Vermont’s small-town weeklies are the main record of deaths in the state for most of its history. The Vermont Digital Newspaper Project has put many of them online for free, and the Department of Libraries lists every free option.
Vermont obituaries in historic newspapers
The Vermont Gazette, first printed in Westminster in 1781 while Vermont was still an independent republic, was the state’s first newspaper. By the mid-1800s nearly every county had at least one weekly, and their obituaries are often longer and more personal than city papers, describing the deceased’s farm, church and family.
Vermont’s population was small and mobile, and many Vermonters moved west to New York, Ohio and the Midwest. Home-town papers often reported the deaths of former residents who had moved away, so a Vermont weekly can be the place to find an obituary for someone who died elsewhere.
The Vermont Newspaper Project catalogued and microfilmed close to 1,000 Vermont titles between 1997 and 2001, and its digital successor, led by the University of Vermont, contributes pages to Chronicling America. The Department of Libraries also provides Vermont residents with free access to Vermont papers on Newspapers.com.
Where to find Vermont obituaries
Digitized Vermont newspapers
- Free Online Newspapers for Research, Vermont Department of Libraries — Free access to digitized Vermont newspapers, including Newspapers.com for Vermont residents.
Archives and libraries
- Vermont State Archives and Records Administration — Vermont vital records and guidance on finding death records.
- Vermont Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to Vermont 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 Vermont 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 Vermont
- 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.