Obituaries - Genealogy Storytelling

Obituaries are a great source for searching your family history. This is a great article from Robin Foster.

If you have not taken advantage of the resources that lead you to obituaries, perhaps this article will help move you in that direction.Observe how the details from the obituary of Mrs. George H. Edwards (d. June 13, 1915) lead to a variety of other records.

Obituary of Mrs. George H. Edwards

Mrs. George H. Edwards, 2431 Sixth Avenue, Moline, passed away at 5:15 this morning. Death came as the result of the infirmities of age.Deceased, whose maiden name was Abigail E. Pierce, was born in Canadaigua, New York, December 3rd, 1848.

Left to mourn Mrs. Edwards passing are a niece, Mrs. Edna M. Butt, of Toronto, Canada, and a nephew, James M. Pierce, 2021 Sixth Avenue, Moline.Mrs. Edwards had been a resident of Moline for many years.

Funeral services will be held in the home Friday afternoon at 2:30.Rev. P. C. Ladd will officiate and burial will be in Riverside Cemetery.

See full story on examiner.com

What are Legacy obituaries? Legacy.com is an online media company that collaborates with over 1,500 newspapers in Europe, North America and Australia to post obituaries and guest books for over two-thirds of the people who die in the United States. Their website boasts of 18 million unique visitors monthly. This is another great tool for your research.

The Legacy Obituaries website

The Legacy Obituaries website is easy to maneuver and you could find the information you’re looking for within seconds.

You don’t need to know the entire name of the person you’re searching for. You can search by last name only or a keyword that would have appeared in the person’s obituary. Perhaps you only know someone’s nickname? Try inputting that and see what pops up.

Search by country and newspapers in a locality for instance, if you are trying to find linkages to your family in a town in Europe.

Search the Social Security Death Index directly from this website. Again, you can search by last name only if you don’t have a first name. You can also search within a timeframe; i.e. all ‘Smiths’ who died from 2000-2009.

ObitMessenger. Free to sign up. Enter last names of people and you’ll be notified by email when obituaries appear in newspapers.

Family and friends can honor the memory and life of their loved one by creating a memorial website complete with photos, videos and life stories. Although there is a fee to put up a memorial website, it is completely free to view one. So if you find a relative’s memorial website, there is a good chance that you will learn details about their life that you never knew and wouldn’t be able to find out any other way.

Sign a guestbook or write your condolences. A simple and thoughtful way to connect with distant family members.

The Legacy Obituaries website can be valuable search tools for family historians at all skill and experience levels. You might even want to begin your search here; and don’t forget to sign up for automatic email updates of published death notices.