Indiana’s first newspaper appeared in 1804, and the Indiana State Library holds the largest collection of Indiana newspapers in the world. Its free Hoosier State Chronicles site and the Allen County Public Library’s obituary index cover a large share of Indiana deaths.
Indiana obituaries in historic newspapers
Elihu Stout printed the Indiana Gazette in Vincennes, the territorial capital, in 1804. Early notices were brief, but by the mid-1800s county weeklies across Indiana ran detailed obituaries, often written by a minister and including the deceased’s religious experience and the names of surviving children.
Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville and the steel and auto towns of the north grew large dailies in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and German-language papers were published in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Evansville. The Indiana State Library has published a guide to searching Indiana newspapers specifically for death notices and obituaries.
The Allen County Public Library’s Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, one of the largest genealogy libraries in the country, keeps a two-part obituary index with hundreds of thousands of entries. Many other Indiana public libraries maintain their own local obituary indexes.
Where to find Indiana obituaries
Digitized Indiana newspapers
- Hoosier State Chronicles, Indiana State Library — Free digitized Indiana newspapers, searchable from anywhere.
Obituary and death indexes
- Obituary Index, Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center — Index to obituaries in Fort Wayne and Allen County papers, with copies available.
Archives and libraries
- Searching for death notices in Indiana newspapers — Indiana State Library guide to finding obituaries in its newspaper collection.
- Indiana Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to Indiana newspaper archives, indexes and microfilm, with county-by-county links.
Nationwide newspaper archives
- Chronicling America, Library of Congress — Free digitized newspapers from every state. Narrow a search to Indiana and the years you need.
- Google News Archive — Free scans of hundreds of older newspapers, browsable by title and date.
- Internet Archive newspapers — Free digitized newspapers and microfilm uploaded by libraries.
- FamilySearch — Free obituary indexes, death records and the Social Security Death Index (free account).
- Find a Grave — Volunteer-built cemetery memorials, many with transcribed obituaries.
- Newspapers.com — Large subscription archive of U.S. papers. Many public libraries offer free access.
- GenealogyBank — Subscription archive of historic newspapers and modern obituaries.
- Legacy.com — Obituaries published since about 2000 in most U.S. daily newspapers.
Tips for finding an obituary in Indiana
- Pin down the date and place first. A death index or death certificate gives the exact date and county, and then you only need to search the local papers for the following week or two.
- Search more than one town. Obituaries often ran in the paper where the person was born or had lived before, not just where they died. Small-town weeklies sometimes published a notice weeks later.
- Look beyond the word “obituary.” Older papers reported deaths under headings like “Died,” “Deaths,” local news and personals columns, funeral notices and cards of thanks. See death notices vs. obituaries.
- Try every spelling. Search initials, nicknames and misspellings, and for married women in older papers, search the husband’s name (“Mrs. John Smith”). Digitized text often misreads old type.
- Ask a librarian. Many public libraries and state archives will look up an obituary for free or a small fee, and newspaper microfilm can often be borrowed through interlibrary loan.