Over the past few decades, thanks to volunteers, librarians, and archivists (as well as the largest of them all – FamilySearch), a great number of indexes to death collections have been provided for free online. These searchable indexes provide specific death information, and sometimes scanned images of the actual death certificates themselves. These free online collections have hundreds of millions of records in them in total.
There are a great number of online and offline collections that may include death information that are not included in the lists below. For example, newspapers and obituaries have death info, but most times obituary indexes include the date of the obituary but not the date of death. To find out which types of other records may include death information, please see:
The lists below are specific death indexes and record collections that are available for free online for the state of Oklahoma.
Note 1: Many of the links listed below take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. In many cases there is a link to the digital collection in the middle of the page, but also 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. Please also note that I have listed below only BMD databases that are accessible digitally from your computer (or tablet/phone)
Note 2: I have included links to Free Ancestry records and indexes. You do not need a subscription, but do need an Ancestry account. Without a subscription, you can view indexes. If there is an image associated with a record, in most cases you will need a subscription, but the index does include very usable information.
(Updated May 2021; recently added links are in BOLD):
- Adair County Local Registrar’s Death Records, 1908-1968
- Beckham County, Death Indexes
- Blaine County Miscellaneous Records 1891-1929
- Cleveland County Coroner’s post-mortem Records, 1893-1903
- Comanche County Native American Death and Obituary Index
- Craig County Births and Deaths 1908-1912
- Department of Health Death Index
- Ellis County Vital Statistics, 1957-1990
- Ellis County, Death Indexes
- Garvin County, Deaths
- Grant County, Deaths
- Greer County Births and Deaths, 1912-1918
- Greer County Death Indexes 1912-1918
- Greer County, Death Indexes
- Harmon County Death Records (Harmon County, Oklahoma), 1924-1973
- Kaw Reservation Register of Vital Statistics 1931-1951
- Kay County Birth, Marriage, and Death Indexes
- Kiowa Indian Agency Records, 1919
- Kiowa, Comanche, Apache & Ft. Sill Apache Indian Vital Records at Kiowa Agency, Oklahoma Territory, 1924-1937
- Lincoln County Oklahoma, Lincoln County Miscellaneous Records, 1891-1925; Indexes, 1892-1921
- Major County, Deaths
- Mayes County Deaths
- Miami, Oklahoma, Miami Daily Record-Herald and District Daily News 1916-1922 Vital Records Index
- Miscellaneous BMD Records by County
- Muskogee County Funeral Home Indexes (Includes Death Dates)
- Native American Death and Obituary Index
- Norman Transcript Newspaper Clipping Collection of Births, Deaths, Reunions and Marriages 1940-1941
- Okfuskee County Birth and Death Records, 1909-1922
- Oklahoma City Deaths (from City Directories)
- Oklahoma County, Death Indexes
- Oklahoma County, Deaths
- Oklahoma Explore Death Index
- Online Searchable Death Indexes
- Online Searchable Death Indexes
- Osage County, Death Indexes
- Ottawa County Fragments of extinct County newspapers, 1904-1949 : Newspapers Vital Statistics Index
- Ottawa County Miami News Record Vital Statistics Index
- Ottawa County, Indian Territory Early Newspapers Index: Fairland, Picher, Quapaw and Wyandotte 1895-1934
- Ottawa County, Miami Oklahoma News-Record Newspapers Vital Statistics Index
- Pawnee, Kaw, Ponca, Otoe, and Tonkawa Indian Tribes Register of Births and Deaths 1915-1929
- Picher, Tri-State Tribune Newspaper Vital Records Index 1939-1944
- Pittsburg County Death Index
- Pittsburg County, Deaths
- Roger Mills County Miscellaneous Records 1892-1922
- Sequoyah County, Deaths
- Stephens County Death Records 1957-1965
- Tillman County Birth and Death Records,1917
- Tonkawa Tribe Records, 1895-1952
- Tulsa Newspaper Death Index
- United States Deaths and Burials, 1867-1961
- United States Korean War Battle Deaths, 1950-1957
- United States Social Security Death Index
- United States, World War I American Expeditionary Forces Deaths, 1917-1919
- Washington County Death Index
- Wichita, Caddo, Delaware Indians Vital Records at Kiowa Agency, Oklahoma Territory, 1926-1935
- Woods County Births, Deaths and Marriages from the Ames Enterprise, 1901-1905
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
For other Free Oklahoma Links, click on the category of interest:
Newspapers
Obituaries
BMD Records
Photos
Yearbooks
Directories
Divorce Records
Naturalizations
Church Records
School Records
Coroner Records
Voter Records
Probate and Wills
Immigration
Mortuary Records
Alumni Records
Cemetery Records
