Search Newspaper Obituaries 1690–Today!
GenealogyBank features over 1 billion family history records
including the largest obituary archive online.
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“Genealogy is my #1 hobby and profession. After hearing about your site, I signed up for a year. I have spent hours at libraries finding and copying obituaries and now I can find just by typing in a name! I'm also finding the less common marriage notices and newspaper articles!”
Michael W. McCormick -
“The obituaries are stellar. GenealogyBank.com is by far my favorite, most valued, and most trusted of sites. I use it daily!”
Scott Phillips -
“I hoped to find a few old obituaries at first, but never expected to find death notices in high German in the Cincinnati Volksfreund; family names in articles in the society pages of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (1900); advertisements for The Crescent Hotel of Eureka Springs Arkansas (hotel manager 1928); murder suicide in 1868 Cleveland Plain Dealer; many marriage announcements, some with photographs and so much more.”
Pat M. -
“I love Genealogybank.com! I have found the most amazing and insightful items on your site, ranging from small stories about relatives to their obituaries. I have never been disappointed in any of the results I have received. ”
Karen George
Newspapers have reported on the deaths of our ancestors since they were first published. Obituaries have ranged from simple statements that a person has died to long, detailed accounts of their lives. Obits often refer to other family members, leading your genealogy research in new, and unexpected, directions. Whether short or long, newspaper obituaries and death records provide important clues to your family history.
GenealogyBank currently has 215 million newspaper obituaries and death records covering over 320 years from over 6,500 newspapers. New obituary records are added daily.
Looking for an ancestor who died before 1977?
Looking for a relative who died before 1977? Search our all-digital Newspaper Archives (1690–2007) to locate your deceased ancestor's death record. The extensive Newspaper Archives section of our site contains complete digital copies of newspapers; that's every page, including advertisements, cartoons, letters to the editor, and—yes—obituaries.
You will find old obituaries within the historical obituaries and in the newspaper article categories.
Newspaper Obituaries 1977–Current
If the relative you are looking for died after 1976, then the first place to begin searching is this archive of recent obituaries. These obituaries are the text-only versions just as they were published in the newspapers. Some important points about this obituary archive:
- We receive the same "feed" from the newspapers that they send to their printing plants when the newspapers are printed; the copy of the obituary on our site is identical to what appeared in the paper.
- We have found this method of obituary delivery to be a fast way for genealogists to get access to these obituaries online.
- These new obituaries help genealogists stay current.
- This obituary archive is updated throughout the day and even includes the obituaries that will appear in tomorrow's newspapers from across the country.
