North Dakota Obituaries

A 1905 state law required North Dakota’s official newspapers to send copies to the State Historical Society, so its collection runs from Dakota Territory to the present. More than a million pages are free to view online.

Recent North Dakota 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 Dakota are:

• The Forum (Fargo)
• Bismarck Tribune
• Grand Forks Herald
• Minot Daily News
• Jamestown Sun

Legacy.com’s North Dakota 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 Dakota obituaries in historic newspapers

The Frontier Scout was printed at Fort Union in 1864 by soldiers stationed there, and the Bismarck Tribune began in 1873, as the railroad reached the Missouri River. The Tribune was among the first papers to report the deaths at the Little Bighorn in 1876.

Homesteading in the 1880s and 1900s brought Norwegian, German, German-Russian and other immigrants, and small-town weeklies multiplied. Their obituaries often recorded where in Europe or Russia a homesteader was born and when the family arrived in Dakota, details that may not appear anywhere else.

The State Historical Society of North Dakota has digitized newspapers with the North Dakota Genealogy Society and contributes titles to Chronicling America. All its newspapers have been microfilmed and can be borrowed through interlibrary loan.

Where to find older North Dakota obituaries

Digitized North Dakota newspapers

• Newspapers, State Historical Society of North Dakota — The Society’s newspaper collection and links to its digitized papers.
• North Dakota digital newspaper archive — Free digitized North Dakota newspapers from the State Historical Society.

Archives and libraries

• North Dakota Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to North Dakota 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 Dakota death records

North Dakota death certificates are restricted to family and others with a direct interest, ordered from ND HHS Vital Records. The State Historical Society of North Dakota has guidance on older death records and the state's newspaper microfilm.

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

Tips for finding an obituary in North Dakota

• Search the county weekly. Rural obituaries ran in county seat weeklies, which the State Historical Society has on microfilm.
• Check Minnesota papers. Red River Valley families appear in Moorhead and other Minnesota papers.
• Try Norwegian and German papers. Immigrant-language papers reported many early deaths.
• 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