Finding Death Records
Posted on June 27, 2008
Filed Under Finding Information |
Amateur genealogy has become a booming business for people with a deep interest in their personal heritage. Many 20th century immigrants deliberately obscured the customs of their homeland so as to create a life for their children untouched by prejudice based on race or nationality. Now, however, with the equalizing force of globalization stripping so many cultures of their individuality, many people have embraced genealogy as a way to define their place in the ever shrinking world by illuminating their ancestry.
Successful genealogical research is a difficult, time consuming activity that often takes twice as much energy and dedication that one might initially think. It can involve traveling long distances, struggling with an unhelpful bureaucracy, cutting through red tape, and spending long hours in the county courthouse, combing through ancient records in a disorganized, dusty archive. Luckily, the Internet has made it possible to bypass a lot of the more tedious aspects of genealogical research by cataloging the records most prized by researchers online, in easily searched databases.
Even with the abundant resources offered by Internet, many people still become discouraged when they cannot find exactly who they’re looking for. Most times this is a case of not knowing where to look in the first place. Searching through newspaper articles, marriage announcements, and census records often leads nowhere as many people - elusive, illegal, or invisible - never had their names put on a permanent record. However, there is one public record that nearly every person has attached to their name: a death record.
It may sound a bit morbid, but it’s true. Everyone who dies is issued a death certificate by a local authority. This means starting your search with death records gives you the advantage of being able to work backwards with a greater knowledge of what you should be looking for.
So where can you find death records? The traditional way is to make an appointment with a local courthouse clerk and request death certificates issued in your area. This can prove limiting if you haven’t got a specific name or certificate number with which to start your search. If your subject died in another county it’s possible that you won’t find the information you need.
As with most genealogical resources of the 21st century, the Internet is a tool that should never be taken for granted. Searching through death records is a lot easier when you simply input all the facts have available into a form and let a database with access to a wide array of records do the rest. Websites such as Public Records Now allow you to search their comprehensive database using as much or as little information as you have on hand. There’s no struggle and no legwork, just easy results with the click of a button.
With websites like this, there’s no reason for a genealogist to ever get frustrated again!
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3 Responses to “Finding Death Records”
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This has been really helpful! Thank you.
I found my estranged father working backwards this way. Closure ended up being more of a relief than I had expected.
Very cool! I never thought about using death records to fill in the family tree but now it’s like a “duh” thing.