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Obituaries & Death Records
What Are They?
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Obituaries
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Cemetery Records
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Death Certificates
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Church Records
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Probate Records
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Social Security Indexes
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Death Indexes
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Hospital Records
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Coroner's Inquests
What CAN They Tell You?
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Who is related to who/ Family member names
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Residences
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Occupations
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Parents & Spouses
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Birth dates & Death dates
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Cause of death
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Medical History
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Education
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Hobbies
Online Resources
How to Find Obituaries in the History Room
Obits in the last 3 months
-Look online at the funeral home--they have archived obituaries
-Legacy.com (go to obituaries and check State and type deceased name)
Obits from 2015-present
In processing
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Obits from 2010-2014 (OB 5-2)
3 Notebooks
Obits from 2007-2010 (OB 5)
2 Notebooks (red & blue) + white notebook index
Located after the OB2 Notebooks
Obits from 1850-1960s (OB1) *only one indexed
There is a large Black Binder labeled OB1 Index A-Z on the shelf with the red binders (OB1 obituaries). In the index, deceased are listed alphabetically by last name. After the name is the location of each obituary in the Red OB1 Binders.
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OLD OBITS: Card Catalog (above OB3)
Obits from 1960s-2006 (OB2) & (OB3)
OB2 are the black/blue binders under OBSA’s after OB1’s.
OB3 are in the card catalog
How to Look in the Books
OB1 M126 the obit is found in the OB1 binder labeled “M” and 126 is the page # in the book
Where Are Obits Located?
OB1 is found in the RED binders on the back bookshelf
OB2 is found in the BLACK/BLUE binders after the red OB1 binders on the bookshelf
OB3 is found in the card catalog facing outward if you were to go from the front door to the middle of the room and take a right til you hit the wooden catalog. They are in alphabetical order by last name. Located under the older Obituaries card files.
OB4 are the Sabroske Funeral Home Books on the bottom shelf (maroon books-Book 1-4) with the Cemetery/Funeral Home Records after the OB5’s.
OBSA are Sandusky County Obits and are found in 4 blue/black binders on the bookshelf under the OB1’s and before the OB2’s. Their indexes are in the green card boxes above it.
OB5 are found in the blue, red & black binders after the OB2’s. There is an index with some of them in the front of the binder.
There are also older obits that are on note cards listed in alphabetical order by last name. They are located in the card catalog that says obituaries and are above the OB3’s.
Some obits are also located in the card catalog under Surnames and occasionally in the Surname Files in the storage boxes.
If we DO NOT have an older obituary, see if you can find it in the Ottawa County Exponent or try to find it using the above online resources.
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Even simply pointing the patron in the direction of the death records is helpful.
Immediately after the Cemetery Records are also other Death Records of interest: Death Notices; Coroner's Inquests; Funeral Home Records; Death Certificates, etc.
Cemetery Records for Ottawa Co. are located on these shelves under the OB5's. They show birth and death dates; burial locations/tombstones; Family members buried near/purchasers of plots, etc.
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One of the most important places to look is the Red Ottawa Co. Cemeteries book. The index in the back tells which cemetery the person is buried, along with plot location (AS LONG AS THEY HAVE A TOMBSTONE). These will tell you people that were buried before 1975.
Here is the shelf to locate death records/cemetery records/obits for Sandusky County. Wood County records are directly below it.
Monroe Co. Michigan Death Records
Other Ohio County Death Records intermingled in with other subjects.
