
One of the main goals for genealogists is to find obituaries. Obituaries are a gold mine of information. They provide death dates and locations, funeral and cemetery information, and more importantly – information about the relatives of the deceased’s family and extended family. This family name information is often not found anywhere else.
Over the past few decades, thanks to volunteers, librarians, and archivists, a great number of indexes to obituary information and transcriptions of obituaries from newspapers have been provided for free online. These searchable indexes provide the location in old newspapers where the obituary can be found. Sometimes the scanned newspaper clipping is included.
And remember you can always find online historical newspapers to search for obituaries for free on this website (links at Newspaper Links).
Here are a few articles that may be helpful:
- How to Find Historical Obituaries
- What is the Future of Obituaries?
- What is the Difference Between an Obituary, a Death Notice, an Obituary Index, and a Death Index?
- 32 Reasons Why Searching for Obituaries is Like Finding Gold
- 9 Ways to Effectively Find Obituaries in Online Newspapers
Each entry below will be appended with one of the five types of obituaries: Transcriptions, Clippings, Index, Abstracts, or Online.
Online entries present an obituary on a website that publishes online obituaries, generally, a phenomenon that occurs after the year 2000.
Indexes are just that, an index that at a minimum includes the deceased’s name and the name and date of the newspaper that the obituary appears in. Some indexes also include the date of death, so be careful if you are recording the date in your genealogy database. Make sure that it is the death date.
(Updated May 2023)
General U.S.
- Currentobituary.com index, 2001-2014
- Obituary Daily Times Index, 1995-2016
- U.S., Selected Jewish Obituaries, 1948-2002
- United Methodist Church Annual Conference Journal Memoirs and Obituary Index
- United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014
- United States, Obituaries, American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1899-2012
West Virginia Obituaries
- Barbour County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Barbour County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Barbour County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Berkeley County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Berkeley County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Boone County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Boone County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Braxton County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Braxton County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Brooke County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Brooke County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Brooke County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Cabell County Obituaries (transcriptions)
- Cabell County Obituary Indexes
- Cabell County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Cabell County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Calhoun County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Calhoun County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Charleston Newspapers’ News Library Article Index
- Clay County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Clay County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Doddridge County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Doddridge County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Elkins Intermountain Obituaries
- Fayette County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Fayette County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Fayette Tribune and Free Press Obituary Abstracts 1919-1920
- Franklin, Pendleton County Times Obituaries 1940-1966 (clippings)
- Franklin, Pendleton Times and Petersburg, Grant County Press Obituaries (clippings)
- Gilmer County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Grant County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Grant County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Greenbrier County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Greenbrier County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Greenbrier County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Hampshire County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Hampshire County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Hancock County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Hancock County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Hancock County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Hardy County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Hardy County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Hardy County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Harpers Ferry, Eackles-Spencer & Norton Funeral Home Obituaries
- Harrison County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Harrison County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Harrison County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Hinton Daily News Obituaries (transcriptions and clippings)
- Huntington Herald Dispatch Obituaries 2000-2014 (transcriptions)
- Jackson County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Jackson County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Jefferson County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Jefferson County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Kanawha County Obituaries (transcriptions)
- Kanawha County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Kanawha County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Kanawha County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Lewis County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Lewis County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Lewis County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Lincoln County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Lincoln County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Lincoln County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Logan County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Logan County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Marion County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Marion County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Marion County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Marshall County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Marshall County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Marshall County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Martinsburg, Browns Funeral Home Obituaries
- Mason County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Mason County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Mason County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- McDowell County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- McDowell County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- McDowell County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Mercer County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Mercer County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Mineral County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Mineral County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Mingo County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Mingo County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Mingo County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Monongalia County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Monongalia County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Monongalia County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Monroe County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Monroe County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Morgan County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Morgan County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- New Martinsville, Wetzel Democrat Newspaper Obituaries 1959-1963 (clippings)
- Nicholas County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Nicholas County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Nicholas County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Northern West Virginia Obituaries from the counties of Barbour, Braxton, Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Harrison, Lewis, Nicholas, Pocahontas, Preston, Randolph, Ritchie, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler, Upshur, Webster and parts of Marion, Wetzel and Wirt (transcriptions)
- Ohio County Biographies Index
- Ohio County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Ohio County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Ohio County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Parkersburg News Obituary Index
- Parkersburg News Obituary Index 1970-1979
- Parkersburg News Obituary Index 1980-1989
- Parkersburg News Obituary Index 1990-1999
- Parkersburg News Obituary Index 2000-2007
- Parkersburg, Leavitt Funeral Services Obituaries
- Parson’s Advocate Obituaries
- Pendleton County Obituaries
- Pendleton County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Pendleton County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Pendleton County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Pendleton Times Obituaries
- Pleasants County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Pleasants County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Pleasants County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Pocahontas County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Pocahontas County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Preston County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Preston County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Putnam County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Raleigh County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Raleigh County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Raleigh County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Randolph County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Randolph County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Randolph County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Ritchie County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Ritchie County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Roane County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Summers County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Summers County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Summers County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Taylor County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Taylor County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Taylor County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Tucker County Elkins Intermountain Obituaries (transcriptions)
- Tucker County Parsons Obituaries (transcriptions)
- Tucker County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Tucker County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Tyler County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Tyler County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Upshur County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Upshur County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Wayne County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Wayne County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Wayne County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Webster County Obituaries
- Webster County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Webster County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Webster County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Weirton Daily Times Obituary Index 1931-2014
- West Virginia GenealogyBuff Obituary Files
- West Virginia Obituaries – Obit City
- West Virginia USGenWeb Obituary Project
- Wetzel County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Wetzel County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Wetzel County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Williamson Library Obituary Index
- Wirt County Obituary Archive (clippings)
- Wirt County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Wood County Obituary Index 1841-1875
- Wood County Obituary Index 1876-1885
- Wood County Obituary Index 1886-1890
- Wood County Obituary Index 1896-1900 V1
- Wood County Obituary Index 1896-1900 V2
- Wood County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Wood County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Wood County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
- Wyoming County, Obituaries (Transcriptions)
If you wish to search this state’s historic newspapers for obituaries, click on West Virginia Online Historical Newspapers Summary
For all Free West Virginia Links, click on the category of interest:
Newspapers
Yearbooks
Births
Marriages
Deaths
BMD Records
Alumni Records
Cemetery Records
Church Records
Coroner Records
Criminal Records
Digital Archives
Directories
Divorce Records
Immigration Records
Institutional Records
Military Records
Mortuary Records
Naturalizations
Obituaries
Photos
Probate and Wills
School Records
Tax Records
Voter Records
3 replies on “Free West Virginia Obituaries and Obituary Index Links”
Here is an obit index for Mingo County, West Virginia that I came across. It is housed in the Williamson Library.
Thank you Mary. I’ve updated it in my database and it will appear in the next U.S. Obit update.
Looking for an obi for Cora Belle Holcomb Mullins died sometime in 1918. Maybe fall husband was Booker Mullins she was born in Clay county WV.