Herding Cats Genealogy
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Leave a legacy...write down
the history of your family.

Picture
Picture
Picture

Death Records and Genealogy

10/29/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Photo by Bill Eccles on Unsplash
​After a recent trip to Ireland, I am still pondering about ways that I can find more information about my Irish ancestors from County Kerry and County Cork. I have found records through most of their adult lives, but the elusive death records elude me. I have hopes that some day I will be able to find other family member ties to help me pinpoint their home area in Ireland. Family Tree Magazine has an interesting article about death records. Let’s dive into a few of their suggestions.
​Of course, we all would love to find a complete death certificate listing our ancestor’s birth, death, spouse, parents, and cause of death. When you do it is like winning the genealogy lottery, isn’t it? Let’s face it…when we are researching in the 19th century or earlier in the United States and Canada, we are not so lucky. Many states didn’t require these records until the 20th century. Where else can we look?
 
Burial Register
Within the church records, you may find a burial record which includes the death date and funeral/burial dates. While these will not always list parents or next of kin, they do allow you to find vital dates and the cemetery location.
 
Cemetery Records
If your ancestor does not have a tombstone but you do know where they are supposed to be buried, you could contact the cemetery association. Or in the case of small towns, you might try reaching out to the church or local funeral home. They may know the person who maintains the local cemetery book. This is a listing of the individual plots for the cemetery and who is buried where. It likely won’t give your family information but it will give you the death information and location in the cemetery. Often if family has moved away and there is no headstone or payments for upkeep, the plot may be used again. The burial book might be the only record available.
 
Funeral Home
Some funeral homes—especially in rural areas—have records from the past and depending on how busy they are, they can try to look up your relative based on a date. More "modern" records include information that is used for the obituary. Many times, funeral homes are acquired or change hands and they inherit all those records. It is worth checking into.
 
Newspapers
I really like to scroll through newspapers to see if there is some tidbit of information about an ancestor’s death. Sometimes you might read about an accident with expectations of a full recovery and then the next day learn of their passing. I have seen newspapers unkindly speak about a family’s loss of children to diphtheria as somewhat the fault of the parents because the doctor didn’t call often enough. I can’t imagine the additional heartbreak for the parents. I would hope we wouldn’t see anything like that today. If you’re lucky enough to find an obituary, you can determine relationships; take special note of friends and family who came from out of state or nearby towns. They are likely relatives.
 
I hope these suggestions help you on your way to discovering death information for your ancestors. Keep digging and I will do that same!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    With a lifelong passion for genealogy and history, the author enjoys the opportunity to share genealogy tidbits, inspiring others to research and write their family story.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Herding Cats GENEALOgY ©2018-2023
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact