Morris County Library > Reference > Obituaries

Obituries/NJ Newspapers

Looking for other papers? ObitsArchive.com provides indexing for dozens of U.S. papers. Coverage varies, earliest begins 1980.

Get the date
If you do not have the date of death, try the Social Security Death Index (SSDI). Before 1988 you will get month and year, after 1988 you will get day, month and year. Now you can check the newspapers.
Daily Papers

MORRIS COUNTY

  • Daily Record [1930--present; incomplete]
    Obituaries are indexed by the Morristown and Morris Township Library. Retrospective indexing is in progress. You must know the year of death to access. You may call (973) 538-3473. Obituaries from January 2002 to present are on the Web.
  • Genius of Liberty [1798-1811]
    Index is at the Morristown Public Library.
  • Palladium of Liberty [1810-1831]
    Index is at the Morristown Public Library.
  • Morristown Herald [1811-1814; 1816-1817]
    Index is at the Morristown Public Library.
  • The Jerseyman [1826-1931]
    Index is at the Morristown Public Library, alphabetical order, print format.
  • True Democrat Banner [1844-1919]
    Index is at the Morristown Public Library; alphabetical order, print format.
  • Morris County Chronicle [1877-1915; 1916-1917?]
    Index is at the Morristown Public Library; alphabetical order, print format.

  • Suburban Trends [1958-present] (Kinnelon, NJ)
    Keyword searchable database; Libraries with access: Lincoln Park, Morristown, and Riverdale. Library links here.

NORTH JERSEY

The Star Ledger (Newark, NJ), North Jersey's largest paper, began publication in 1945. All of the libraries in Morris County have an online index that begins May, 1989; obituaries are full-text. You can search death notices from February 2001 to present from home (select "Custom Newspapers"). The Newark Public Library's Cummings Index provides cites (no full-text) from 1971-1996.

Newark Evening News obituaries indexed from 1915 to 1972. This handwritten card file is availale at the Newark Public Library.

Record (Hackensack, NJ/Bergen County) obituaries are indexed by the LEXIS/NEXIS reQuester database. Coverage begins in the mid-1990s; full-text obituaries are available. Ask the reference librarians to check this database if you think the person you are researching might appear in this newspaper.

Other Papers
Many New Jerseyeans' notices were also published in the New York Times. We have both the obituary and names indexes to the Times. For Morris County community weeklies see if the local library keeps a backfile.
Online obituaries
Some local newspapers are beginning to upload obituary databases that can be searched for free. These databases provide full-text information, but are usually limited to recent deaths. The following New Jersey newspapers offer online obituaries:
You can also request material from the state archive. Need newspapers from other states?

Prepared by Sue Rowe and Sara Weissman.

Reference
Questions?

http://www.mclib.info/obit.html
© Morris County Library, 1998
19 March 2008