New Hampshire Obituaries

A paper using the name of New Hampshire’s first newspaper is still published today, and the state joined the National Digital Newspaper Program in 2022, the last state to do so, though federal funding for its project ended in 2025. Its older death notices are spread across weekly town papers, many still on microfilm.

Recent New Hampshire obituaries (2000 to today)

Most obituaries published since about 2000 are online. Daily papers post paid death notices and family-written obituaries in an Obituaries section, usually hosted by Legacy.com, and keep them online with a guest book. The largest daily papers in New Hampshire are:

• Union Leader (Manchester)
• Concord Monitor
• Nashua Telegraph
• Portsmouth Herald / Seacoastonline
• Keene Sentinel
• Valley News (Lebanon)

Legacy.com’s New Hampshire page searches the obituaries of most of these papers and many smaller ones at once. Funeral homes also post obituaries on their own websites, often before the newspaper does and sometimes instead of it: search the person’s name with the town and “obituary” or “funeral home.” For obituaries no longer online, ask your public or state library: many offer NewsBank or ProQuest databases with the full text of recent newspapers, free with a library card.

New Hampshire obituaries in historic newspapers

The New-Hampshire Gazette was first printed in Portsmouth in 1756. Like other colonial papers it reported deaths briefly, usually in a column of local and regional news. Through the 1800s, weekly papers in Concord, Keene, Dover, Exeter, Manchester and Nashua carried death notices for their surrounding towns, often with the age and parents of the deceased.

Manchester and Nashua drew large French-Canadian communities to the mills in the late 1800s, and French-language papers served them into the 1900s. These are worth searching for Franco-American families whose deaths may be missing from English-language papers.

Dartmouth College leads the state’s newspaper digitization in partnership with the New Hampshire State Library, the New Hampshire Historical Society and the University of New Hampshire. The first titles added to Chronicling America include the New Hampshire Gazette and The Dartmouth.

Where to find older New Hampshire obituaries

Digitized New Hampshire newspapers

• New Hampshire newspapers on Chronicling America — Library of Congress guide to the New Hampshire titles digitized so far and how to search them.
• NH newspapers, New Hampshire State Library — The library's New Hampshire newspaper collections and what has been digitized. Federal funding for the NH Digital Newspaper Project ended in 2025, so few titles are online.

Obituary and death indexes

• New Hampshire Newspaper Index, NH State Library — The State Library's index to New Hampshire newspapers and other historical collections.

Archives and libraries

• Genealogical resources, New Hampshire State Library — Newspaper microfilm, genealogy reference and the library's New Hampshire newspaper collections.
• New Hampshire Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to New Hampshire newspaper archives, indexes and microfilm, with local links.

Also search the nationwide archives: Chronicling America, FamilySearch, Find a Grave, Newspapers.com. See all nationwide obituary resources.

New Hampshire death records

New Hampshire death records are restricted to family and others with a direct interest for 50 years, then open to everyone. Order copies from any town or city clerk or the Division of Vital Records Administration in Concord.

• NH Division of Vital Records Administration — the office that issues New Hampshire death certificates, with ordering instructions and fees.
• Where to Write for Vital Records: New Hampshire — the CDC’s summary of where to order, current fees and which years the office holds.
• New Hampshire Vital Records, FamilySearch Research Wiki — free death indexes and certificate collections, with the years each covers.

Tips for finding an obituary in New Hampshire

• Expect to use microfilm. Few New Hampshire papers are digitized, so the State Library's microfilm is usually the best source.
• Any town clerk can help. New Hampshire's vital records are statewide, so any town or city clerk can issue a copy.
• Check Massachusetts and Maine papers. Border towns often had notices in Boston, Lowell or Portland papers.
• 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, and often listed married women under the husband’s name (“Mrs. John Smith”). See death notices vs. obituaries.

Common questions