Obituaries, a rich source of family history information, will be more accessible for people researching their ancestors, thanks to an agreement announced Oct. 1 between the Church’s FamilySearch International (FamilySearch.org) and GenealogyBank.com.
The initiative will make more than a billion records from historical obituaries searchable online, said Paul M. Nauta of FamilySearch public affairs. “It will be the largest — and perhaps most significant online U.S. historic records access initiative yet. It will take tens of thousands of online volunteers to make GenealogyBank’s vast U.S. obituary collection more discoverable online.”
More information can be found at FamilySearch.org/Campaign/Obituaries.
The undertaking will make records from more than 100 million U.S. newspapers readily searchable online. The newspapers are from all 50 states and cover the period 1730 to the present.
“The completed online index will be fairly comprehensive, including 85 percent detailing names, dates, relationships, locations of the deceased and mulit-generational family members,” Brother Nauta explained.
“Obituaries can solve family puzzles, tell stories, dispel myths and provide tremendous help with family history research,” he said. He added that a single obituary can include the names and relationships of dozens of family members.
Dennis Brimhall, CEO of FamilySearch, explained that obituaries are extremely valuable because they tell the stories of ancestors’ lives long after they are deceased.
“Billions of records exist in U.S. obituaries alone,” he said. “The average obituary contains the names of about 10 family members of the deceased — parents, spouse, children and other relatives. Some include much more. Making them easily searchable online creates an enormously important source for compiling our family histories. The number of people who will benefit from this joint initiative is incalculable.”
Dan V. Jones, GenealogyBank vice president, said, “Obituaries, unlike any other resource, have the ability to add incredible dimensions to an individual’s family history research. They contain a wealth of information including facts and details that help capture the legacy of those who have passed on. The unique life stories written, dates documented and generations of family members mentioned are often only found within an obituary, which makes them such an invaluable resource.”
Brother Nauta said the success of the initiative will depend on online volunteers. “The obituaries are fairly simple to read, since they are digital images of the typeset, printed originals, but require human judgment to sort through the rich, historic data and family relationships recorded about each person.”
Information about online volunteering is available at FamilySearch.org/indexing. A training video, indexing guide, detailed instructions and telephone and online support are available if needed.
