Labs)
- Cook County Birth Certificates 1878-1922 (not yet complete) (from FamilySearch Labs)
- Cook County Birth Registers 1871-1915 (not yet complete) (from FamilySearch Labs)

Indiana
- Indiana Marriage Records Index 1811-1959 from FamilySearch Labs; presently includes Adams, Blackford, Decatur, Franklin, Henry, Huntington, Owen, Rush, and Sullivan counties (coverage may vary by county)
- Montgomery County Marriage Records Index (includes PDF images of the records)
- Shelby County Birth and Marriage Indexes
See: Online Indiana Vital Records Indexes for Birth, Marriage & Death Records

Kansas
- Kansas Marriage Index, 1854-1861 (not complete)

Louisiana
- Orleans Parish Birth Records Index -- for births over 100 years ago
- Orleans Parish Marriage Records Index -- for marriages over 50 years ago

Maryland
- Washington County Marriages Index 1861-1949, 1950-2007

Michigan
- Michigan Birth Records 1867-1902 and Michigan Marriages 1868-1925 at FamilySearch Labs
- Clinton County Genealogy Records Indexes -- includes newspaper indexes for births to 1900, marriages 1863-1940

Nebraska
- Sarpy County Marriage License Search 1987-present

New Jersey
- Monmouth County Marriage Index 1790-1890

New York
- New York City Birth Records Index 1901-1907
- Nassau County Marriage Index 1908-1936
See: New York Vital Records Indexes & Genealogy Records on the Internet

Pennsylvania
- Philadelphia Marriage Indexes 1885-1951 from FamilySearch Labs
- Westmoreland County Marriage License Search 1885-present

South Carolina
- Greenville County Marriage License Index

Tennessee
- Hamilton County Marriage License Index Search (includes Chattanooga) presently covers 1857-1919 and 1985-2008

Texas
- Colorado County Marriage Records Index 1837-1886
- El Paso County Marriage Records Search 1963-current (also has birth & death records searches)
- Liberty County Birth, Marriage and Death Index
See: Online Texas Vital Records Indexes

See: Online Birth and Marriage Records Indexes

Boulder's Jane Doe - A Colorado Mystery

2006-05-11T20:09:00.006-06:00

This article was updated on November 5, 2009.

I drove up to Boulder this afternoon to visit Columbia Cemetery, where I met with Mary Reilly-McNellan, who is the Project Manager for Columbia Cemetery Preservation. I had emailed her last week to ask if I could photograph Jane Doe's grave marker, which has been put away for safekeeping. Mary showed me where Jane's grave marker was locked away and I took a couple of pictures. The grave marker is no longer on the grave because the cemetery's keepers are afraid of vandalism - the cemetery was badly vandalized earlier this year. And Jane Doe is well known in Boulder for being a mystery.

In April 1954 a young woman's body was found by hikers in Boulder Canyon below Boulder Falls. She was thought to be between 17 and 20-years-old. Despite many leads and tips, the Boulder County Sheriff's Department was never able to identify the body or find the killer. Boulderites contributed funds to pay for a burial plot, Howe Mortuary provided a casket, and a grave marker was donated by the Boulder Marble and Granite Works.

In 2004 Jane's body was exhumed. A DNA sample was obtained and her face was reconstructed. Numerous newspaper articles have been written about her and a website has been set up. In March of this year, the Rocky Mountain News reported a theory by Boulder County Sheriff's Detective Steve Ainsworth that Jane Doe may have been murdered by serial killer Harvey Glatman, who was executed in 1959. An episode of TV's America's Most Wanted with a segment on Boulder's Jane Doe aired on July 8, 2006. This was the first time the reconstruction of Jane Doe's face was shown on national television. Fifty-two years after her death, her identity remains a mystery.

For more information on Jane Doe see the excellent website put together by Boulder historian and writer, Silvia Pettem. Included are recent and historical articles about the Jane Doe case.

Boulder Jane Doe Website
Online Colorado Death Indexes, Records & Obituaries includes a link to Columbia Cemetery burials
Columbia Cemetery Website

Here is Jane Doe's grave in Columbia Cemetery with its missing marker. Note the single rose someone has left on the marking post. (Click on either photo for a larger view.)

Update (April 19, 2008): Silvia Pettem has located a photograph of Katharine Dyer, who was reported as missing to Denver police on March 26, 1954. Silvia believes Boulder's Jane Doe may be Katherine Dyer. For more information see:

Update (November 5, 2009): From DNA, the Boulder County sheriff has identified Boulder Jane Doe as Dorothy Gay Howard. See: Mystery solved: Boulder sheriff IDs 'Jane Doe' as Dorothy Gay Howard

Las Vegas Marriage Records Online Database

2006-08-26T12:31:00.002-06:00

Do you know someone who was married in a drunken stupor by an Elvis look-alike? Or someone who ran off to Las Vegas and eloped? Well, the folks in Clark County, Nevada have an online marriage database where you can look up Las Vegas marriages. And it's even updated daily so you can stay current with your Las Vegas weddings curiosity: Clark County and Las Vegas, Nevada Marriage Records Index 1988-Recent

This helpful database is also available online from Ancestry...
Nevada Marriage Index 1956-2005 (fee-based) contains these 2 indexes...

Clark County, Nevada (including Las Vegas) Marriage Index 1956-1966
Nevada Statewide Index to Marriages 1966-2005 (including Clark County and Las Vegas)

And if the marriage didn't last: Nevada Divorce Index 1968-2005 (fee-based)

A Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love - Celebrity Vegas Weddings
Remember on the TV show Friends how Ross and Rachel ran off to a Vegas chapel and got married in a (gasp!) drunken stupor? Ok, you won't find them in the database, cause they don't exist, but you can find Britney Spears listed. Yes, America's sweetheart got married for the first time in Las Vegas and then quickly had the marriage annulled. Oops, she did it again. Go ahead and look her up.

Here's a partial list of some other celebrity Las Vegas weddings: Demi Moore and Bruce Willis in 1987, Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford in 1991, W. Axl Rose and Erin Everly (daughter of Everly Brother Don) in 1990, Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow in 1966, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward in 1958 - Paul and Joanne remained married until he died in 2008. Mickey Rooney got married in Las Vegas seven separate times (!) between 1944 and 1978, all at the same chapel. And don't forget Elvis - the real Elvis Presley married Priscilla Anne Beaulieu in 1967 at the Aladdin Hotel. No word on whether an Elvis look-alike serenaded them.

More Online Marriage Indexes
For a few more online marriage records indexes try this directory: Online Birth and Marriage Records Indexes for the USA

Some Confederate Civil War Service Records Now Online

2007-11-12T08:13:00.002-07:00

This article was updated on 2 September 2009.

Footnote has digitized Confederate Civil War service records for Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia from National Archives (NARA) microfilm publications. The records they have scanned can be downloaded from their website for a fee. (Some of the individual state or territory databases may not yet be complete.)

Civil War Service Records Online at Footnote

You can search the documents by name or browse the documents by military unit (regiment). Note that Civil War service records for one soldier can sometimes have as many as 20 pages or more.

Civil War service records sometimes include information about a soldier's age, residence, occupation at the time of enlistment, and physical description, along with basic details such as enlistment (and reenlistment) dates, and regiment. Some will show facts about a soldier's imprisonment if he was captured, or hospitalization if he was injured or ill.

Also Helpful:

Online Indexes for Obituaries and Death Records - Latest Additions

2009-09-01T12:02:00.006-06:00

The Online Searchable Death Indexes and Records Directory has been updated with links to the following items...

California
- San Diego Public Library's Digital Library - Includes Obituaries Indexes (indexes obituaries and death notices in the San Diego Union, 1868-1915; and the San Diego Herald, 1851-1860)

Colorado
- Denver Death Index 1870-1909 (update: years 1906-1909 added)
- Larimer County Genealogical Society - Online Databases (includes indexed scanned obituaries 1980s-1990s)
- Mesa County Cemetery Records
- Weld County: City of Evans Cemetery Burials

Georgia
- Clarke County: Oconee Hill Cemetery Tombstone Inscriptions (Athens)
- Richmond County: African American Funeral Programs from the East Central Georgia Regional Library (mostly from the Augusta, Georgia area)

Illinois
- Cook County: The Roll of Honor, Containing the Names of Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines of All the Wars of Our Country Who Are Buried in the Cemeteries of Cook County (scanned searchable book from 1922)
- Cook County: Burr Oak Cemetery Headstones Photo Database (near Alsip, Illinois) not yet complete
- See: Online Chicago & Cook County, Illinois Death Records & Indexes

- La Salle County Genealogy Guild Record Search (includes indexes for some obituaries, probate records and others)

Indiana
- Shelby County Genealogy Indexes - Cemeteries, Obituaries & More

Kansas
- Barton County: Obituary Index for the Great Bend Tribune 1990-2007 (update: more years added)

Louisiana
- Louisiana Death Index 1850-1875, 1894-1954 from FamilySearch Labs
- Orleans Parish: Louisiana Biography and New Orleans Obituary Index 1804-1972 (includes "selected biographical references")

Massachusetts
- Massachusetts Death Records 1906-1915 from FamilySearch Labs (will eventually cover 1841-1915; includes scanned images of the death registers and certificates)
- Middlesex County: St. Patrick Cemetery Burials (Lowell, Massachusetts)
- Worcester County: Town of Rutland Death Records to the end of the year 1849 (also includes birth and marriage records)

Michigan
- Michigan Death Records Collection 1897-1920 (update: now 99% complete)
- Arenac County Historical Society Obituaries Indexes (also includes other genealogy indexes)
- Arenac County Cemetery Inscriptions Index
- Jackson County Death Indexes 1886-1899 and 1900-1901 (list of names only, no dates)
- Monroe County: Monroe Commercial Obituary Index 1870-1873 and 1877-1879
- Van Buren County GenWeb Site (includes a death index 1935-1945 and some cemetery burials)

Minnesota
- Hubbard County Cemeteries (includes Greenwood Cemetery, largest cemetery in Park Rapids, MN)

Mississippi
- Clarke County Genealogy Indexes (includes indexes for obituaries, cemeteries, death records and more)

Missouri (St. Louis)
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch Obituary Index (update: more years added; includes 1880-1930, 1942-1945, 1960-1964, and 1992-2008)
- St. Louis County Probate Court - Closed Estates Index, circa 1876-July 11, 2004 (does not include St. Louis City)
- Westliche Post Obituaries Index 1880-1887 - St. Louis German Language Newspaper (update: more years added)
- See: Online St. Louis, Missouri Death Records, Indexes & Obituaries

New Hampshire
- Carroll County: Conway Death Records 1887-2003 & Cemeteries of Conway, Albany & Eaton, NH (update: more years added to death index; cemeteries added)
- Hillsborough County: Cemetery Records of Hillsborough, NH (includes 19 Municipal Cemeteries and Gravesites)

North Carolina
- Onslow County Death Index 1982-2008 (also has indexes for births 1976-recent, marriages 1962-recent, and more)

North Dakota
- Fargo Forum Obituaries Database, 1892-1909 & Nov. 1982-1995 (update: more years added)

Ohio
- Erie County: Oakland Cemetery Burials (Sandusky, Ohio)
- Lucas County: Mt. Carmel Cemetery Index (in Toledo, OH) surnames only
- Summit County: Akron Beacon Journal Obituaries Index 1937-2008 (update: several years added)
- Wood County Sentinel Obituaries Index 1867-1876 (newspaper from Bowling Green, Ohio)

Oregon
- Benton County Genealogical Society Newspaper Project - names published in Benton County newspapers 1865-1925 (work in progress) includes some deaths
- Marion County: Burials in Pioneer Cemeteries
- Multnomah County: Historic Pioneer Cemeteries - Burial Search

Pennsylvania
- Dauphin County: Harrisburg Newspaper Index - Marriages & Deaths from 4 Newspapers, 1799-1827

Tennessee
- Blount County Death Records Database (includes more than 42,000 entries from Blount County newspapers and funeral home records)
- Davidson County: Death Notices in Nashville Newspapers 1855-1907 (not complete)

Texas
- Gillespie County: Fredericksburg Genealogical Society Indexes (includes cemetery burials index and obituaries index 1980-2004)

Virginia
- African American Cemeteries in Albemarle and Amherst Counties - Burial Search

Washington
- Benton County: Tri-City Herald Obituaries Index 2000-March 2009
- Thurston County: Masonic Memorial Park Cemetery Burials (in Tumwater, Washington)

Wisconsin
- Marathon County Historical Society Obituaries Index (also has other genealogy indexes)

General Obituaries
Added to the general obituaries webpage...
- Necrology Index of Obituary Listings for Congregational Clergy and Missionaries
- Evangelical Messenger Obituary Index 1900-1912

See: Online Searchable Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Online Death Certificates - Updated

2008-06-09T10:57:00.011-06:00

This article was updated on 12 July 2009.

Here is a list of some collections of online digitized death certificates or death ledgers (some are free, some fee-based). Note that some death certificate images at these websites may be unavailable because of errors or other reasons.

Arizona
Arizona Death Certificates 1844-1958 (free) also includes birth certificates 1855-1933

Georgia
Georgia Death Certificates 1919-1927 (free)

Illinois: Chicago and Cook County
The Cook County Clerk's office has birth certificates more than 75 years old, marriage certificates more than 50 years old, and death certificates more than 20 years old available online for a fee. The records go back as far as 1872 -- earlier records were lost in the Chicago Fire of 1871. See: Historical Cook County Vital Records - Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates (searches are free; requires a fee to download copies of the records; note that some records may not yet be available online)

Also see: Online Chicago and Cook County Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Kentucky
As part of their subscription-based collection of genealogy records, Ancestry has digitized Kentucky death certificates from 1911-1953. See: Online Kentucky Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Massachusetts (beta testing)
Currently being tested in the FamilySearch Labs are Massachusetts Death Records 1906-1915. FamilySearch Labs is a pilot program so there may occasional errors or downtime. This database will eventually cover 1841-1915. (free)

Michigan

Currently being tested in the FamilySearch Labs are scanned Michigan death ledgers from 1867-1897. FamilySearch Labs is a pilot program so there may occasional errors or downtime. Note these are not death certificates, but death registers or ledgers. (free)

Michigan Death Records 1897-1920 (ongoing project - not yet complete) from the Archives of Michigan and the Library of Michigan (free)

Missouri
Missouri Death Certificates 1910-1958 (free) from the Missouri State Archives

North Carolina
As part of their collection of online genealogy records, Ancestry has scanned North Carolina death certificates from 1909-1975 available for downloading (subscription required). And FamilySearch Labs has digitized North Carolina death records from 1906-1930 (free to download). For information on these see: Online North Carolina Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Ohio (beta testing)
Currently being tested in the FamilySearch Labs are scanned Ohio death certificates from 1908-1953. FamilySearch Labs is a pilot program so there may occasional errors or downtime. (free)

Pennsylvania: Philadelphia (beta testing)
Currently being tested in the FamilySearch Labs are scanned Philadelphia City death certificates from 1803-1915. FamilySearch Labs is a pilot program so there may occasional errors or downtime. (free)

South Carolina
As part of their collection of online genealogy records, Ancestry has digitized South Carolina death certificates from 1915-1955 (subscription required). And FamilySearch Labs has digitized South Carolina death records from 1915-1943 (free to download). For information on these see: Online South Carolina Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Texas (beta testing)
Currently being tested in the FamilySearch Labs are scanned Texas death certificates from 1890-1976. FamilySearch Labs is a pilot program so there may occasional errors or downtime. Very few certificates are available prior to 1903. (free)

Utah
Utah Death Certificates 1904-1956 (free)

West Virginia
West Virginia Death Certificates 1917-1958 (free) coverage varies by county - also has birth and marriage records for some counties

Other States - Death Indexes
For a directory of online death indexes, including some cemetery records, obituaries, and probate records see: Online Searchable Death Indexes and Records

FamilySearch Labs adds Death Indexes for 4 Southern States

2009-05-15T23:52:00.004-06:00

The FamilySearch Labs website has recently added death indexes (some with digitized images) for four Southern states. These are:

Alabama Deaths 1908-1974
Florida Deaths 1877-1939
North Carolina Deaths 1906-1930 (with images)
South Carolina Deaths 1915-1943 (with images)
South Carolina Deaths 1944-1955

See: FamilySearch Labs Record Search

Be aware that FamilySearch Labs is a pilot program so there may be errors, missing data or occasional downtime. Also, the website may not work with some browsers and requires Flash.

For more death indexes for these states see:

Online Alabama Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Online Florida Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Online North Carolina Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Online South Carolina Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Online Death Indexes and Records - Latest Additions and Updates

2009-06-15T19:59:00.003-06:00

The Online Searchable Death Indexes and Records directory has been updated with links to the following items...

Alabama
- Alabama Death Index 1908-1974 from FamilySearch Labs

Alaska
- Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery Burials
- Angelus and Valley Memorial Park Cemetery Burials (in Anchorage)

Arkansas
- Arkansas Gravestones (has over 170,000 gravestone photos)
- Pike County Genealogy Records Indexes (includes some cemetery burials for Clark, Hot Spring, Montgomery and Pike Counties)
- Sebastian County Cemeteries
- Washington County: Evergreen Cemetery Burials (Fayetteville, Arkansas) database is not yet complete

Arizona
- Maricopa County: Pioneers' Cemetery Association (includes some burial indexes)

California
- California Genealogy and History Archives (includes over 144,000 listings for California cemetery burials)
- Fresno Catholic Cemeteries - Burial Records Search

Colorado
- Arapahoe County: Evergreen Cemetery Burials (Deer Trail, Colorado)
- Arapahoe County: Columbine Genealogical & Historical Society Indexes (includes: Littleton Cemetery Interment Records 1869-1981, Nickels-Hill-Drinkwine Mortuary Records 1915-1950, Obituary Index for the Littleton Independent Newspaper/ongoing project, and other items)

Florida
- Florida Death Index 1877-1939 from FamilySearch Labs

Georgia
- Georgia Colonial Will Books 1754-1779 and Colonial Wills 1733-1778
- Floyd County: City of Rome Cemeteries (3 city owned cemeteries can be searched for burials)
- Muscogee County: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer Obituary Database 1998-2005
- Muscogee County: Columbus, Georgia Newspapers Obituary Project 1872-1918

Illinois
- Whiteside County: Sterling Daily Gazette Index from the Sterling Public Library (includes obituaries)
- Whiteside County: Tampico Area Historical Society Obituary and Cemetery Indexes

Indiana
- Cass County: Logansport Pharos Tribune Obituaries Index 1974-1980 and 1992-1999
- Cass County Cemeteries
- Henry County Death Records Index 1880-2000
- Howard County Cemeteries and Kokomo Tribune Obituary Index 1941-2008
- Miami County: WPA Death Index 1882-1920 (also includes cemeteries and other death indexes)
- Switzerland County: Vevay Newspaper Index 1840, 1853-1858 (births, marriages & deaths) ongoing project

Kansas
- Atchison County Online Cemetery Files
- Pratt County Cemeteries

Massachusetts
- Hampshire County: Burials in North and West Cemeteries in Amherst
- Nantucket County: Nantucket Grave Markers Database Search ("not comprehensive")
- Plymouth County: Plymouth Colony Archive Project (includes wills and probate inventories, 1600s)

Michigan
- Berrien County: Silverbrook Cemetery Grave Search (Niles, Michigan)
- Calhoun County: Albion Area Obituaries Index 2001-recent
- Oakland County: DAR Cemetery Transcripts for Oakland County Michigan
- Van Buren County: Hartford Obituary Index (various years; also includes some cemeteries)
- Van Buren County: Paw Paw Township Cemetery Burials

Minnesota
- Ramsey County: Roselawn Cemetery Burials (Roseville, MN)

New Jersey
- Hudson County Genealogical Society - Genealogy Databases (includes indexes for newspaper death notices, cemetery burials and more)
- Warren County: Belvidere Apollo Obituary Index 1826-1899 (from the Warren County Public Library)

New Mexico
- Santa Fe and New Mexico Obituary Index 1870s to 2005 (not complete; for the second half of the 20th century covers Santa Fe only)

New York
- Fulton County Cemeteries
- Monroe County: Webster Union Cemetery Burials (Webster, New York)
- Nassau County: Town of Oyster Bay Genealogy Indexes (includes historic cemeteries, death index 1881-1920 and other items)
- New York City (Brooklyn): The Evergreens Cemetery Burial Records (not yet complete)

North Carolina
- North Carolina Deaths 1906-1930 from FamilySearch Labs (includes digitized images of the death records)
- Wake County: North Carolina Family Records Online (includes "Marriage and Death Notices from the Raleigh Register and North Carolina State Gazette: 1799-1893" and 220 family Bible records)

Oklahoma
- Kay County Genealogy Indexes: includes Cemeteries and Obituaries (from the Pioneer Genealogical Society)
- Logan County: Summit View Cemetery Burials (Guthrie, Oklahoma)
- Oklahoma County: Oklahoma City Oklahoman Obituaries Index 1972-2008 (some years missing; work in progress) also has deaths found in OKC City Directories 1918 & 1920-1923

Pennsylvania
- Delaware County: Arlington Cemetery Burials (Drexel Hill, PA)

South Carolina
- South Carolina Death Index 1915-1955 from FamilySearch Labs (includes digitized images of the death records from 1915-1943)
- Charleston County Probate Court: Estate/Will & Conservatorship/Guardianship Records Search

Tennessee
- Tennessee Death Index 1914-1928 (udpate: year 1928 added)
- Shelby County: Baron Hirsch Jewish Cemetery Burials (Memphis)

Texas
- Burnet County Obituary Index 1876-1910 (from the Burnet County Genealogical Society)
- Burnet County GenWeb - Genealogy Indexes (includes some cemetery transcriptions and obituary indexes)
- Liberty County Birth, Marriage and Death Index
- Williamson County Genealogical Society Cemetery Project

Vermont
- Northeast Kingdom Vermont Genealogy (has cemetery listings and other indexes for Caledonia County, Essex County and Orleans County)

Washington
- Spokane Spokesman Review Obituaries Index 2008-recent

See: The Online Searchable Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Last American Survivor of the Titanic Dies

2006-05-08T16:36:00.004-06:00

Lillian Asplund, the last American survivor of the 1912 Titanic sinking, died on May 6, 2006 at age 99. She was five-years-old when she boarded the Titanic, and was the last survivor to remember the events. Two other survivors, both British, are still living.* Both were infants at the time of the Titanic. You can read more here... Titanic Survivor Lillian Asplund Dies - Obituary

For information on Titanic passenger records see the New York section at... What Passenger Lists are Online?

Here is Lillian Asplund's listing in the Social Security Death Index ...

ASPLUND, LILLIAN G
Birth: 21 Oct 1906
Death: 06 May 2006 (V)
Last Residence: 01545 (Shrewsbury, Worcester, MA)
Last Benefit: (none specified)
SSN: 027-09-5906
Issued: Massachusetts

*Update: Titanic survivor, Barbara West Dainton of Camborne, England, passed away on October 16, 2007 at the age of 96. The last Titanic survivor, Millvina Dean of Southampton, England, who was a two-month-old baby at the time of the Titanic tragedy, passed away on May 31, 2009 at the age of 97. See: Millvina Dean, Last Survivor of the Titanic, Dies

Millvina Dean, Last Survivor of the Titanic, Dies

2009-06-01T00:02:00.005-06:00

Elizabeth Gladys "Millvina" Dean, the last survivor of the Titanic sinking, died on May 31 at age 97. She was nine weeks old when her family boarded the Titanic in 1912. Her mother and brother also survived the sinking. Her father died in the tragedy. You can read more here: Millvina Dean, last remaining survivor of the Titanic, dies aged 97

The above image is a portion of the Carpathia passenger list showing the three surviving members of the Dean family, siblings Bertram and Elizabeth (two-month-old Eliza) and their mother Georgette (Ettie). The Carpathia rescued 705 of the Titanic's survivors and brought them to New York on April 18, 1912. See: Partial List of Survivors of the Titanic who were taken aboard the Carpathia at the U.S. National Archives website.

James Cameron, director of the popular film, Titanic, along with two of the film's stars, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, donated money to help pay Millvina Dean's nursing home costs in her last days.

For information on Titanic passenger records see the New York section at... What Passenger Lists are Online?

For more on Titanic survivors see the Titanic category on the right side.

Search Strategies for Finding Ship Passenger Lists 1820-1940s

2009-05-11T13:56:00.009-06:00

Here are some suggestions for finding your immigrant ancestors on a ship passenger list (or manifest) for their arrival in the US from 1820 to the 1940s (1950s for some ports).

Search Tips

Clues in the Census: the 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 US federal censuses have a column for year of arrival for immigrants. This can help narrow down the search. Be careful as census records may contain errors.

Naturalization Records: Naturalization records created September 27, 1906 and later will usually give the name of the ship, port and date of arrival. Naturalization records before that usually do not give this information (although some might). You may sometimes find errors in these records.

Be sure to try alternate spellings of names when searching online databases or other indexes.

Ancestry.com's Immigration Records Collection
Ancestry has digitized and indexed microfilm of National Archives passenger records for the major ports (New York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New Orleans) as well as many smaller ports. These can be searched online if you have an Ancestry subscription (fee required). This can be a good place to start your search because they have so many records in one place. And you don't need to know the name of the port where your ancestor arrived, or the date of arrival.

Ancestry's Immigration Records Collection (information link)

Port by Port Search
If you're having difficulty finding your ancestor's passenger list you might try a more specific search at each port. If you don't know the arrival port or don't know where to start, you can find some ideas at: Tips for Determining Your Ancestor's Probable Port of Arrival

Finding Passenger Lists and Immigration Records 1820-1940s is a basic research guide for finding passenger records, listed by the major ports and some of the smaller ports

What Passenger Lists Are Online? lists some Internet sources for transcribed passenger records and indexes

New York Indexes and the Ellis Island Database...
The largest port where immgrants arrived in the U.S. is New York. Most people with European immigrant ancestors will probably want to search New York arrivals first, unless they know their immigrant ancestor arrived elsewhere. Here are some tools and articles which may be helpful for finding New York passenger arrivals:

New York Passenger Lists Research Guide

Ellis Island Database: for New York arrivals 1892-1924

Searching the Ellis Island Database in One Step can be a useful tool for searching the Ellis Island Database

Castle Garden Database indexes some NY arrivals from about 1830-1892 (may have some omissions or errors)

Ellis Island? Castle Garden? Which One? And When? is an article about New York's immigrant processing centers

Boston...

Boston Passenger Lists Research Guide

Baltimore...

Baltimore Passenger Lists Research Guide

Philadelphia...

Philadelphia Passenger Lists Research Guide

New Orleans...
If your immigrant ancestor settled in St. Louis, Missouri or along the Mississippi river (especially prior to the Civil War), he or she may have landed at New Orleans and take a riverboat up the Mississippi.

New Orleans Passenger Lists Research Guide

Smaller Ports, West Coast Ports and Border Crossing Records...

US Ports of Arrival and their Available Passenger Lists 1820-1957 is a list of many United States ports with information about the available passenger records and indexes. Includes information about Canadian and Mexican border crossing records.

Indexes for Various Ethnic Groups: Germans to America, Italians to America, Irish Immigrants, etc.
Some ship passenger indexes have been created for various ethnic groups and these may be helpful as alternate resources if you can't find your immigrant ancestor in other indexes.

The Germans to America (1850-1897), Italians to America (1855-1900), Russian Immigrants (1834-1897) and Irish Famine Immigrants (1846-1851) databases can be searched online at the National Archives website: Passenger Lists - Access to Archival Databases (AAD)

For more details on these indexes and others see:
- Germans to America, Irish Immigrants, Italians to America, Russians to America, and Dutch Immigrants in U. S. Ship Passenger Manifests
- Armenian, Bohemian, Czech, Greek, Luxembourgish and Swedish Ship Passenger List Resources

Passenger Lists and Indexes on Microfilm
Although many of the National Archives publications of ship passenger lists have been digitized and put online, you may still want to use these microfilms in your search. A little old school genealogy can sometimes go a long way...

Microfilm Roll Numbers for USA Passenger Arrival Records includes National Archives and Family History Library microfilm roll numbers

Also see the individual port links above.

Disclaimer: you might not find the person you're looking for in any of the indexes or records listed here; these are merely suggestions.

Memories of McDonald's

2007-03-02T12:10:00.001-07:00

When you were a kid or perhaps when your children were kids, McDonald's restaurants looked a little different than they do today. Back then the Golden Arches were part of the design of the building. Today they're just a logo, something you see on the sign or the doors.

The first McDonald's I ever went to was on Broadway near Orchard in Littleton, Colorado (just south of Denver). It looked kind of like the picture above, but it didn't have a dining room - you ordered your burgers at the counter and ate in your car, or brought the food home. I'm convinced the basic McDonald's hamburger was the same then, although I'm sure they've made changes. It came with mustard, ketchup, a pickle slice, and some chopped-up onions, just like today. The Big Mac hadn't been invented yet. But the biggest difference has to be the French fries. Back then they left the skin on the potatoes - today's fries just don't compare. The cool McDonald's on Broadway later moved down the street and now it looks just like any other modern McDonald's.

I took the photograph at a retro McDonald's on Alameda near Federal here in Denver in January, 2007. You can click on the photo for a larger view. Or click here for a nighttime view: the Golden Arches at night

Online Military Records and Indexes - New Additions and Updates

2009-05-05T19:33:00.002-06:00

Links to the items listed below have been added to the Directory of Online Military Indexes, Records and Rosters of Soldiers

Revolutionary War
- Southern Campaign Revolutionary War Pension Statements (partial collection)
- Alabama: Alphabetical List of Revolutionary Soldiers in Alabama

War of 1812
- Indiana Territory: War of 1812 Collection (consists of muster, pay and receipt rolls of Indiana territory volunteers or militia)

Civil War
- Arkansas Confederate Pension Records Index
- Delaware: Records Related to Delaware's Involvement in the American Civil War (from the Delaware Public Archives)
- Georgia Confederate Veteran Grave Database (work in progress)
- Kansas Virtual Civil War Cemetery Tombstone Photos (not complete, but has over 11,000 photographs of grave markers of Civil War veterans buried in Kansas - searchable by name)
- Mississippi Confederate Grave Registry
- Nebraska Civil War Veterans Database
- North Carolina Pension Applications (Act of 1885)
- Oregon: Index to 1890 Veterans Census
- South Carolina: The New South Newspaper 1862-1866, Port Royal and Beaufort, South Carolina (digitized and searchable)

Spanish American War
- Georgia: Spanish-American War Service Summary Cards
- Kansas Troops in the Volunteer Service of the United States in the Spanish and Philippine Wars

World War One
- Denver Public Library World War I Indexes (includes: Fallen Heroes of World War I from Denver, Colorado; Colorado World War I Draft Registration Cards Index; Colorado World War I Draft Registration Index - Minorities; Colorado World War I Casualties Buried in Europe)
- Oregon WWI Draft Registration Index
- International WWI Section, Australia: World War I Service Records
- International WWI Section, New Zealand: New Zealand and World War One Assorted Indexes

World War Two
- Iowa: World War II Iowa Press Clippings Digital Collection
- Ohio: Cleveland Servicemen's Photographs Index 1940-1955
- International WWII Section, Canada: Second World War Service Files Canadian Armed Forces War Dead

Korean War
- Korean War/Access to Archival Databases (AAD) includes Korean War casualties, wounded, prisoners of war and missing in action

Vietnam War
- Vietnam War/Access to Archival Databases (AAD) includes Vietnam War casualties, wounded, prisoners of war, missing in action, and more items

See: Online Military Indexes and Records

Found: the Real Ellis Island Annie Moore

2006-09-14T10:23:00.001-06:00

As some of you may know, the first person to be processed at New York's famous immigrant center, Ellis Island, was an Irish girl named Annie Moore. But what became of Annie Moore? Where did she live after arriving in the US? Did she marry? Have children? On July 17, 2006 Megan Smolenyak announced a genealogy contest to help find out. A $1000 reward was offered. In late August, Megan annouced that the contest was over. And on September 15, 2006 a press conference was held at the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society. The $1000 prize was split between two people, who will both donate the money to help buy a headstone for Annie Moore's presently unmarked grave in Queens, New York. For more see this Annie Moore Story in the New York Times (may require registration). And: Annie in the Echo.

Also check out Megan's blog post about her New York adventure - Annie Moore's Youngest Descendant.

Related Articles and Links

(This is an updated previous post.)

Annie Moore - Ellis Island's First Immigrant

2006-07-17T17:01:00.001-06:00

New York's Ellis Island opened as an immigrant processing center on January 1, 1892. The first immigrant to be processed at Ellis Island was a 15-year-old Irish girl named Annie Moore. Her ship, the SS Nevada, arrived in New York from Liverpool, England and Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland on December 31, 1891. Annie and her two siblings went to Ellis Island by ferry the next day.

You can see a scan of Annie Moore's passenger list (ship manifest) at the Ellis Island Website - you may have to log in or register (free) to view the manifest. Annie is passenger #2 on the list. Her siblings, Anthony and Phillip are passengers 3 and 4.

Annie Moore's Story in the New York Times
The New York Times ran a story about the opening of Ellis Island and Annie Moore on January 2, 1892. You can read an excerpt from this article at: Annie Moore, First Ellis Island Immigrant - in the New York Times

Ellis Island? Castle Garden? Which One? And When?
Here's an article about New York's three immigration centers: New York's Immigration Centers - Ellis Island, Castle Garden and the Barge Office

For more information on Annie Moore see: Found: the Real Ellis Island Annie Moore

Online Death Records and Indexes - New Additions and Updates

2009-04-06T06:33:00.003-06:00

The Online Searchable Death Indexes and Records Directory has been updated with links to the following items...

Alabama
- Madison County Probate Records Index 1809-1965 (also includes indexes for marriage licenses and other items)
- Montgomery County Cemeteries

Arizona
- Arizona Death Records Index 1844-1958 (update: year 1958 added)
- Maricopa County: Double Butte Cemetery Burials (2nd listing)

California
- Riverside County: Lake Elsinore Cemetery Burials

Colorado
- El Paso County Cemeteries (from the Colorado Tombstone Transcription Project)
- Larimer County: Local History Archive (includes burials in Grandview and Roselawn Cemeteries and indexes for some obituaries)

Florida
- Escambia County: St. John's Historic Cemetery Burial Search (Pensacola, Florida)

Illinois
- Boone County Historical Society Museum Obituary Search
- Kane County: St. Charles Public Library Local Newspapers Index 1993-present (includes obituaries)
- Madison County Genealogical Resources - includes Cemetery Burials (from the Edwardsville Public Library and the Illinois Digital Archives)
- McHenry County Historical Society Obituaries Index
- Winnebago County Death Index 1844-1981

Indiana
- Morgan County Cemeteries Index

Kentucky
- Jefferson County: Herman Meyer & Son Jewish Funeral Home - Burials and Headstone Photos (Louisville, KY) ongoing project

Maryland
- Early Maryland Probate Indexes
- Allegany County: Percy Cemetery Burials and Obituaries (small older cemetery in Frostburg, MD)
- Washington County Obituary Locator 1790-2007

Massachusetts
- Barnstable County: Barnstable Patriot Newspaper Archive 1830-1930

Michigan
- Michigan Death Records 1897-1920 (ongoing project - not yet complete)
- Delta County Genealogical Society - Genealogy Indexes (includes: probate index 1873-1975, and a cemetery burials index)

Mississippi
- Monroe County Book of the Dead: Cemetery Burials (work in progress)

Missouri
- Missouri Death Certificates Index and Images 1910-1958 (update: year 1958 added)
- St. Louis: Deaths in the Daily Missouri Democrat, 1860; and St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 1880; See: Online St. Louis, Missouri Death Records, Indexes & Obituaries

New Hampshire
- Belknap County: Sanbornton Historical Society Cemetery Burials (ongoing project)
- Sullivan County: Cemeteries of Washington, NH

New Jersey
- New Jersey Death Records Index, June 1878-June 1884 (from the NJ State Archives)
- Bergen County: Riverside Jewish Cemetery Burials (Saddle Brook, NJ)

New Mexico
- Bernalillo County: Burials in 4 Albuquerque Cemeteries
- San Juan County Genealogy Indexes (includes an obituary index 1982-Feb. 2000, and cemetery burials)

New York
- Chautauqua County Cemeteries (also has some church death and burial transcriptions)
- Western New York Genealogy Indexes from the Painted Hills Genealogy Society (includes cemetery burials and other indexes for Allegany County, Cattaraugus County, Chautauqua County and Steuben County)
- Northern New York Historical Newspapers (for Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego, and Saint Lawrence Counties)
- For more historical NY newspapers see the New York section at: Historical Newspapers and Indexes on the Internet - USA

Ohio
- Clermont County Cemetery Photo Project
- Cuyahoga County: Western Reserve Historical Society - Genealogy and Other Indexes (includes index to McGorray Brothers Funeral Home Ledger Books; Marriage and Death Notice index from the Jewish Independent, and Jewish Review and Observer 1889-1964; and other items)
- Trumbull County: Warren-Trumbull County Public Library Obituaries Index

Oregon
- Multnomah County: Portland Oregonian Newspaper Index Search 1851-1987, includes obituaries index 1975-1987
- Washington County Cemetery Records

Pennsylvania
- Assorted Pennsylvania Cemeteries/WebCemeteries (a collection of mostly small cemeteries in PA; includes a genealogy search)
- McKean County Cemeteries
- Philadelphia County Cemeteries (USGenWeb Archives)
- Philadelphia County: Fair Hill Burial Ground Interments (historic Quaker cemetery in Philadelphia)
- Potter County Cemeteries
- York County Death Indexes and Genealogy Indexes (update: new URL and new indexes added)

South Dakota
- South Dakota Gravestone Photos (ongoing project)

Tennessee
- Rutherford County Cemeteries

Texas
- Nueces County: Corpus Christi Obituary Index and Old Bayview Cemetery Burials (update: Bayview cemetery added)

Utah
- Iron County: Cedar City Cemetery Burials (ongoing project)

Washington
- Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State Cemetery Project

West Virginia
- West Virginia Death Index 1917-1958; coverage varies by county (update: year 1958 added)
- Huntington Herald Dispatch & Charleston Gazette Obituaries Index 1990-2005 (PDF files; has some gaps)

Wisconsin
- Milwaukee County: Wisconsin Jewish Death & Burial Index, and Jewish Chronicle Obituary Index

See: Online Searchable Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

Searching for Death Records - A Brief Overview

2006-05-30T10:33:00.001-06:00

Here's a brief guide to the kinds of genealogy records you might be able to find relating to a person's death in the United States.

Death Certificates
Many states started recording and requiring death certificates in the early part of the 20th Century. Some states go back further.

Digitized copies of death certificates (or records) are available for online downloading for Arizona, Georgia, Illinois (Chicago & Cook County), Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), South Carolina, Texas, Utah and West Virginia (coverage varies; some may require a fee). For links to those and links to online death certificate indexes for some other states (and some counties) see...

Online Searchable Death Indexes and Records

For information on ordering copies of death certificates at the state level see the "How to Order Copies of Vital Records" section at: Birth, Marriage and Death Records - Vital Records Research Guide

Newspaper Obituaries, Death Notices and Burial Permits
Obituaries can be helpful as they often give date and place of death and burial, and sometimes they name surviving and deceased relatives. In some cases you might find a death or burial notice instead of an obituary - these usually do not contain as much detail as an obituary. You will not always be able to find these kinds of newspaper listings for everyone who died. Local public libraries can be good sources for obtaining copies of obituaries. More recent obituaries can often be found online. For some tips see... Obituaries Research Guide

Cemeteries and Burial Indexes
If you don't know where someone is buried, death certificates often list place of burial. Some cemeteries have placed their burial indexes online, while others have been transcribed by volunteers.

Guide to Online Cemeteries and Burial Indexes

Probate Records and Wills
Wills and probate records can be helpful as they usually list a person's heirs - their spouse or children, or sometimes siblings or other relatives. Some counties now have recent probate indexes online. Try the death indexes directory or do a Google search for the particular county you are interested in. Many older probate records and wills can be found on microfilm at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The microfilm rolls can ordered and viewed for a fee at local Family History Centers. You might also be able to find probate records in the courthouse where the will was probated or a local or state archive or other repository if the records were moved there.

Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
Deaths reported to the Social Security Administration are listed in this useful index. It's available online at several websites and some of them update it each month. For a list of four online SSDIs (three of them are free to use) see...

The Social Security Death Index - Online Searching

Once you've found someone in the SSDI you can then order a copy of that person's Social Security SS-5 form - this is the form they filled out when applying for a Social Security Card, and it contains useful information about the person, usually including date and place of birth, and names of parents.

Census Mortality Schedules
Census mortality schedules are available for some states for 1850, 1860, 1870 or 1880. Basic details were recorded for people who died in the year prior to the census being taken. Be aware that some people who died in those time frames were missed, and these schedules are not available for all states. For more information see... U.S. Census Records Mortality Schedules 1850-1880

Happy Searching!
(article updated: March 2009)

Michigan Death Certificates 1897-1920 Going Online

2009-03-17T10:51:00.004-06:00

The Archives of Michigan and the Library of Michigan are uploading about one million death records from 1897-1920 to their "Seeking Michigan" website. Currently about 250,000 death certificates have been made available on the website with more being added in the next few weeks.

You can download copies of the currently available death certificates for free at: Michigan Death Records 1897-1920 (website may be receiving high traffic - if you experience problems you might check back later)

For more online Michigan death records and indexes see: Online Michigan Death Records Indexes and Obituaries

For information about more online death certificates see: Online Death Certificates

Tips for Finding German Genealogy Records for Your German-American Ancestor

2009-03-08T18:38:00.007-06:00

After I posted Tips for Finding Your German Immigrant Ancestor's Hometown in Germany last month, someone asked me what the next step was. She already had the name of her immigrant ancestor's hometown and didn't know where to look for further research. So here are some suggestions that may be helpful...

German Genealogy Records at the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City
I usually start a German genealogy research project by checking the catalog of the LDS Family History Library (FHL) to see if they have any microfilmed records for the place where my German ancestor lived. Doing a "Place Search" in their online catalog for the name of the town can tell you whether they have microfilmed records available at the library for that town. You may also want to search for the broader region or for nearby towns.

Be aware that other German towns across Germany may have the same or similar names as the town you're looking for. To help find the correct location you might try checking German maps or German gazetteers.

If the FHL has the microfilmed records you need, you can order the microfilm rolls for viewing from many local LDS Family History Centers for a fee (some German microfilms may not circulate in Europe). Church records are often used for doing genealogy research in Germany so it is helpful to know your ancestor's religious affiliation. If your ancestral family's place of residence doesn't have a church they may have gone to one in a nearby town.

German Genealogy Records in Germany (if not available at the FHL)
If the Family History Library does not have the records you need, then you can try writing letters or emails to local parishes, civil or religious archives, or civil registration offices in Germany. The book, Ancestors in German Archives: A Guide to Family History Sources, can be a helpful reference (try your local library). Some German archives have websites. Many of these are listed in the book, or you might try a Google search for the name of the archive you need. This directory may also be helpful: Deutsche Archive im Internet -- try the Staatliche Archive (Staatsarchive) and Kirchenarchive (Church archives) listed there.

The German Letter Writing Guide from the FHL may be helpful for writing to German parishes and archives. There will usually be fees for any research requests you have (even if records are not found). In some cases, you may want to hire a local researcher in Germany, especially if you need extensive research done.

Is Anything Online? - German Genealogy Records on the Internet
Some indexes to German genealogy records are available online. Here's a handy starting point: Online German Genealogy Indexes and Databases. You might also try Google searches for the German town or parish.

Disclaimer: you may not be able find records for your German ancestor using this guide. These are merely suggestions.

Tips for Finding Your German Immigrant Ancestor's Hometown in Germany

2009-02-04T07:19:00.006-07:00

If you have German ancestors, you will need to know the name of the specific place (city, town or village) where your German immigrant ancestor lived. Then you can take your genealogy research back to Germany and look for German genealogy records. Here are some suggestions where you might find the German place of origin for your ancestor who came to America from Germany.

Ship Passenger Records (arrivals)

"Last residence" (name of town) for each passenger is usually given on U.S. passenger arrival records starting about 1893 (this varies by port). All New York passenger arrival records starting with June 1897 and later should have this information for each passenger. Earlier passenger records (beginning with 1820) sometimes list the town of residence for the passengers, but most do not.

Finding Passenger Lists from 1820 to the 1940s lists many of the available indexes and where to find them

Finding Passenger Lists before 1820 lists many sources for finding immigration related material before 1820

Germans to America indexes German immigrant passengers for the major ports (New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston and New Orleans).

Germans to America 1850-1897
Germans to America Series II: the 1840s
The 1850-1897 period can be searched online at: National Archives - Access to Archival Databases - Passenger Lists

The Ellis Island Online Database covers New York arrivals 1892-1924

Also see: What Passenger Lists Are Online?

The Hamburg Passenger Departure Lists 1850-1934
If your ancestor's ship departed from the German port of Hamburg then you may be able to find the departure list for that ship. These records usually give the last residence for each passenger.

Other Sources - Death Certificates, Obituaries, Naturalization Records, Biographies, more...

Church Records...

American church records sometimes give the place of origin of immigrant families - the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City might have some of these on microfilm - check their catalog
Sometimes church records for German churches in America will list the German place of birth of the parents in the baptismal records of their children (try the FHL).
If you don't know which church your ancestor attended look for churches near the address where he or she lived - you can sometimes find addresses in census records and city directories.

Death Certificates usually give place of birth (sometimes just the country, but sometimes the town is given).

Online Finding Aid: Directory of Online Death Records Indexes and Death Certificates

Obituaries - search the local newspaper(s) where your ancestor died a day or more after the date of death

Obituaries in American German language newspapers - try checking at a library in the area your ancestor lived

Naturalization Records (especially if naturalized September 27, 1906 and later; Naturalization records before Sept. 27, 1906 generally do not name the town, but a few occasionally will have this)

The 1900-1930 federal censuses tell whether a person was naturalized. The 1920 census gives year of naturalization.
Types of Naturalization Records describes declarations of intention, petitions, certificates, etc.
Suggested Book: Guide to Naturalization Records of the United States by Christina Schaefer

County Histories and Biographies

Online Finding Aid: Online County Histories, Biographies and Indexes

Family tradition - talk to your relatives

Family documents, photo albums, family Bibles...

World War I Draft Registration Cards nearly 11 million (men born about June 1886 to June 1897) of the 24 million total draft cards asked for location of birth (town, state, nation).

International Genealogical Index (IGI)

German Emigration Lists (lists of people who applied to leave Germany)

Determining a Place of Origin in Germany from the FHL is a helpful resource

Disclaimer: you may not find the place name in any of the records listed here. These are merely suggestions.

This outline was derived from the "Find your Immigrant Ancestor" section of the Basic Reasearch Guide for German Genealogy. It was created for the Germanic Genealogy Society of Colorado.

You can download a printable PDF version of this outline from: Genealogy Roots Blog Files: Finding Your German Ancestor's Hometown

Next Article in this Series: Tips for Finding German Genealogy Records for your German-American Ancestor

Book Reviews: Guides to Ancestry and Rootsweb

2007-07-15T12:54:00.001-06:00

Two major aspects of genealogy are finding records and information about your ancestors, and connecting with other people related to you or searching in the same geographic area. The online world can make things easier, but it can also be frustrating. Too much information to sort through? Not enough information? Too hard to find the right things? Two of the major online genealogy websites, Rootsweb and Ancestry, are about connecting with people, and finding information and records. And since they're both very large, sorting through all they contain may seem difficult at times. Two new books have recently been published to help you find things and connect at these two popular websites...

The Official Guide to Rootsweb.com
by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG, and Tana Pedersen Lord

This book discusses the major features of the free-to-use Rootsweb genealogy website, including message boards and mailing lists, setting up a website using Rootsweb's Freepages, the Social Security Death Index, and more. The opening chapter has a brief section on searching for things on Rootsweb. There are also brief stories from Rootsweb users scattered throughout the book, describing how Rootsweb helped them find a lost relative or ancestor.

One chapter discusses WorldConnect and even includes a bit of history of the project. WorldConnect allows you to upload your family tree (from a GEDCOM file) to the Internet, and view and search family trees uploaded by other genealogists. Don't know what a GEDCOM is? The book will tell you. It even tells you where to go on Rootsweb to learn how to create one. Really basic. Really easy.

The Official Guide to Ancestry.com
by George G. Morgan

This book provides a nice overview of the major features of Ancestry's website, providing examples and search tips. If you're an Ancestry subscriber you may find some things from reading this book that you perhaps hadn't tried out, such as the Learning Center or their fairly new Database Card Catalog. The Learning Center has articles and tips about a variety of topics to help you learn more about records sources and genealogical resources both inside and outside of Ancestry. The Database Card Catalog helps you search for Ancestry databases by record type, keyword and geographical location. Even if you already knew about some of these features you might find helpful tips about them in this book. Never tried "My Ancestry"? There's a whole chapter on it in the book.

George Morgan has done an excellent job of providing an overview of Ancestry's large collection of genealogy records and resources. He covers many topics, from things like Ancestry's immigration records collection to searching and posting on message boards. It's great for beginners, and in-depth enough for more advanced users. And even if you've used Ancestry for a long time, you just might find some cool feature you didn't already know about.

For information on purchasing either book at Amazon see:

The Official Guide to Ancestry.com

The Official Guide to Rootsweb.com

Or you might try your local bookstore or library.

Latest Additions - Online Indexes for Obituaries and Death Records

2009-01-11T12:30:00.003-07:00

This list kept getting longer and longer and so I thought, time to post it...

The Online Searchable Death Indexes and Records Directory has been updated with links to the following items...

Arizona
- Arizona Gravestone Photo Project (has over 61,000 gravestone photos from across Arizona)

California
- Early California Population Project (contains baptism, marriage, and burial records in the California mission registers from 1769-1850, documenting nearly 110,000 early residents)
- Imperial County: Riverview Cemetery Burials (Brawley, California)
- Lassen County Obituary Index (for various newspapers and years)
- Sacramento Historic City Cemetery Burials 1849-2000 (PDF file)
- San Francisco: Halsted Mortuary Records Search 1923-1960
- Siskiyou County Obituary Index

Georgia
- DeKalb County Cemetery and Will Records Databases (also has other genealogy indexes)

Illinois
- Adams County: Quincy Historical Newspaper Archive 1835-1919 (update: more years added)
- Sangamon County: Oak Ridge Cemetery Interment Records, March 1858-July 1918 (in Springfield, IL)

Indiana
- Elkhart County: Nappanee Public Library Obituaries Index
- Elkhart County: Wakarusa Public Library Obituaries
- Washington County: Crown Hill Cemetery Burials, Salem, Indiana

Kansas
- Johnson County Obituaries Index 1977-present (updated)
- Norton County Cemeteries
- Norton County Obituaries Indexes

Kentucky
- Allen County Genealogy Database (includes some death indexes and cemetery burials)

Maine
- Cumberland County: Portland Diocese Catholic Cemetery Burials (ongoing project)

Massachusetts
- Worcester County: Worcester Evening Post Deaths Index 1897-1898 (ongoing project)

Michigan
- Calhoun County Death Index, c. 1930s-recent
- Hillsdale County Cemeteries
- Kalamazoo County Genealogy Records (includes vital records, cemeteries, probate records and more)
- Oakland County: Machpelah Cemetery Jewish Burials (Ferndale, Michigan)
- Wayne County: Woodmere Cemetery (Detroit) Some Early Burials (ongoing project)

Mississippi
- Monroe County: Pearce Chapel Church Cemetery

Missouri
- Jefferson County Newspaper Index 1866-1910 (includes birth, marriage and death notices)
- St. Louis: St. Peter's Cemetery Burial Search (St. Peter's Evangelical United Church of Christ)
- St. Louis: Missouri History Museum Genealogy and Local History Index (includes: Missouri Republican death index, 1870-July 13, 1871 & 1880-July 2, 1881, also indexes many other sources)
- St. Louis County: Cemetery Records, St. Paul's Evangelical Church, Creve Coeur

Montana
- Lewis and Clark County: Helena Independent Record Obituary Index Jan-1984 to Dec-2006 (also has some cemetery indexes and other genealogy indexes)
- Yellowstone County: Vital Statistics from Early Billings Gazettes 1882-1901

New Jersey
- Monmouth County Archives Searchable Genealogy Databases (includes Coroner Inquests Index 1786-1915 and other indexes)

New York
- Franklin County Cemeteries
- Steuben County Cemeteries

North Carolina
- Craven County: New Bern Obituaries and Death Notices Index (update: several years added)

North Dakota
- Stark County: City of Dickinson Cemeteries Burial Database (PDF files)

Ohio
- Franklin County: Columbus Jewish Historical Society Cemetery Project
- Franklin County: Union Cemetery Burials, Columbus, Ohio
- Hamilton County: Rest Haven Memorial Park Cemetery Burials (Cincinnati)
- Montgomery County: David's Cemetery Burials, Kettering, Ohio
- Washington County Genealogy (includes some burials and an index to 17,792 Obituaries 1987-1999)

Oklahoma
- Carter County Cemetery Burials

Oregon
- Multnomah County: Portland Historic Pioneer Cemeteries Search

Pennsylvania
- Philadelphia Jewish Exponent Obituary Database

Tennessee
- Tennessee Death Index 1914-1927 (Update: year 1927 added)

Vermont
- Vermont Probate Files 1791-1919 at FamilySearch Labs (not yet complete)

See: Online Searchable Death Records Indexes and Obituaries