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Finding Cemetery and Death Records in central North Carolina: OBITS & CEMETERIES

This guide explains various ways of documenting and substantiating a death including information on death certificates, newspaper obituaries, burial records, and cemetery transcriptions.

Cemetery Records in Central N.C.

CEMETERY CENSUS WEBSITE

The cemetery census website is a volunteer effort to provide complete lists of cemetery transcriptions along with pictures of headstones.  There are more than 60 Alamance County cemetery records for church, family, and municipal graveyards listed at the cemetery census website at https://cemeterycensus.com/nc/index.htm

PRE-1914 CEMETERY INSCRIPTIONS

The Local History Collection at May Memorial Library has a microfilm version of a card file owned by the State Archives of North Carolina that lists many persons buried in North Carolina cemeteries prior to 1914.  This collection is on 34 separate reels of microfilm and is searchable by either the name of the deceased or the cemetery name within a certain county.   This data was transcribed by Works Progress Administration workers during the 1930s.

CEMETERY SURVEYS IN GENEALOGY JOURNALS

Local genealogical society journals often contain many cemetery transcriptions.  The Local History collection has back issues of the following genealogical journals:  The Alamance Genealogist, The Guilford Genealogist, and the Randolph County Genealogical Society Journal.

PUBLISHED CEMETERY TRANSCRIPTIONS

There are several countywide cemetery transcription compilations in the Local History Room.  They include:

Tombstone inscriptions: recorded from private or abandoned cemeteries in Alamance and Orange counties /  by Durward T. Stokes

Guilford County Cemeteries edited by Mary A. Browning

The gravesites of Chatham County, North Carolina : an inventory of cemeteries and grave markers by Will and Audrey Heiser
 
 

Alamance County Public Libraries

Alamance County Public Libraries provide free and open access to lifelong learning, resources for everyday living, and reading for pleasure in a welcoming environment.  Our collections, services and programs enhance the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities. Contact the Library webmaster.

Alamance County Public Libraries operates as a Department of Alamance County Government.  Visit the Alamance County Website at www.alamance-nc.com.

Public Death Records

SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX (Federal Records)
The U.S. government maintains an index of more than 89 million individual recipients of Social Security who died during the mid to late 20th century.  It can be used to verify birthdate and identify an exact death date in cases of uncertainty.  Some individuals who were self-employed and never participated in Social Security do not appear in the database.  These records are searchable by using the Andestry.com subscription database from within the library.
N.C. DEATH CERTIFICATES (State Records)
The State of North Carolina first required physicians to submit death certificates for reasons of public health in about 1914.  The data on death certificates is often more descriptive than the newspaper obituary if the informant providing the information was a close relative.  N.C. death certificates prior to 1976 are available by searching the Ancestry.com subscription database from within the library.  Non-certified copies of this record for deaths in Alamance County from 1976 to the present may also be obtained from the Alamance County Register of Deeds office.
NEWSPAPER OBITUARIES (Local Records)
The library can provide newspaper obituaries from the Burlington Times-News from about 1928 to the present in either hard copy or as an Adobe Acrobat computer file.  The initial request is free, but subsequent requests are filled at the rate of $1 per obituary.  Some additional newspaper obituaries or death records are also available from the weekly Alamance Gleaner newspaper or the bi-weekly State Dispatch newspaper.  These obituaries for the time period from 1875 to 1913 have been indexed at https://alamancelibraries.libguides.com/obit-abstracts
Please consult the Reference staff at reference.staff@alamancelibraries.org for assistance with obtaining full-text copies.

NORTH CAROLINA CEMETERY LAW

Chapter 65 of the N.C. General Statutes states that a descendant, a descendant's designee, or any other person with a special interest in a grave or abandoned public cemetery may enter public or private land to visit a grave with the consent of the landowner.  If consent cannot be obtained, the aforementioned persons may petition the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the grave is located to gain access.

EPITAPHS AND INSCRIPTIONS

The following books may help you understand the artwork and religious inscriptions on old tombstones or tricks to make the writing on tombstones more legible for recording purposes.

Local Trivia

 

Did you know that one of Burlington, North Carolina's biggest industries was once the manufacture of coffins?  The Burlington Coffin Company, a leading manufacturer on the east coast, operated here for 88 years between 1888 and 1973 at the corner of Maple Avenue and Tucker Streets and produced as many as 10,000 coffins per year.

Private Death Records

FUNERAL HOME RECORDS

Some funeral homes keep funeral programs and newspaper obituaries for the deaths for which they handled arrangements.  Funeral homes of longstanding in Alamance County include:  McClure, Rich & Thompson, Sharpe, and Lowe.

CHURCH AND CLERGY RECORDS

A few ministers maintained private records of the burials at which they officiated, especially those who performed funerals outside the confines of their religious denomination.  There are also some church burial records that have been published for some particular religious congregations.  Examples include:

Andrews, Rev. J.D. "Record of Funerals & Record of Infant Baptisms"  (Alamance and Guilford Counties, NC 1893-1948)

Offman, Rev. David I., compiler. "Records of Buryings in the Brick Church Cemetery" in Brick Church Records (translated from the original German)

 

 

 

Alamance Co, NC (Private or Abandoned Cemeteries)