The most important thing to know before you start browsing newspapers, however, is the place where the person whose obituary you are looking for died. Though not as detailed as obituaries, death notices can also be found in some of the larger papers, so you might be able to at least get some basic information out of the larger publications.īut let's get back to those local papers! Those, on the other hand, focus predominantly on news from the town where they originate, and it's far more likely that they will publish obituaries for everyday citizens.

The reason is that larger newspapers feature mostly obituaries of prominent public figures. In other words, as a rule of thumb ,you'll have a better chance of finding the obituary you need in a local newspaper, rather than in the St. One problem with digital newspaper archives is that these tend to be more extensive for bigger, national papers, while it is the smaller, local editions that usually publish the obituaries you're after. Another great resource is the Florida State Genealogical Society. There are also many regional genealogical societies in Florida, focusing on the histories of local families in the respective area, and you can sometimes zero in on relevant obituaries and death records if you already know the location within which you need to search. After all, genealogists, amateur and professional, are not the only ones who need to reference obituaries, there are also journalists, investigators and history scholars who also have use for the information contained in an obituary. One of its projects is the Tampa History Research Automated Index to Library Services, a database that includes death notices, obituaries, and funeral notices from the Tampa Tribune and its predecessors, spanning a period from 1855 to 1983.Īnd that's just one fabulous example of the resources available to you in the state.

The Florida Genealogy Society was founded in 1958 and is the oldest genealogical association in the state. A vitally (no pun intended) part of this is making sure that obituaries find their way into your research toolbox, as they often represent a wealth of information and insight into the people you're researching.įlorida, like the most states, has a long history in genealogy, the discipline dedicated to tracing family histories and lineages.

You don't need to have a history degree to do it, given the resources available online and also offline, but you might need some help with some parts of the research. Making a family tree, or writing a family history, is a challenging but rewarding endeavor, and if you're already attempting it on your own you've likely already run into a few roadblocks. Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

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