The Ancestor Hunt regularly adds and updates new collection links, as well as searches for and fixes broken links.
(This page's most recent update is September 2024)
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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, many mortuary records have been digitized and made available online.
Online record collections are available from subscription sites such as Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.
However, other state and local collections are also available, and some 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.
Note: Some 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 make sure that you are logged in to FamilySearch. The results may be different if you are signed in, rather than not.
Ohio Mortuary and Funeral Home Records
- Akron, Cunningham Funeral Home Records, 1906-1947
- Cincinnati, Record of Burials, 1899-1923
- Cincinnati, Congregation Bene Israel, Mortuary Records 1895-1942
- Cincinnati, Gerhardt Funeral Home, Funeral Records, 1853-1879
- Cincinnati, Hawthorne Funeral Home, Record of Funerals, 1914-1967
- Cincinnati, Jacob Fuldner Funeral Home, Funeral Records, 1866-1936
- Cincinnati, Radel Funeral Home, Records, 1909-1950
- Cincinnati, Seward Funeral Home, Funeral Records, 1887-1899
- Cincinnati, T.P. White & Sons Funeral Home, Funeral Records, 1936-1976
- Cincinnati, Vitt/Stermer Funeral Home, Funeral Records, 1899-1934
- Cincinnati, Wiltsee Funeral Home, Funeral Records, 1852-1937
- Cleveland, List of Undertakers in Cleveland
- Clyde, Fiser Funeral Home, Funeral Record and Ledger, 1914-1971; Index to the Records, 1914-1971
- Columbiana County Funeral Home Records
- Columbus Grove, Harris Funeral Home, Funeral Record, 1952-1976
- Dayton, Reisinger’s Funeral Records, Index
- Delta, Newill-Planson Funeral Home, Funeral Home Collection, October 17, 1910 – July 22, 1918
- Franklin County Funeral Homes, Mortuaries, Undertakers, Today and Yesterday
- Fremont, Ochs Funeral Home, Funeral Home Record Books, 1891-1982
- Gallipolis, Miller’s Funeral Home, Funeral Home Records, 1946-1986
- Gallipolis, Wetherholt and Son Funeral Home, Funeral Home Records, 1904-1967
- Henry County Funeral Home Records
- Jackson County Funeral Home Records
- Lake County Funeral Home Records
- Lake Point, Geisen Funeral Home, Records, 1868-1924
- Lorain County Funeral Home Records
- Lucas County Funeral Home Records
- Mahoning County Funeral Home Records
- Montgomery County, Riesinger Funeral Home, Funeral Records, 1902-1952
- New Lebanon, Abram Conover, Undertaker, Funeral Records and Ledger
- Norwalk, Laible and Brady Funeral Home Records, 1910-1913
- Oakwood, Taylor Funeral Home, Records, ca. 1949-1992
- Ohio, Church and Civil Deaths from Funeral Records, 1833-1967
- Pemberville, Nieman-Beckman Funeral Home, Records, 1893-1958
- Pike County, Hammerstein Funeral Home Records, Index, 1913-1917
- Piqua, Cron Collection, Funeral Registry, 1909-1917
- Port Clinton, Neidecker and Crosser Funeral Home, Funeral Records, 1907-1986
- Reeb Funeral Home Records 1983-1997
- Sandusky County Funeral Home Records
- Sidney, W. H.Princehouse Funeral Home Records, Index, 1902-1907
- Toledo, Dale-Riggs Funeral Home Records, 1912-1956
- Toledo, Walter Funeral Home, Funeral Home Records, 1894-2009
- Wapakoneta, Siferd Funeral Home, Funeral Home Records, 1908-1934
- Warren County, Funeral Home Indexes
- Western Reserve Historical Society, Funeral Homes Index Search
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!