Are there any free sites to look for old obituary notices?

Question

Are there any free sites to look for old obituary notices?

Answer 1

most newspapers on line are starting to charge $$ for past obits

only the most current are free

one of the better sites for obits is

http://www.obitcentral.com/

there is another one affiliated with rootsweb (i think) but i cannot remember the name of the site (sorry)

these are a bit hit and miss but ya never know

http://www.ancestorhunt.com/obituary_sea...

http://www.christianmemorials.com/memori...

most sites lure you in and tempt you by saying that they have the info but....... ya just gotta join up for a year -- erggg!!

good luck and happy hunting

Answer 2

At my age, I find most obituaries online current events, not history. Most online don't go back any further than the 1990s.  If you want old ones it is best to find out who has the local newspaper on microfilm. Usually a public library in the city where the newspaper is located will have it.  

The day will come when some entrepreneur will have a site. They will go into libraries all over the country and get obituaries back from the time the local newspapers started, whether it was the early 1900s or even in the 1800s.  It will be a yeoman task but a lot of people will gladly pay anytime they do.

There are message boards on Rootsweb and Genealogy.Com.  You can go under a location by selecting the country, the state and then the county.  Then you can post a message asking if someone could locate an obit for you. Frequently, there are people on those boards that will help you. It is called RAOGK (Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness).

Answer 3

Your city newspaper on line

Answer 4

http://www.daddezio.com/obituary/index.h...

Answer 5

The "news" section of Google.com has an "archives" section where you can search select newspapers from whichever dates you ask for.  Typically you do have to pay to see the whole articles, but you can see the information provided in the typical Google search result format without paying anything.  Then you can try typing in the last words in the cut off sentence to try to see if it will give you anything else for free.  Sometime this works.  Or you could just pay a small fee and get the whole article.  Since the website will tell you the date the obituary was published, the page number, and the newspaper's name, you could also try to request the microfilm through interlibrary loan or from your local library with that information.

Also, some library systems subscribe to searchable obituary databases, but these are mostly within the last 20 years or so.  You can find them by going to your library's website, or by asking a librarian.

Answer 6

go to a public library.....

Answer 7

First, either post the person's name on a Blog or if you know the person's last "area of residence" go to a local newspaper in that area and search the Obits. They usually go back quite a bit. Good luck.