(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
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.
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.
Texas Mortuary and Funeral Home Records
- Alta, Stribling Undertakers, Funeral Home Records, 1929-1941
- Amarillo, Memorial Park and Cemetery Mortuary: the Panhandles Cemetery since 1890
- Bowie County, Bates Rolf Funeral Home Records
- Bowie County, Bowden Funeral Home Records
- Burkburnett, Owens and Brumley Funeral Home, Records from May 1925 to December 1961
- Cuero, Jamison Funeral Home Index, 1943-1947
- Cuero, Jamison Funeral Home, 1943-1947
- Dallas, McGowan Funeral Home Records
- Denton County Miscellaneous Funeral Home Records Indexes
- Denton County, Shepard Funeral Home, Record Index, 1899-1905
- Gonzales, Finch Funeral Home, Funeral Home Records, ca. 1914-2007
- Grand Saline, Bartley Funeral Home, Records, October 1947-December 1955
- Gray County, Pampa Funeral Home Records, Index to Texas Deaths from 1913 to 1943
- Gregg County, Forman Funeral Home Programs
- Gregg County, Forman Funeral Home Records
- Gregg County, Gladewater Funeral Home Programs
- Gregg County, Gladewater Funeral Home Records
- Gregg County, McCauley Funeral Home Programs
- Houston, Fogle West Funeral Home, Funeral Records
- Jack County Funeral Records 1940-2004
- Jack County, Hawkins, Funeral Records
- Jack County, Maddox Funeral Home Records
- Jack County, Thompson Funeral Home Records
- McLennan County, Fall and Puckett Funeral Home Record Index
- McLennan County, Fall and Puckett Funeral Home Records
- Midland County, Newnie Ellis Funeral Home Records
- Nacogdoches, Cason Monk-Metcalf Funeral Directors, Records
- Panola County, Hawthorn Funeral Home Records
- San Augustine County, Clark-Downs Funeral Home Records
- San Augustine County, Garner Funeral Home Records
- San Augustine County, Wyman Roberts Funeral Home Records
- Shelby County, Bartle Funeral Home, Index
- Shelby County, Mangum Funeral Home, Index
- Shelby County, Tucker Funeral Home, Index
- Shelby County, Watson Funeral Home, Index
- Travis County, Clark-Downs Funeral Home Records
- Travis County, Garner Funeral Home Records
- Travis County, Wilke-Clay-Fish Funeral Home Records
- Travis County, Wilke-Clay-Fish Funeral Home Records
- Travis County, Wyman Roberts Funeral Home Records
- Wise County Funeral Home Records
- Wise County, Christian/Hawkins Funeral Home Records
- Wise County, Christian-Coker Funeral Home Records
- Wise County, Hawkins Funeral Home Records
- Yoakum, Beck & Buffington Funeral Homes Ledger
- Yoakum, Beck & Buffington Funeral Homes Ledgers
- Yoakum, Jamison Funeral Home Index, 1943-1947
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!