Virginia newspapers have reported deaths since 1736. The Library of Virginia’s free Virginia Chronicle site is one of the largest state newspaper archives in the country and a strong starting point for obituary research.
Virginia obituaries in historic newspapers
William Parks began the Virginia Gazette in Williamsburg in 1736, and for decades rival printers published papers of the same name. Their death notices covered the colony’s planters, clergy and officials, and estate sales and notices from executors often followed.
Richmond became the center of the state’s press in the 1800s, with the Richmond Enquirer, the Richmond Whig and later the Richmond Dispatch and Times-Dispatch. Civil War papers printed casualty lists and the deaths of soldiers in camp and hospital, which are valuable because many Confederate service records are incomplete. Black-owned papers such as the Richmond Planet, founded in 1883, recorded deaths in African American communities.
Virginia Chronicle, the Library of Virginia’s digital newspaper archive, combines its own digitization with the titles it contributed to Chronicling America. The library also keeps research guides and indexes that point to obituaries and death records.
Where to find Virginia obituaries
Digitized Virginia newspapers
- Virginia Chronicle, Library of Virginia — Free digitized Virginia newspapers from the 1700s onward.
Archives and libraries
- Research Guides and Indexes, Library of Virginia — Guides to Virginia death records, obituary indexes and newspaper holdings.
- Library of Virginia — The state library and archives in Richmond, with the largest collection of Virginia newspapers.
- Virginia Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia
- 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.