California Vital Records Indexes Online

Ancestry has recently added indexes for California marriages (1960-1985) and divorces (1966-1984) to their subscription-based collection of online genealogy databases. They also have indexes for California births (1905-1995) and deaths (1940-1997). For links to these and some other California genealogy indexes see:

Directory of Online California Vital Records Indexes - Birth, Marriage, Divorce and Death Records

Recently Added Online Death Records Indexes

The Online Death Indexes and Records Directory has recently been updated with the following links...

Alabama
- Walker County: Davis Cemetery Burials to 1994 - Dora, Alabama

Arizona
- Arizona Death Records Index 1878-1956 & Birth Index 1887-1931 (update: 1956 added to the death index; 1931 added to the birth index) includes downloadable digitized copies of the death certificates

Colorado
- Jefferson County Cemeteries - includes Mount Lindo Cemetery (near Morrison) and Golden Cemetery (in Golden)

Florida
- Highlands County Obituaries Index - early 1982-mid 2006

Illinois
- Cook County: Wilmette Online Vital Records Indexes - includes a Death Certificate Index 1913-Oct. 1953 and other indexes
- Kankakee County: Kankakee Area Obituaries Index

Indiana
- Hendricks County Obituary Database and Card File from the Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library
- LaGrange County Index to Death Records 1882-1924

Kansas
- Greenwood County: Records of the J. S. Maben Mortuary, Severy, Kansas 1901-1952
- Wilson County: W.A. Rankin Memorial Library Obituary Index ca. 1870-present (ongoing project)

Kentucky
- Boyd County Cemeteries

Michigan
- Wayne County: Assorted Cemetery Listings for Plymouth, Michigan -- includes Civil War Veteran Burials, Old Baptist Cemetery, Presbyterian Cemetery, Riverside Cemetery, Shearer Cemetery
- Wayne County: Plymouth Historical Museum Archives -- includes mortality schedules and funeral home records

New Mexico
- Grant County Death Records and Obituaries

North Carolina
- Craven County Death Index 1914-2005 - also includes births (1914-2005) & marriages (1964-recent)
- Moore County Death Records Index 1987-present - also has indexes for births and marriages

Ohio
- Hamilton County: Walnut Hills Cemetery Burials (Cincinnati)
- Jefferson County: Steubenville Herald-Star Newspaper Obituaries 1987-1999
- Scioto County: Gravestone Inscriptions from Greenlawn Cemetery pre-1900
- Summit County: Akron-Summit County Public Library Genealogy Indexes -- includes: Mount Peace Cemetery Interment Records 1880-1916; Springfield Township Cemetery Transcriptions; Akron Beacon Journal Obituaries Index

Pennsylvania
- Greene County Genealogy Records - includes indexes for births, marriages, obituaries, wills and deaths

Texas
- Denton County: Denton Record-Chronicle Obituary Indexes - Assorted Years (PDF files) also has birth & marriage indexes

Virginia
- Norfolk City - Assorted Cemetery Listings

Canada
See: Online Death Indexes and Records for Canada
- Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics - indexes Births 1864-1877, Marriages 1864-1930, and Deaths 1864-1877 & 1908-1955

World War II Database of Missing U.S. Service Personnel Now Online

The U.S. Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office has compiled a database of service members still unaccounted for following World War II. The database contains more than 70,000 names and was derived from records from the National Archives and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. You can access the database online here:

Service Personnel Not Recovered Following World War II (MIA)

Names will be removed from the database as remains are recovered and identified.

For a directory of more online World War II databases see:

World War II Indexes, Records and Databases on the Internet - USA

Recently Added Online Passenger Lists and Records

Links to the items listed below have been added to the Directory of Online Ship Passenger Lists and Records

Boston and New England section
- Maine Passenger Lists Index 1820-1867 (coverage varies by port)
- Assorted Pilgrim and Great Migration Ship Lists 1602-1638

New York
- Andrea Doria - Genoa to New York, July 1956 - list of passengers for the Andrea Doria, which collided with the Stockholm on 25 July 1956 near Nantucket, Massachusetts

Australia
- Tasmania Passenger Lists - Index of Convicts Transported to Tasmania - 19th Century & Index to Departures 1817-1867

Brazil
- Memorial do Imigrante - Sao Paulo, Brazil (pre-1907 Brazil passenger arrivals) website is in Portuguese

Canada
- Quebec & Halifax Passenger Lists Indexing Project - currently indexes Quebec ports (including Montreal) from Nov. 1907-Oct. 1910 with some gaps; this is an ongoing project
- Port of New Westminster, British Columbia - Register of Chinese Immigration 1887-1908
- Canada Passenger Lists, 1865-1922 - can be searched by date, port and ship only - not searchable by name of passenger - time frame varies by port

Cuba
- Assorted Passenger Lists to and from Cuba

United Kingdom
- Passenger Lists Leaving the United Kingdom (UK) 1890-1960 -- presently available online for 1890-1919 (more years are being added) searches are free - full results require payment

Minnesota Vital Records Indexes and State Census Records Online

Minnesota State and Territorial Census Records
Ancestry has recently added a database for Minnesota Territorial and State Censuses. These censuses were generally taken between the Federal census years. Ancestry's database contains Minnesota territorial and state censuses for 1849-1850, 1853, 1855, 1857, 1865, 1875, 1885, and 1905. It is presently free to search with registration. See the Minnesota section at: Genealogy Research Guides - State Census Records

Minnesota Vital Records Indexes
The Minnesota Historical Society has an online death index that covers 1904-2001, and a recently updated online birth index from 1900-1934. Ancestry has an online Minnesota birth index that covers 1935-2002. They also have indexes for Minnesota marriages 1958-2001 (excluding 1996), divorces 1970-1995, and deaths 1908-2002. Ancestry's indexes are part of their subscription-based service. For links to all of these indexes see: Online Minnesota Vital Records Indexes

Gregory Peck in the Social Security Death Index and his SS-5 Form

In 2003 when I first heard that Gregory Peck had died, my reaction was, oh no, we've lost Atticus Finch. Harper Lee may have created the Atticus Finch character in her beloved novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, but Gregory Peck made him real in the equally beloved film version. It seemed as though he wasn't playing a role at all, but putting his own sincerity and feelings about racial inequality onto the screen. So when he died it wasn't that we had lost a great and popular actor. It felt like we had lost America's kind and noble grandfather. He was one of those rare Hollywood celebrities who you seemed to know and respect even if you had never met him.

Here is Gregory Peck's listing in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI):

GREGORY PECK
Birth: 05 Apr 1916
Death: 12 Jun 2003 (V)
Last Residence: 90077 (Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA)
Last Benefit: (none specified)
Social Security Number: 547-16-9811
Issued: California

Using the information from an SSDI listing, a copy of the person's SS-5 form can be obtained from the Social Security Administration for a fee. The SS-5 is the form a person filled out when they applied for a Social Security Card. Here's a copy of Gregory Peck's SS-5 (click on it to see a larger view).



As you can see it gives all sorts of information about the person that can be useful for further genealogy research. The SS-5 for Gregory Peck shows his full name (Eldred Gregory Peck), his date and place of birth (April 5, 1916 in San Diego, California), and the full names of his parents (Gregory Pearl Peck and Bernice Mae Ayres). Note that the maiden name of his mother is given. (There are restrictions regarding the release of the parents' names -- see the link below.) This SS-5 also shows the name and location of his employer, and his address in San Diego when he applied for his Social Security Card in 1937, which is about 6 years before he made his first film.

While putting this article together I asked my mother what her favorite Gregory Peck movies were. Here is her list: Keys of the Kingdom (1944, his second film), Duel in the Sun (1946), Gentleman's Agreement (1947), Twelve O'Clock High (1949), Roman Holiday (1953, with the great Audrey Hepburn, who became a lifelong friend), and To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). During his film career he received five best actor Academy Award nominations, and won the Oscar just once. That was for To Kill a Mockingbird. I think it's fitting that he will likely be remembered for the role of Atticus Finch. Gregory Peck may have died in 2003, but thanks to him and Harper Lee, Atticus Finch will live on in the film and novel.

Helpful Links
Social Security Death Index - Online Searching

How to order a copy of the Application for a Social Security Card (Form SS-5) of a deceased person Note the restrictions given there regarding proof of death and the release of parents' names.