Mortuary and Funeral Home records are yet another little-used resource by genealogy researchers. They are difficult to obtain, especially in hard copies from the original funeral home. You can contact them, but often, mortuaries went out of business or were sold to another company. And many of the original records have been lost or destroyed.
Never fear though, there are a number of mortuary records that have been digitized and made available online.
Online record collections are available from subscription sites such as Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.
But there are other state and local collections available as well, and some of them are indexes only (from ledger books). And some are free and available online!
Here are some articles that may entice you to research Mortuary and Funeral Home records:
- FamilySearch – Funeral Home Records
- Finding Funeral Home Records for Your Ancestors
- Funeral Home Records: Telling Stories of the Dearly Departed
- 15 Reasons Why Searching Mortuary and Funeral Home Records Is a Gold Mine!
Have you ever looked at a mortuary record? There is an abundance of great information available! Here is a list of some of the information on such a record, besides the brand and cost of the casket:
- Name of informant and person paying for the service
- Cause of death
- Address of the deceased
- Burial location “to be”
- In some cases – the name of the father and mother
- Name of attending physician as well as hospital or place of death
- Date of birth
- Date of death
- Date of planned burial
- Obituary from multiple newspapers
- Occupation
- Birth Place
- Marital Status
- Gender
- Race
- Plus much more
Below are links to collections that are online and available for free. Be aware that some collections have full mortuary records, some are glorified death indexes, and some are just indexes to the actual mortuary records.
(Updated January 2023)
Note: Some of the links listed take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. Near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections’ images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital. To take full advantage, please make sure that you are logged in to FamilySearch. The results may be different if you are signed in, rather than not.
- Appanoose County, Exline Funeral Home, 1913-1957
- Appanoose County, Johnson Funeral Home, Records, 1893-1915
- Appanoose County, Roy Lankford Funeral Home, Records, 1915-1917
- Boone County, Sunberg Funeral Home, Burial Cases, 1893-1902
- Burlington, Burlington City Mortuary, Mortuary Records, 1876-1904
- Colfax, Colfax Funeral Home Records, Index
- Colfax, Hartnett’s Funeral Home Records, Index
- Corydon, Frank Selby Mortuary, Register of Funerals, 1894-1907
- Dallas County, L. H. DeFord Furniture and Undertaking, Funeral Records, 1917-1970
- Denison, Huebner Funeral Home, Records of Funerals, 1953-1976
- Des Moines County, Mortuary and Cemetery Records
- Des Moines, Caldwell Funeral Home, Record Index
- Des Moines, Dahlstrom Funeral Home, Record Index
- Des Moines, Fowler Funeral Home, Record Index
- Des Moines, Hamilton Funeral Home, Record Index
- Des Moines, Harbach Funeral Home, Record Index
- Des Moines, McDermontt Funeral Home, Record Index
- Dubuque County, Koob Devaney Funeral Home Records, Index, 1901 – 192
- Dubuque County, Till Funeral Home, Records, Index, 1921 – 1969
- Eagle Grove, Kastler Babcock Funeral Home, Funeral Records
- Edgewood, Appleton Funeral Home, Funeral Records, 1958-1987
- Elgin, Muethlethaler Funeral Home, Funeral Records, 1887-1974
- Elkader, Leonard Witt Funeral Home, Funeral Records, 1912-1969
- Fontanelle, Ewing Funeral Home Records, 1908-1959
- Guthrie County, Funeral Home Index, 1854-1986
- Guttenberg, Tuecke Funeral Home, Funeral Records, 1903-1932
- Guttenberg, Tuecke-Allyn Funeral Home, Records, 1903-1932
- Hazleton, L. Gerstenberger Director, Funeral Records, 1906-1917
- Independence, White Funeral Home, Funeral Registry : vol. 1-7, 1887-1936
- Grave registration survey, Individual burial Records, 1859-1938
- Jackson County, Buchner Funeral Home, Records, 1911-1920
- Jackson County, Harrison Funeral Home, Records, 1893-1942
- Jasper County, Boyd-Bicknell Funeral Home Records, Index
- Jasper County, Morgan-Hunter Funeral Home Records, Index
- Keosauqua, Pedrick & Son Funeral Home, Funeral Records, 1922-1932
- Knoxville, Bybee and Davis Funeral Home, Funeral Records, 1906-1910
- Louisa County, Keck Funeral Home Records, Index, 1912-1937
- Madison County, Funeral Records, 1915-1966
- Monona, Schultz’s Funeral Home, Records, 1903-1983
- Monroe County, Funeral Home Records, 1883-1970
- Monroe, Crumpacker Funeral Home Records, Index
- Mystic, Ray Swanson Funeral Home, Records, 1926-1942
- Nashua, Becker Renetta; Chenoweth & Son Funeral Home, Mortuary Records, 1896-1911
- Newton, Morgan’s Funeral Home Records, Index
- Oelwein, Kerns-Jamison Funeral Home, Records, 1960-1984
- Ottumwa, Jay Funeral Home, Funeral Records, 1889-1909
- Plymouth County, Beely & Fissel Funeral Home Records, Index 1889-1906
- Plymouth County, Luken Funeral Home Records, Index, 1925-1967
- Postville, Schutte Funeral Home, Register of Funerals, 1900-1966
- Sabula, Sabula Funeral Home, Funeral Home Records, 1893-1942
- Shelby County, Funeral Home Records, 1914-1951
- Strawberry Point, Roberson Funeral Home, 1885-1954
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