There are nearly 20 sources that will furnish family searchers with death information for an ancestor:
- Sexton Records (in cemetery office)
- Church or Religious Registers
- Burial Permit Registers
- Cemetery Plot Maps
- Grave Opening Records
- Lot Cards (in office; who's also buried nearby)
- Plat Records
- Family Bible
- Death Certificate
- Obituary
- Funeral Home Records
- Transit Permits **
- Doctor/Hospital Records
- Coroner Records
- Church Records
- Military Records
- Newspaper mentions
** A burial-transit permit, also known as a removal permit, is a legal document required to transport a deceased person's body, especially across state lines. It essentially serves as permission to move the body to its final destination for burial or cremation. A death certificate must be completed before the burial-transit permit can be issued.
So if you cannot find great-grandpa's death documentation, you might try these ideas to dig a little deeper.
