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 South Dakota.
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 June 2021; recently added links are in BOLD):
- Brown County Deaths
- Brule County, Deaths
- Butte County Deaths
- Campbell County, Deaths
- Cheyenne River Agency Agency Records, 1869-1951
- Clark County Deaths
- Crow Creek Agency Birth and Death Records, 1919-1939
- Crow Creek Agency Record of Births and Deaths–Lower Yanktonai Sioux, 1881-1918
- Dakota Territory Mortality records : Persons who died in the year ending 31 May, 1880
- Faulk County Deaths
- Hand County Deaths
- Hand County Obituaries and Death Notices
- Hot Springs State Soldiers’ Home, Death register, 1890-1977
- Lyman County Deaths
- Miscellaneous BMD Records by County
- Online Searchable Death Indexes
- Online Searchable Death Indexes
- Pine Ridge Agency, Agency Pension Records, 1926-1930
- Pine Ridge Agency Birth and Death Records, 1895-1950
- Pine Ridge Agency Family statistics ledger, late 1800’s – early 1900’s
- Pine Ridge Agency Supplemental census, all Births and Deaths, 1946-1948
- Rapid City Journal Death Index
- Rapid City, Mortuary Indexes, 1879-1971
- Rapid City, Obituary Index, 1968-2012
- Rosebud Agency Birth and Death Records, 1900-1946
- Rosebud Agency List of Deaths reported between June 30 and Oct. 1, 1904
- Sioux Falls Death Index
- Sisseton Agency Birth and Death Records, 1928-1945
- South Dakota Death/Cemetery Index
- Standing Rock Agency Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1880-1942
- Union County Death Index St. Peters Catholic Church
- Union County, Deaths
- 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
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
For other Free South Dakota 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
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