How to Use The Index to Find an Obituary - 1676 - 1879How to Use The Index to Find an Obituary in the Davie County Public Library Obituary Collection
The obituaries in the Davie County Public Library Obituary collection are organized by the date of the publication of the obituary. This index is for
the years 1676 – 1879. Although there are a few obituaries in this period that were found in newspapers, most of the entries were found in family
records.
The entries in this index are organized by last name; first, middle, maiden, and/or nick names; birth date; death date; and newspaper publication
date or family record. To find an obituary for a specific person use this index to search by last name. Then scroll through the various matching
entries to find the specific person in question. There may be multiple entries of that last name and in some cases that last name could be a maiden
or middle name so continue to scroll through the entries until the proper entry is found.
After the proper entry is found note the date of the obituary and source. The obituaries in the collection are organized by years and months. For
instance, in the example index below, the obituary for James Able was published in the Carolina Watchman on April 16, 1836. To read his obituary,
go to Obituaries>1676 – 1879>1800 - 1849. Search that file for the last name, Able, and continue to scroll until the desired name is found.
Please note that if the death date is close to the end of December the obituary may not appear until January of the next year. This is the case for
Joseph Charles as seen below. The death date for Mr. Charles was December 31, 1878 but the obituary was not published until January 5, 1879. Go
to Obituaries>1676 - 1879>1850 - 1879> to find his obituary.
In many cases the actual death date is not included in the published information. For example, the information may simply state that death
occurred on Monday of last week. In those cases the death date is inferred from the date of publication of the newspaper. It is highly
recommended that the user consult another resource to corroborate the date of death.
Last Name
First and Middle Names,
Maiden Names, Nicknames Birth Date Death Date
Date of Obituary &
Source* Comments/Notes
Able James 4/13/1836
4/16/1836 Carolina
Watchman
Baker John 1770 1784 1784 Teague Family History
Charles Joseph 4/6/1846 12/31/1878
1/5/1879 Carolina
Watchman