How can you find an old death record?

Question

My Dad was told that a little girl drowned in a bird bath in the yard at the house I grew up in before they bought it. I am trying to find out if it is true but keep hitting dead ends! I am unsure of the year and know nothing about the child but, It had to be within like 20 years before we moved there because the house is not much older than that. How can I find this information?

Answer 1

You can try calling the county in which they died they have death certificates with all the information just like a birth certificate. but I'm not sure if they can release information of a non-relative though.

Answer 2

In addition to taking the advice of the previous answerers, you might also look at back files of the local newspaper, although doing do may be pretty tedious if you don't know her name.

Answer 3

Your Town Hall should be able to tell you the exact age of the house, to give you a starting record. In the US, the County Courthouse usually has the death records. But you have no name - you might do better with searching the local paper, either for police blotter, or news, or obituaries. Ask for help down at the library.