Death Certificates (Government Records Series, Part 7)

“Records are the lifeblood of genealogy.” – Jeff Hawkins

Death certificates can be an important piece of the puzzle as you dig into your family history. Death records can tell us a person’s full name, their parents’ names, cause of death, and more. However, death records can sometimes be difficult to locate. Here are some tips, as you begin your search.

The page on Ancestry which allows you to search
Birth, Marriage, and Death records

1.     Ancestry and FamilySearch

Start with combing through records at Ancestry and FamilySearch for the death record. Underneath the search bar on the Ancestry website, you are able to search under “Birth, Marriage, and Death” records only, which makes it easier to find what you are looking for. After clicking on the “Birth, Marriage and Death” tab, you are able to further narrow your search by selecting the “Death, Burial, Cemetery & Obituaries” category. On FamilySearch, you are also able to specify death records only to make your search easier.

2.     I can’t find the record on Ancestry or FamilySearch!

If you can’t find the indexed death record for your ancestor online, the next step is to examine what you know.

Information for Clermont County death certificates
from VitalRec.com

  a.     If you know which county the death occurred, you may contact the governmental organization within the county which houses death records. For example, if our ancestor died in Clermont County, Ohio we would contact the Vital Statistics Department at the Clermont County General Health District. It is a $23.00 payment to receive a record there.

b.     If you know which county the death occurred, but do not know which governmental organization to contact: here is a link to VitalRec, which provides information on where to go in order to obtain vital records for each county in all 50 states: http://vitalrec.com/oh.html#County

I highly, highly recommend using VitalRec! It provides the most complete source of information for how to obtain vital records in one place on the web.

Search page on Ancestry for the Social Security Death Index

***It is important to note that not all states are open records states! In Ohio, you will have no problem obtaining a death certificate, because they are public record. However, if you are wanting to obtain a death certificate for an ancestor in West Virginia, for example, you must provide documentation which proves that you are an immediate family member of the deceased, because West Virginia is not an open records state.

Results for a SSDI search on Ancestry

c.     If you do not know the county where the death occurred, the next best thing to do is to search the Social Security Death Index. The SSDI is searchable on Ancestry.com. As an example, I searched for my great-grandfather, Ollie Van Hook. By clicking ‘View Record’ on the left side, I am able to view his information and see that his last residence was in Seal Beach, Orange County, California. Now that I know that the death occurred in Orange County, I can look into contacting the Orange County Clerk-Recorder to order a death certificate.

3.     More links for obtaining vital statistics records:

Death Certificates in Ohio:

https://ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/site/residents/resources/birth-and-death-certificates

Death Certificates in Kentucky:

https://chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/dehp/vsb/Pages/death-certificates.aspx

Death Certificates in Indiana:

https://www.in.gov/isdh/26822.htm

Death Certificates in West Virginia:

https://www.wvdhhr.org/bph/oehp/hsc/vr/oldbirtcert.htm

After you order your death certificate, be patient while waiting. They may take 2 to 3 weeks to receive J