Rutherford B. Hayes OHIO OBITUARY INDEX

Several weeks ago, the MCDL Genealogy Team took a trip to the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museum for training on the Ohio Obituary Index. I blogged about it HERE.


In the blog, I promised that in a future blog to provide some hints on how to get the best results when searching the index.

TA-DA! This is that blog!

Basic information;

• This is an INDEX and as such does not give you all the information that the original death notice would. It just points to where to find a copy of the original.
• The spelling in the index is as the name as it appears in the newspaper. If the newspaper got it wrong, the index will reflect that.  

This obituary of my Mom appeared in the 25 June 1995
Marion Star. Her first name is misspelled. Although on
her birth certificate her name is given as "Janette" she
always spelled it as Jeannette - double n and double t.
The nickname shown is "JJ" which some of her friends
used. But by the majority of people called her
"Jeannie".

• Alternate spellings - try all the variations of spellings that can be applied to the name. Ex. SMITH, SMYTH, SMYTHE.
• The index covers all sorts of death notices, such as administrative & probate notices, news items and obituaries. It is called an OBITUARY index for simplicity. Not every entry is for a full biographical sketch.
• Periods, quote marks and hyphens are not used.
• If the name is hyphenated, it is entered under both names separately. Ex. PALMER-WILCOX, will have a listing under PALMER and a listing under WILCOX. 
• If you are searching a common surname, like JOHNSON, it is best to also use the first name.
• For uncommon names just using the surname may suffice.
• The Ohio Obituary Index has over 3.5 MILLION RECORDS. Medina County District Library only has about 150,000 ENTRIES - or less than 5% of the records. So you will see many entries from other libraries in Ohio.

The index is found at: https://www.rbhayes.org/main/ohio-obituary-index/

SEARCHING TIPS

Before jumping in, take a look at the menu on the right side of the page. It has lots of useful features to know about. Here are some of the most important features:

• List of Newspapers Indexed - 528 newspapers from around Ohio are indexed for obituaries. Maybe your ancestors' hometown is among them.
• Map of participating counties -  42 out of Ohio's 88 counties have participating libraries. See map below.
• Table of participating Libraries - 73 libraries participate in the indexing. Why is this more than the number of counties? Because some counties have multiple library systems participating - like MCDL and the Wadsworth Library!
• The Shopping Cart is only for items that can be ordered from the Rutherford B. Hayes Library.

Map of Ohio counties participating in the Ohio Obituary Index.

BASIC SEARCHES

• A last name MUST be entered.
• Optional fields are; First Name, Middle Name and Year of Death.

 ADVANCED SEARCHES - Requires patience.  Fields are:

• Last Name - search as Exact Match or Begins With
• First Name - search as Exact Match or Begins With
• Middle Name - search as Exact Match or Begins With
• Nickname - search as Exact Match or Begins With
• Spouse's Last Name - search as Exact Match or Begins With
• Maiden Name - search as Exact Match or Begins With
• Anywhere in Notes
• Year of Death Between ______ and ______

 LIBRARIES and NEWSPAPERS

• MUST enter a Last Name.
• Optional fields are; First Name, Middle Name and Year of Death.
• Choose one of the 73 participating libraries from the drop down menu and/or
• Choose one of the 528 newspapers.

 LIBRARIES and OTHER SOURCES 

• Some libraries have indexed other Sources on the Ohio Obituary Index.
• All of the other Sources indexed can be viewed on the menu.

ORDERING COPIES 

The Shopping Cart is only for items that can be ordered from the Rutherford B. Hayes Library.

For all other libraries, use the HOW TO ORDER button that is provided within  each listing and follow the instructions on that screen.

If you have any questions not answered here, contact the MCDL Genealogy Team at:330-722-4257 or me-team.genealogy@mcdl.info or the staff at the Rutherford B. Hayes Library at: 419-332-2081 or hayeslib@rbhayes.org

Ohio Obituary Index

The Ohio Obituary Index is the creation of the staff at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library in Fremont, Ohio.

The Front of the Rutherford B. Hayes Museum and Library on the grounds of Spiegel Grove.

Hayes was the 19th President of the United States serving for one term from 1877 through 1881.  He was born in Delaware, Ohio and after getting a law degree, settled in Fremont.

Before becoming President, he served in the Civil War and rose to the rank of brevet major general. He went on to serve in the US House of Representatives and as Governor of Ohio.

After his death in 1893, his home was donated to the State of Ohio and later, in 1916, the library and museum opened as the FIRST Presidential Library.

Hayes was quite the fan of books and libraries and genealogy as can be seen on this photograph and quote in the stairway up to the library:

Hayes' Library in his home in Fremont, Ohio.
He had a large collection of books covering libraries, their history and holdings.
He would have made a great librarian!

Lauren Kuntzman, the manager of the soon-to-be-opened Family History Center at the Medina Library, my co-worker, Lisa Rienerth, and I went to the R B. Hayes Presidential Library to receive training on the Ohio Obituary Index. Some of you may have noticed that we have transferred the MCDL Obituary Index to the one at R. B. Hayes.

The Ohio Obituary Index

The Ohio Obituary Index started out as a "local to Sandusky County" obituary index on 3" X 5" cards in the 1970's. In 1986, the index was computerized and in 2000 it went on the Internet for the first time.

Other libraries in Ohio started joining up and now, nearly 20 years later, over 70 libraries contribute to the over 3.5 million listings in the database. MCDL is proud to be part of this great genealogical resource.

Lisa with Becky and Pat logging in to practice entering
data.

Becky Hill, Head Librarian, and Pat Breno, Library Technician,  taught us about how to use the database and enter data. Every database has its quirks and this one is no different. Becky pointed out the most important features and told us what to watch for. They explained why the database is structured as it is and how to maximize its use.





Next, we were given our logins and passwords and we sat down to practice with our able teachers standing by to field questions.

Lisa and Lauren, three floors down from the library, deep in the stacks.

Then we did a "behind the scenes" tour of the library.

Lisa had many relatives in northwestern Ohio and was thrilled to see all the incredible information available on her family, including photos of pages from a family Bible.

I also had relatives from northwest Ohio, but I found zilch! I was positively GREEN with envy!

Finally, we did a quick tour of the Hayes home.

The mansion was built 1853-1863 by Sardis Birchard, Hayes' uncle, guardian and benefactor.

Some of the rooms have been restored to how they were in R.B's time and feature original furniture and decoration.




Once we have mastered the intricacies of the database, look for a blog that explains how to optimize your obituary searches on the site!

Looking for an Ohio trip for your family this summer? Think about visiting the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museum!

SOURCES:
The Ohio Obituary Index (Scope)

"Rutherford B. Hayes" Wikipedia