United States, Obituaries, American Historical Society of Germans from Russia - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of an index and images of obituaries collected by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia which is located in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Society continues to collect obituaries and the index and images for these records will be added as they become available. This collection covers the years 1899 to 2012.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Information found in this collection may include:


 * Name of deceased
 * Birth date and place
 * Death date and place
 * Names of parents
 * Name of spouse
 * Names of children
 * Name of cemetery
 * Name of newspaper
 * Date of obituary publication

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search you will need to know your ancestor’s name and other identifying information such as:


 * The approximate death date
 * The person’s last known residence

Search the Collection
To search the collection by name: Fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names, or variations of their name, throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
Once you have located your ancestor’s obituary, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These records are often brief so it can be easy to confuse individuals. Compare what information is given with what you already know about your ancestor to make sure it is the correct person.

Next, look at the pieces of information given in the obituary for new information. Add any new information to your records of each family. You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors. For example:


 * Use the birth date or year to search for birth records.
 * Use the birth date along with relative’s names to find the family in census records.
 * Use the locality and relative’s names to locate church and land records.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * The name of the undertaker or mortuary could lead you to funeral and cemetery records, which often include the names and residences of other family members.
 * Compile the entries for every person who has the same surname; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the deceased who may have been buried in the same cemetery or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

What if I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby cemeteries.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation: Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):