Welcome!

This web page contains links to all Michigan counties with user contributed transcribed obituaries. Counties with submissions are displayed on the right. If a county is missing, there are no submissions available at this time.

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Please note: I do not have the resources to perform obituary lookups. Please refer to the list of Obituary Lookup Volunteers for assistance.

Submissions: Interested in submitting a transcribed obituary to the project? Only obituaries that are in the public domain (pre-1923) or we have received permission from the newspaper can be posted on this website. Below you will find the list of newspapers that have granted us permission. If you would like to submit an obituary, please check out the submission guidelines. To submit an obituary, you may email me your submission at jicortez@gmail.com or click here for a web form. If you have any questions regarding submissions, please feel free to contact me.

Participating Newspapers: We have received permission from the following newspapers to post obituaries on our website that fall outside of the public domain (pre-1923). If you have an obituary from one of these newspapers you would like to share, please email me!

• Cassopolis Vigilant
• The Detroit News
• Dowagiac News
• Edwardsburg Argus
• Holland Sentinel
• Houghton Lake: Only obituaries published 2000 or earlier.
• Muskegon Chronicle: Only obituaries published 2000 or earler.
• Niles Star
• Traverse City Record-Eagle: Only obituaries before May 1, 1999. For obituaries after this date, the newspaper keeps archives online.

Searching the MIGenWeb archives: Click here to search for obituaries included in the MIGenWeb archives. Please note that this search includes all files in the archives and is not limited to obituaries.

Finding Obituaries: Having trouble finding an obituary? Start by checking out the section on Rootsweb titled "Tips for Locating an Obituary." From my own experiences of trying to locate obituaries, I have come up with the following list to help you:

• For early deaths occuring between 1867-1884, check the Michigan Genealogical Death Indexing System (GENDIS) for information on the county of death. The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) is also available to search online. Usually a county of death is listed. Once you have this information, proceed to the next step. If the county of death is not listed, or if your relative does not appear in the GENDIS or SSDI, your best bet is to try obtaining a death certificate. This may be very costly if you are unsure of the county of death. To obtain a death certificate, contact the appropriate county clerk's office. For a list of county death indexes available online, click here.
• Rootsweb Obituary Lookup Volunteers are extremely resourceful. Volunteers are listed by county and are available to lookup obituaries many times for merely the cost of postage and a photocopy.
• If there are no volunteers listed for the desired county, your next step would be to find any local libraries. I have had much success with contacting county libraries. In several instances, they were able to do a search for only a small fee plus the cost of postage and photocopies. In addition to libraries, local genealogical societies can provide some lookup services that may be of help. Links to these types of individual county resources are located on MIGenWeb.

Links: I have compiled a list of external links that may be of help for locating obituaries. I hope this will help many of you locate obituaries you've had a hard time finding! All of these web pages are free! Good luck!

General Links

• Ancestor Hunt - Michigan Newspaper Obituaries. Great links to various Michigan newspapers!
• Cyndi's List. Very extensive collection of genealogy links for Michigan. Everything from libraries, county addresses and genealogical societies to Michigan newspapers and periodicals.
• GenLookup - Michigan Genealogy Lookup Volunteers
• List of Michigan Genealogical Societies (from The Obituary Depot).
• Michigan Death Records and Indexes - Great list of indexes and online resources!
• Michigan Public Libraries. A great list of libraries!
• The Obituary Depot. Links to various county obituaries available on the web.
• Online Michigan Death Indexes. Links to county death and obituary indexes.

Genealogical Societies with online Death Indexes and/or Obituaries

• Genealogical Society of Washtenaw County - Great collection of obits from various county newspapers 1829 +
• Western Michigan Genealogical Society Obituary Index. 1910-Present.
• GenLookup - Michigan Genealogy Lookup Volunteers
• List of Michigan Genealogical Societies (from The Obituary Depot).
• Michigan Death Records and Indexes - Great list of indexes and online resources!
• Michigan Public Libraries. A great list of libraries!
• The Obituary Depot. Links to various county obituaries available on the web.
• Online Michigan Death Indexes. Links to county death and obituary indexes.
• Western Michigan Genealogical Society Obituary Index. 1910-Present.

 

Libraries with Online Obituaries/Obituary Search Request

• Public Librairies of Saginaw Obituary Index - Maintains an online database of obituaries from past and present editions of The Saginaw News. This library will also perform obituary searches.
• The Detroit Public Library - Will perform obituary searches. Contact the library for information on fees.

 

 

Note: This page is under construction! More to come!