The Hineston Chronicles
~~Why we need Obituaries and Where to Find them~~
Carolyn Dyess Bales
The purpose of the obituary is to honor an individual who has passed away and to notify the community of their death. During our lifetime we meet many people. It would be impossible for families to inform everyone of a family member’s passing.
The Obituary can be found in a lot of places: Newspapers, Funeral Homes, Online Social media, Libraries, National papers, Education and Work platforms – just to name a few resources.
NOTE: When I mention obits it also will include death notices. Sometimes death notices are all we will get because of the cost, etc., of the full obit.
Earliest obituaries date back to the 1600’s; however, they became common in mid-1800’s. They are used in many ways by different organizations for their specialized purposes. A few examples: Social Security Administration; Financial Institutions, Social Organizations, etc.
For genealogists (on this site) the obits are one of the most important documents there is for providing crucial information, often leading to important research breakthroughs.
Back in 2009 when Historic Hineston was established it was done for a lot of reasons; protect our local history, contact us all together, sharing family information, community information, providing local news, and, yes! Obits! Each of us (or family members and sometimes our friends) have roots in and around the area. Because we are a mobile society, and everyone has scattered to the “four corners of the world” – this has been the best platform to bring us closer together and keep us updated. Basically – it has brought a scattered people together in one place! I’m so grateful!
Starting my serious genealogy journey in 1995, I learned the necessity of the obits. My BEST learning experience was this past winter when I was asked to help with a family cold case of 15 years. It was discussed and printed in a recent Historic Chronicles – Vol 2, No 1 – 22 March 2021.
The deceased person was born 1978 and all we had were bones, DNA, and a small list of DNA matches. We quickly started trying to build trees of the DNA matches to try and “find” the deceased. What do you have for a person born in 1978? The best source of information would be searching thru obits of the DNA matches to try and figure out something. Of course, no census records, etc - A person dying 15 years ago – there were no social media references! He dropped off the earth! Therefore, obits would become our best friend in this case. I must have looked thru hundreds of obits. My cousin, Sherry, was helping me day and night trying to find something!
Finally, Sherry found one obit with one of the DNA match last name. It gave one little clue – a place of business this family owned. What a break thru! We found the obit of the father (owner) of the business. There were several children listed and we started checking them out. ONE! Seemed to drop off the earth – yet they had him listed as living – but we couldn’t find anything on that person anywhere. When the sister of the deceased was found she cleared that up. They listed him like that hoping he would read it or some friend would read it and he would show up. He didn’t show up; but, it was the clue we needed to help solve the cold case! Without obits – I am not sure this case could have been solved as quickly as it was!
Are obits always correct? The above reference is a good example of an obit not being totally correct. It showed him living and showing him with siblings – the children of the deceased father. Quickly I added all the children in the tree. But – when we found the sister, we learned only she and the deceased child were full siblings. The others listed were stepchildren and the person giving the obit information didn’t clarify that and they were listed with the deceased father’s last name. I won’t go into it here – but – this is when you have to study the obit and check things out to get the right relationships.
What else do we find in obits? Other than listing people in an obit, sometimes there are other facts that can be found. This list is not all inclusive.
The deceased’s occupation and interests
The places where the deceased lived
The cultural nuances of the era
Sometimes the cause of death
Spouse and children
Parents
Siblings
Sometimes special people in their lives (who could be relatives)
Funeral Arrangements
Burial location and information
Church affliction
I think you can see why we search and search for an obit! Even if you are not into genealogy obits are important for living relatives, friends, associates.
The next question is: Where do we find Obits? Without a doubt, the first thing we all think about are newspapers! YES! I agree, Below I will list as many sites as I can and hopefully this will get you the information you need for whatever avenue you are following. I will put “P” for paid sites and “F” for the Free Sites. If you know other sites, please email me them to CarolynBales@yahoo.com. I am always looking for obit sites!
P & F - https://www.newspapers.com/
P – www.ancestry.com
F. http://search.frontier.com/search/?q=http%3A//deddezio.com/obituary/&r=&t=0&akaCid=aaaaaaaa&bc=
F & P - https://billiongraves.com/
I know there are a lot more sites – example – State genealogical society have obits. I hope this gives you some extra resources that will help you search – whether it is personal or for genealogy.
Again, if you have some sites that are not listed, I would so much appreciate your sending them to me.
Happy Hunting!!!
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