Listed are indexes and databases designed to help users research West Virginia death notices.
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There are many ways to get the information you need to trace your family tree. If you are just getting started, and you are not quite sure of where you should begin your search for ancestral information, one good place to start is by visiting websites that offer information on researching your family tree. Then, you can start searching for documents, such as West Virginia obituary records, to learn about those who lived before you, and who are all parts of who you are today.
There is a lot of work involved when it comes to researching a family tree, but unlike your job or school, this work is a lot of fun, and something that you will look forward to doing every chance you get. There are so many interesting things you can learn about your ancestors, things that maybe your grandparents or great-grandparents never knew. Of course, their stories are going to be what really rounds out your family tree, and a lot of their stories will go with the information you can get from your West Virginia obituary records.
Even if they did not know their own grandparents very well, your grandparents, if they are still living, will be able to provide you with the names of their parents and grandparents, which will take you back a few more generations in your family tree research. They will also be able to tell you when these people died and where they are buried. This information will really help you when you are looking through West Virginia obituary records, because you will have names and dates to search for. This makes searching through newspaper archives and museum or library reference sections a lot quicker and easier.
There are a lot of things you can learn from West Virginia obituary records, things that your grandparents may not have been able to tell you. Once you are armed with at least a name to search for, and you find the obituary record for your ancestors, you can learn a lot that will help you to continue with your research. For instance, you will learn if your ancestors had any next of kin, including spouses, parents and children, and often, you will find the names of the next of kin. You may also learn where your ancestors died, which may lead you to be able to find medical records to learn the cause of death.
When you are starting to research your family tree, and you have ancestors in West Virginia, a great place to begin looking for information is with West Virginia obituary records. You will learn a lot about your ancestors, and even be led to learn about other ancestors, so you can continue adding branches to your family tree.
If you are using the mighty power of the Internet to find West Virginia obituaries, you are in luck. The online world is the most likely place to find the listings you are looking for, even though there are only a few small time organizations that have their information online.
You can start your search for West Virginia obituary records by heading to the website for Columbia County GenWeb. GenWeb is one of the largest sites of its kind in the country. It is dedicated to listing genealogy information from all over the country so that family members can trace their family tree. The Columbia County site features listings from the Columbus Republican Journal Newspaper and has a large number of current and past listings, as well as ones from as far back as the turn of the last century.
There is also a much larger and more comprehensive West Virginia USGenWeb site that has information from the rest of the state. Here you can browse a wide array of reader submitted listings. You can also check the various websites for all of the major and minor newspapers throughout the state and many local library systems also have searchable archives online, as well.
Listed are indexes and databases designed to help users research West Virginia death notices.
Other than lending books, there are also many services offered by the Craft Memorial Library, such as obituary searches. The files that have been indexed there include only those of people who died within the immediate area and where the announcement was published in the Bluefield Daily Telegraph. Requests must be made by mail and a fee applies.
The Kanawha County Public Library contains the genealogy resources for the region, allowing you to locate West Virginia death notices that had been published in the Charleston Daily Mail (from 1914 onward) as well as the Gazette (from 1924 to the present). Any requests for copies of the original clippings must be done by mail.
In order to help people to find the right files, the Mary H. Weir Public Library has created an index of all of the obituaries published by the Weirton Daily Times. These have been arranged by year for ease of searching, and once the right name has been found, the information can be sent to the organization in order to receive a copy of the original.
Below is a list of West Virginia newspaper obituaries to aid in genealogical research.
Online newspaper obituary pages that only list a series of stories can be overwhelming for anyone simply trying to find out a little basic information about the recently deceased. Fortunately, the Charleston, West Virginia Daily Mail has a list of the day's death notices listed in alphabetical order. It is also possible to scroll down and read straight through the section.
Sometimes, all you really need to do is read over the obituary section just to make sure that no one you know passed away, but this can be hard when the website is highly detailed or difficult to navigate. The Dominion Post lists the names of the day's deceased in alphabetical order by last name not only on the death notices page, but also on the newspaper's main page, for easy scanning.
Too often obituary pages are limited to only a few people that died in the newspaper's immediate reading area, ignoring sometimes important deaths outside of the community. The Herald-Dispatch in West Virginia recognizes this and includes death notices from the tri-state area. Whether you are looking for information on a deceased individual in Ohio, Kentucky, or at home in West Virginia, this newspaper's obituary page is equally easy to access and search.
Searching for information on the recently deceased with only a name can be difficult and overwhelming, especially when it requires reading through a list of death notices just to find what you need. The Montgomery Herald in West Virginia's obituary page is refreshingly easy to access, providing only a few tabs that direct visitors to other obituary pages, which are organized by date.
Obituary webpages can often be difficult to navigate, especially if you are looking for information on someone who passed away a few days or even weeks previously. The Register-Herald of West Virginia is surprisingly simple, listing only several tabs to different days. From here you can search for a loved one specifically.
As detailed as death notices often are, this is sometimes not all the information that people need after the death of a loved one. In the interest of creating a community of mourners, the Williamson Daily News offers an obituary page that features not only a thumbnail tab for the day's deceased, but also guest books and interactive links that allow visitors to read and post comments.
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