Virginia Obituaries

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.

Recent Virginia 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 Virginia are:

• Richmond Times-Dispatch
• The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk)
• Daily Press (Newport News)
• Roanoke Times
• Washington Post (Northern Virginia)
• The News & Advance (Lynchburg)

Legacy.com’s Virginia 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.

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 older Virginia obituaries

Digitized Virginia newspapers

• Virginia Chronicle, Library of Virginia — Free digitized Virginia newspapers from the 1700s onward.

Obituary and death indexes

• Death records guide, Library of Virginia — The Library of Virginia's guide to Virginia death records, 1853–1896 and from 1912, and where to find them.

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 local links.

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

Virginia death records

Virginia death certificates are restricted to family and others with an interest for 25 years, then open to anyone. Order recent ones from VDH or the DMV; the Library of Virginia holds older death records and guides.

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

Tips for finding an obituary in Virginia

• Watch the gap. Virginia kept statewide death records 1853–1896, then not again until 1912.
• Order at the DMV. Many Virginia DMV offices can issue death certificates.
• Check Washington papers. Northern Virginia deaths often ran in the Washington Post and Evening Star.
• 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