Genealogy Made Easy - Finding Obituaries

[Pete Leonard]

Genealogists have long made use of obituaries, or death notices, to
assist them with researching and development of ancestral history.
Obituaries are an invaluable tool, because they go far beyond a simple
state-issued death certificate.
Often, researchers can obtain information on parents, grandparents,
aunts, uncles, and cousins through an obituary search. When
researching in periods before the advent of a uniform public record
system, obituaries can also provide a wealth of useful information,
including previous marriages, major life events, business
affiliations, military service, fraternal membership, city of birth,
and church affiliation. This information is not always readily
available outside of an obituary in periods where record keeping and
media were not organized and ubiquitous.
In the past, genealogists often had to spend a great deal of time
traveling to libraries, contacting record keepers, and hunting down
what were often very obscure records. Fortunately, some of today's Web-
based resources can often eliminate much of this hassle, and have made
obituaries more accessible to researchers. Both professional and
amateur genealogists can benefit from such resources, which include:

Obituary Links Page. This free, popular, and comprehensive site
provides information for all 50 states, as well as Canada. Links and
references are organized by county or region.
AncestorHunt.com. This site offers a free obituary search and
directory of third party obituary search engines. Also allows searches
of death records.
ObituaryDatabase.com. Similar to Obituary Links Page, though not as
comprehensive. Offers links to obituary resources categorized by
state.

By taking advantage of these and the many other resources now
available online, you can obtain a great deal of information in a
shorter time than ever was possible before.