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There is also the possibility that it is contained on a microfilm within the library system. Other times, the information is sitting on a dusty page somewhere and will require an actual hand to find it. In some cases, libraries have digitized archives of the information you're looking for. If you aren't able to get anywhere with the actual publication or the newspaper is no longer in print, the next step is often the library. If that doesn't work out in your favor, you could make a phone call to the archives office for the publication and see what they require in order to request or acquire photocopies. It could be as simple as hopping on to the website for the publication and searching their possibly digitized archives. If you have information about the city where the person passed away or the newspaper where the obituary was published, the search becomes that much easier from the beginning. That being said, it isn't necessary to pay much money before knowing where the information you need is located or if it is accessible at all. If taking the time to track down an obituary that you need or want is not in the cards, there are many services that will do the work for you and provide a photocopy for a fee. In other instances, however, when a human being is doing the searching, an accurate date is important because it will limit the amount of legwork that has to be done to locate the information. There are some places that allow you to search databases only by name, and in those cases, you would only need an idea of the year or decade to be able to discern between obituaries of people with similar names. You may not need to get as specific as the exact date, but many places require you to, at very least, know the year that the person passed away. They are usually separated by county and are sometimes even more specific than that.īeyond name and location, an idea of when the person died is very important. In Virginia, the county where the obituary was published matters quite a bit because the filing systems are not statewide. Additionally, Virginia's archives for non-state-related information vary from county to county. Middle names are very important in searches like this.
#Richmond times dispatch obituaries 2003 full
With any search for records that regards an individual, you need to know the full name of the person in question. The requirements for locating an obituary differ from state to state and county to county, but in Virginia, there are pieces of information that will definitely make it easier to get what you need.
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Obituary records from the state go all the way back to the 18th century, and you may even be able to find some from before America was even a twinkle in the founding fathers' eyes.īefore you begin your search for the obituary, you will need to figure out what information you have and what information you still need.
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#Richmond times dispatch obituaries 2003 archive
The access to information and the established archive is incredible, and it extends to the obituaries that were often published to announce a death to the local community. There are property records that exist for the former colony that date back to when it was under British control. The wealth of information is invaluable and it provides a comprehensive look at the institutional makeup of Virginia since before the American Revolution. This means that records of births, deaths, property sales, marriages, legislature and more may reach much farther back than a lot of other locations in the country. Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin WyomingĪs one of the original 13 colonies, Virginia's history spans much more of American history than the majority of our 50 states.
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