Newport Tn Obituaries Archives (2024)

FAQs

How do I find an old obituary in Tennessee? ›

Tennessee death records 1908-1965 are available online thru a partnership with Ancestry.com on at Ancestry.com's Tennessee State Library and Archives web page.

Many funeral homes publish obituaries on their websites. These can usually be located with a Google search on the person's name. Local genealogical and historical societies, public libraries, and some newspaper publishers maintain clipping files of obituaries.

Death records are confidential for 50 years under state law. Records 50 years old or less are held by the Tennessee Office of Vital Records and must be requested from that office. Tennessee began requiring death records be kept statewide in 1908.

An obituary is more personal and is a form of a tribute to the deceased. Unlike a death notice that has general information like the name and date of death, obituaries have a personal touch and are usually referred to as a small biography.

When writing an obituary for a woman who had a maiden name, simply write her first name and then in parentheses write her maiden name and then her married last name. For instance, Laura (Ingalls) Wilder, Marie (Sklodowska) Curie or Julia (McWilliams) Childs.

Vital records maintained at the state level are closed to inspection and are not open to public inspection. To secure a certified copy of a record from the state, applicants must have the same direct and tangible entitlement as for a county record. Requests may be in writing or by telephone using a credit card.

The Web site hosts obituaries and memorials for more than 70 percent of all U.S. deaths. Legacy.com hosts obituaries for more than three-quarters of the 100 largest newspapers in the U.S., by circulation.

To be clear, obituaries are protected by copyright. They are creative works of expression that are fixed into a tangible medium of expression. Both the text and the images that make up an obituary are protected by copyright (even if the facts and information are not).

When did Tennessee start issuing death certificates? ›

1914 to Present

Tennessee began registration of deaths after 1914.

Autopsy reports are considered a matter of public record in Tennessee. If questions arise about information in the autopsy report, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy at the Regional Forensic Center should be contacted.

Interested persons can obtain copies of confidential marriage records by submitting a request to the Tennessee Office of Vital Records and supporting documents proving their eligibility.

Birth certificates for births within the past 75 years are considered protected records, and Tennessee Online has the following requirements for requesting these records: If you reside in Tennessee, you can order your own record or the records of your immediate family members.