North Carolina Obituaries

North Carolina has one of the best free newspaper archives of any state. DigitalNC hosts digitized papers from all over the state, from the 1700s to recent decades, and it is the first place to look for an obituary.

Recent North Carolina 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 North Carolina are:

• Charlotte Observer
• News & Observer (Raleigh)
• Winston-Salem Journal
• News & Record (Greensboro)
• Herald-Sun (Durham)
• Citizen Times (Asheville)
• StarNews (Wilmington)

Legacy.com’s North Carolina 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.

North Carolina obituaries in historic newspapers

James Davis printed the North-Carolina Gazette in New Bern in 1751. Early papers reported deaths briefly, but by the 1800s papers in Raleigh, Wilmington, Fayetteville and Salisbury carried longer notices and tributes, often reprinted from church papers or written by friends of the family.

After the Civil War, county weeklies spread across the state, and many survive only in small runs. Black newspapers, college papers and denominational papers such as the Biblical Recorder (Baptist) and the North Carolina Christian Advocate (Methodist) are important for obituaries, because church papers often printed memorials for ordinary members.

DigitalNC, run by the University of North Carolina’s North Carolina Collection, has digitized newspapers contributed by libraries and publishers across the state, including many 20th-century titles that are not on Chronicling America.

Where to find older North Carolina obituaries

Digitized North Carolina newspapers

• North Carolina Newspapers, DigitalNC — Free digitized newspapers from every part of North Carolina.

Obituary and death indexes

• North Carolina Deaths, 1909–1976 (FamilySearch) — Free index and images of North Carolina death certificates.

Archives and libraries

• State Archives of North Carolina — Death records, newspaper microfilm and genealogy research guides in Raleigh.
• North Carolina Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to North Carolina 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.

North Carolina death records

North Carolina death certificates are public records: anyone can order a copy from NC Vital Records or the register of deeds in the county of death. Statewide registration began in 1913, and certificates from 1909 to 1976 are indexed free on FamilySearch.

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

Tips for finding an obituary in North Carolina

• Order from the register of deeds. The county register of deeds can issue a death certificate quickly.
• Use DigitalNC. Its free newspapers include small-town papers from every region.
• Search Black newspapers. Papers such as the Carolina Times (Durham) covered deaths other papers missed.
• 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