Burial Records
Obituaries • To avoid missing information that should be indexed, you need to read the entire document carefully. • Index all individuals named in the document. • Many images will need to be rotated. • Many documents may pertain to the same individual, but they may not be exact photographic duplicates. These need to be indexed as stand-alone documents. • Sometimes an obituary or death notice was too large to photograph in one image; you will need to combine information from multiple images when they show a continuation of the same document. • There will be many duplicate documents in these projects. Please note the explanation of what constitutes a duplicate document.
The first step when starting to index a batch is to identify the image type, following the instructions in the field help.
The next thing to do is to select the record type. Are you entering a record for: 1. The deceased? 2. A relative of the deceased? 3. A nonrelative?
Many of the images will need to be rotated. Use this icon to rotate the images.
Please note that when you rotate one image in a batch, all the images in the batch are rotated. So after you index the image, you will likely need to rotate subsequent images back to their original orientation.
This document records a birthplace, but the next document does not.
These are two distinct documents on different images that are about the same person. Each should be indexed with the information included in the document. Neither should be marked as a duplicate image.
This document was split between two images. The second image has a date to be indexed, which would be indexed with the information on the previous image. The second image would then be marked as a No Extractable Data Image.
DO NOT INDEX FROM THIS WINDOW
Index the date from the secondary window into the record on the first image. When the document is viewed in this window, it cannot be rotated.
This document would have four records indexed from it:
R T Abbey (who was the deceased) Age: 75 Death Month: Nov Death Day: 9 Death Year: 1937 Death Town or City: Greenville
Name of the Newspaper: Grand Rapids Press
Index the name of the deceased first, and then index the names of additional individuals in the order they appear in the document.
Mrs Lottie May Moore—Daughter Jason—Son Benjamin—Son Do not index a surname for an individual unless one was recorded in the document. When only a two-digit year was recorded, you can often determine the century from other information on the document or from the year span of the project. If there is no way to tell, index the two digits recorded.
This document contains the names of 11 people:
Mrs Alice H Abbgy Age: 80 Death Month: Death Day: Death Year: Death Town or City: (tab past)
Name of the Newspaper: (tab past) Daher—Husband Ernest—Son Nicholas—Son Daniel—Son Russell—Son Juliet Abbgy—Daughter Joseph Yared—Brother Michael Yared—Brother Mrs Bessie Cook—Sister Mrs Mary Salhaney—Sister
Seven records would be indexed Do not create additional records for from this document: individuals unless Albert Abbgy they were actually Age: 79 mentioned in the Death Month: Jun obituary. For Death Day: 20 example, this Death Year: 1974 obituary lists “Mrs Death Town or City: (tab past) Ben (Mary) Wilson” Name of the Newspaper: as a surviving Grand Rapids Press daughter; you would not index a record for Susan—Wife Ben Wilson himself, Sam—Son unless he was Mrs Mary Wilson—Daughter actually mentioned, Richard—Son Mrs Eleanor Walters—Daughter as in, “Mr and Mrs Ben Wilson” or “Ben Very Rev John Estephan— and Mary Wilson.” Nonrelative
For this document, the following people would be indexed according to how their relationship to the deceased was recorded in the obituary: Mrs Eva Stalec Razmus In indexing the relationship John Stalec—Child field, do not Jayne Stalec—Child Anthony Nikodemski—Child assume a gender unless Estelle Nikodemski—Child one was clearly Joseph Stalec—Child indicated in the Betty Stalec—Child obituary, either Bert Ignasiak—Child directly (such Katharine Ignasiak—Child as with the Stanley Razmus—Child words “son” or Bernice Razmus—Child “daughter”) or Harry Bracewell—Child with pronouns Esther Bracewell—Child or titles or Henry Dehen—Child terms. Josephine Dehen—Child Jack Wolbers—Child Helen Wolbers—Child Mrs Kathryn Czerwien—Sister Mrs Catherine Razmus—Sister-In-Law
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This image contains obituaries for two deceased persons. First, index the information in the obituary on the left. Then index the information in the obituary on the right, the one for Miss Clarissa Ketchum. The records from both obituaries will be part of the set of records for this image. See the next pages for how to index this image.
First, index the document on the left side of the image.
Next, index the document on the right side of the image.
This document states that Frederick D. Ketchum is a native of Michigan. Michigan would be indexed in the Birth State or Country field.
On this document, the maiden name of James’s wife is given. Generally when you see a female name recorded in this way, the name in parenthesis was the maiden name. For this document, the name would be indexed as follows: Given Names: Kay Surname: Tuttle Chesnut Gertrude Tuttle, would be indexed with the relationship Mother-In-Law
Both a stepfather and a biological father were recorded in the document. Index both of them with the relationship Father. Stepsiblings and half brothers or sisters are indexed as biological siblings. Index the relationship term that was written in the obituary. If a descriptive term was added, such as stepson, index the main term only.
No surnames would be indexed for sons William and Lawrence.
Brothers Fred, Louis, and William would all be indexed with the surname of Daniels.
Note the nickname. This name would be indexed as follows:
Given Names: Raymond F Or Slim Surname: Chesser
When a name was written in various ways in the same document, index all variations, with Or between the variations. For this document, the name would be indexed as: Given Names: Augustus Francis Surname: Child Or Childs You should index the most complete version of a name. So you should not use Or in indexing the given names because “Augustus Francis” is a more complete version of “A F,” not a variation of it.
Death place and date
Name of newspaper
Index the names in the order you would read a newspaper. The names would be indexed in this order: Arden W Chester as the deceased and then Sandra as Daughter (based on the “w/o,” or “wife of,” indication in the obituary) and Ronald Daniels as Son-In-Law. The same pattern would be followed on down the list, but Connie Holmes, Bonnie Ealy, and Timothy Chester would all be indexed as Child because no gender is otherwise indicated. Walter Chester, Donald Chester, and the others in the next list on the left would all be indexed as Sibling. Then, in the column on the right, Milo Chester would be indexed as Father, Lindia Stover as Mother, and Betty Jane Clark as Wife.
For this document, the parents, who were recorded as Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Daniels, would be indexed in the following manner:
This document would be indexed as: Given Names: Frances Surname: Clegg Death Month: Oct Death Day: 18 Death Year: 1958 Name of the Newspaper: Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum William Edgar Clegg would be indexed as Nonrelative since there is no direct indication of relationship.
Note: Sometimes the lead word refers to a surname, other times to a locale. In the document above, Allegan would be indexed in the Death Town or City field.
Many times obituaries were attached to index cards that do not relate to the obituary. Please index only the information contained in the obituary, and disregard the other information.
The deceased recorded in this obituary would be indexed in the following manner: Given Names: Lexie W Or Lexie L Surname: Woodruff Marsh Abbott Use the most recent date found at the top of the document: 25 Aug 1941 Grand Rapids would be indexed in the Death City field.
This article is about an unknown man. The Given Names and Surname fields would be marked . A death date, and name of newspaper is recorded. The following names would be indexed with Nonrelative in the Record Type field:
Mr. A A Strase Sheriff Stuckman W L Monnett Robert Oldson
The first step when starting to index a batch is to identify the image type, following the instructions in the field help.
The next thing to do is to select the record type. Are you entering a record for: 1. The deceased? 2. A relative of the deceased? 3. A nonrelative?
Many of the images will need to be rotated. Use this icon to rotate the images.
Please note that when you rotate one image in a batch, all the images in the batch are rotated. So after you index the image, you will likely need to rotate subsequent images back to their original orientation.
This document records a birthplace, but the next document does not.
These are two distinct documents on different images that are about the same person. Each should be indexed with the information included in the document. Neither should be marked as a duplicate image.
This document was split between two images. The second image has a date to be indexed, which would be indexed with the information on the previous image. The second image would then be marked as a No Extractable Data Image.
DO NOT INDEX FROM THIS WINDOW
Index the date from the secondary window into the record on the first image. When the document is viewed in this window, it cannot be rotated.
This document would have four records indexed from it:
R T Abbey (who was the deceased) Age: 75 Death Month: Nov Death Day: 9 Death Year: 1937 Death Town or City: Greenville
Name of the Newspaper: Grand Rapids Press
Index the name of the deceased first, and then index the names of additional individuals in the order they appear in the document.
Mrs Lottie May Moore—Daughter Jason—Son Benjamin—Son Do not index a surname for an individual unless one was recorded in the document. When only a two-digit year was recorded, you can often determine the century from other information on the document or from the year span of the project. If there is no way to tell, index the two digits recorded.
This document contains the names of 11 people:
Mrs Alice H Abbgy Age: 80 Death Month: Death Day: Death Year: Death Town or City: (tab past)
Name of the Newspaper: (tab past) Daher—Husband Ernest—Son Nicholas—Son Daniel—Son Russell—Son Juliet Abbgy—Daughter Joseph Yared—Brother Michael Yared—Brother Mrs Bessie Cook—Sister Mrs Mary Salhaney—Sister
Seven records would be indexed Do not create additional records for from this document: individuals unless Albert Abbgy they were actually Age: 79 mentioned in the Death Month: Jun obituary. For Death Day: 20 example, this Death Year: 1974 obituary lists “Mrs Death Town or City: (tab past) Ben (Mary) Wilson” Name of the Newspaper: as a surviving Grand Rapids Press daughter; you would not index a record for Susan—Wife Ben Wilson himself, Sam—Son unless he was Mrs Mary Wilson—Daughter actually mentioned, Richard—Son Mrs Eleanor Walters—Daughter as in, “Mr and Mrs Ben Wilson” or “Ben Very Rev John Estephan— and Mary Wilson.” Nonrelative
For this document, the following people would be indexed according to how their relationship to the deceased was recorded in the obituary: Mrs Eva Stalec Razmus In indexing the relationship John Stalec—Child field, do not Jayne Stalec—Child Anthony Nikodemski—Child assume a gender unless Estelle Nikodemski—Child one was clearly Joseph Stalec—Child indicated in the Betty Stalec—Child obituary, either Bert Ignasiak—Child directly (such Katharine Ignasiak—Child as with the Stanley Razmus—Child words “son” or Bernice Razmus—Child “daughter”) or Harry Bracewell—Child with pronouns Esther Bracewell—Child or titles or Henry Dehen—Child terms. Josephine Dehen—Child Jack Wolbers—Child Helen Wolbers—Child Mrs Kathryn Czerwien—Sister Mrs Catherine Razmus—Sister-In-Law
1
2
j
This image contains obituaries for two deceased persons. First, index the information in the obituary on the left. Then index the information in the obituary on the right, the one for Miss Clarissa Ketchum. The records from both obituaries will be part of the set of records for this image. See the next pages for how to index this image.
First, index the document on the left side of the image.
Next, index the document on the right side of the image.
This document states that Frederick D. Ketchum is a native of Michigan. Michigan would be indexed in the Birth State or Country field.
On this document, the maiden name of James’s wife is given. Generally when you see a female name recorded in this way, the name in parenthesis was the maiden name. For this document, the name would be indexed as follows: Given Names: Kay Surname: Tuttle Chesnut Gertrude Tuttle, would be indexed with the relationship Mother-In-Law
Both a stepfather and a biological father were recorded in the document. Index both of them with the relationship Father. Stepsiblings and half brothers or sisters are indexed as biological siblings. Index the relationship term that was written in the obituary. If a descriptive term was added, such as stepson, index the main term only.
No surnames would be indexed for sons William and Lawrence.
Brothers Fred, Louis, and William would all be indexed with the surname of Daniels.
Note the nickname. This name would be indexed as follows:
Given Names: Raymond F Or Slim Surname: Chesser
When a name was written in various ways in the same document, index all variations, with Or between the variations. For this document, the name would be indexed as: Given Names: Augustus Francis Surname: Child Or Childs You should index the most complete version of a name. So you should not use Or in indexing the given names because “Augustus Francis” is a more complete version of “A F,” not a variation of it.
Death place and date
Name of newspaper
Index the names in the order you would read a newspaper. The names would be indexed in this order: Arden W Chester as the deceased and then Sandra as Daughter (based on the “w/o,” or “wife of,” indication in the obituary) and Ronald Daniels as Son-In-Law. The same pattern would be followed on down the list, but Connie Holmes, Bonnie Ealy, and Timothy Chester would all be indexed as Child because no gender is otherwise indicated. Walter Chester, Donald Chester, and the others in the next list on the left would all be indexed as Sibling. Then, in the column on the right, Milo Chester would be indexed as Father, Lindia Stover as Mother, and Betty Jane Clark as Wife.
For this document, the parents, who were recorded as Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Daniels, would be indexed in the following manner:
This document would be indexed as: Given Names: Frances Surname: Clegg Death Month: Oct Death Day: 18 Death Year: 1958 Name of the Newspaper: Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum William Edgar Clegg would be indexed as Nonrelative since there is no direct indication of relationship.
Note: Sometimes the lead word refers to a surname, other times to a locale. In the document above, Allegan would be indexed in the Death Town or City field.
Many times obituaries were attached to index cards that do not relate to the obituary. Please index only the information contained in the obituary, and disregard the other information.
The deceased recorded in this obituary would be indexed in the following manner: Given Names: Lexie W Or Lexie L Surname: Woodruff Marsh Abbott Use the most recent date found at the top of the document: 25 Aug 1941 Grand Rapids would be indexed in the Death City field.
This article is about an unknown man. The Given Names and Surname fields would be marked . A death date, and name of newspaper is recorded. The following names would be indexed with Nonrelative in the Record Type field:
Mr. A A Strase Sheriff Stuckman W L Monnett Robert Oldson
