1. Name of newspaper   2. Date of issue   3. Person or group making the announcement   4. Name of the deceased   5. Place of funeral   6. Date and time of funeral

Funeral Announcements

Funeral Announcement

Whenever you can't find a document that gives an exact death date, consider looking at old newspapers for a funeral notice.

Funeral notices may not give a death date, but generally a funeral took place within a few days after a passing and can be used to approximate a death date.

Notice above that three different groups printed funeral announcements for Joseph Boyer in the same edition of the News and Courier in Charleston. The announcements tell you that Joseph Boyer belonged to the Mutual Aid Association (an Irish fraternity) and to St. Patrick's Benevolent Society. Those organizations may have other records describing Mr. Boyler.

Check these publications for the newspapers printed in your area of interest and where they can be used: Clarence Brigham, History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690-1920, 2 vols., (Worcester, Mass.: American Antiquarian Society, 1947) Winifred Gregory, American Newspapers, 1821-1926, A Union List of Files Available in the United States and Canada (1937, Reprint. New York: Kraus, 1967) U.S. Library of Congress publication Newspapers in Microform: United States, 1848-1983, 2 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1984).

Many old newspapers have been microfilmed and can be used locally through interlibrary loan.

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