Thank you for registering for the online course, Beyond the Grave: Uncovering Life Stories from Death Records!
As genealogists, we often talk about “filling in the dash” for our ancestors—moving beyond birth and death dates by uncovering stories that paint a more complete picture of our ancestors’ lives. To fill in this “dash” we shouldn’t just look to records from the years that they were alive. Death records include important details and clues about our ancestors’ lives that reveal rich stories and help us better understand their experiences. This four-week online seminar will provide a detailed overview of death records through this lens of uncovering stories. We’ll discuss civil death records and substitutes; last wills and testaments; funeral, burial, and cemetery records; and more.
This course includes four 90-minute classes and exclusive access to handouts and recordings of each presentation. These recordings and all course materials will be available for the foreseeable future.
COURSE SCHEDULE
October 4 - Class 1: Using and Understanding Civil Death Records
Presented by Melanie McComb
This first class will cover civil death records—what information they include, how to find them, and how to follow clues to ancestral stories. We’ll also discuss how to interpret and evaluate the information provided by considering the informant listed, cause of death, and more.
October 11 - Class 2: Reporting Death: Civil Death Record Substitutes
Presented by David Allen Lambert
While civil death records can reveal a wealth of information about your ancestors, it’s possible that you may not be able to locate an official death record due to the time period, location, and/or record loss. In this case, there are a number of other death records that can provide similar details. In this class we’ll discuss death notices, obituaries, mortality schedules, coroner reports, final pension payments, and more.
October 18 - Class 3: Last Will and Testament
Presented by Melanie McComb
Consider the important insights into a person’s life that can be gained by looking at their will—you’ll find information about how much money they had (or didn’t have), any property they may have owned, and who they chose to leave their assets to (and who they left out). This class will cover all of the life details and stories that can be uncovered in probate records.
October 25 - Class 4: Final Resting Place: Burial, Cemetery, and Gravestone Records
Presented by David Allen Lambert
There is so much more to uncover about your ancestors’ death (and their life) beyond civil death records and their will. In this final class, we’ll discuss how you can move “beyond the grave” to uncover ancestor stories through funeral, burial, and cemetery records.
COURSE HANDOUTS
RECORDED PRESENTATIONS
Class 1: Using and Understanding Civil Death Records
Live broadcast: October 4, 2023
Presented by: Melanie McComb
Running time: 1:17:25
Class 2: Reporting Death: Civil Death Record Substitutes
Live broadcast: October 11, 2023
Presented by: David Allen Lambert
Running time: 1:42:26
Class 3: Last Will and Testament
Live broadcast: October 18, 2023
Presented by: Melanie McComb
Running time: 1:24:49
Live broadcast: October 25, 2023
Presented by: David Allen Lambert
Running time: 1:51:53
OTHER RESOURCES
Facebook Live Event: All Things Macabre: Death Records, Cemeteries, and Witches
Facebook Live Event: Getting the Most Out of a Probate Record
Webinar: Using Cemetery Transcripts in Your Family History Research
Webinar: Using New England Probate Records
INSTRUCTOR BIOS
David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist has been on the staff of American Ancestors since 1993 and is the organization’s Chief Genealogist. David is an internationally recognized speaker on the topics of genealogy and history. Lambert has published many articles in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, the New Hampshire Genealogical Record, Rhode Island Roots, Mayflower Descendant, and American Ancestors magazine. He has authored and or co-authored in the published genealogies presented to David McCullough, Ken Burns, Angela Lansbury, Michael and Kitty Dukakis, Nathaniel Philbrick, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. He has also published eleven books including A Guide to Massachusetts Cemeteries (American Ancestors, 2018), and Vital Records of Stoughton, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1850 (Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, 2008). David received his B.A. in History from Northeastern University. David is an elected Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston, Mass., and a life member of the New Hampshire Society of the Cincinnati and the General Society of the War of 1812. David also serves as the tribal genealogist for the Massachusett Tribe at Punkapoag in Massachusetts.
Melanie McComb, Genealogist assists library visitors, both on-site and online, with their family history research. She is an international lecturer who teaches on a variety of topics. Melanie holds a B.S. degree from the State University of New York at Oswego. She previously served as the social media coordinator for the NextGen Genealogy Network, a non-profit that creates a community for younger genealogists, where she managed the Facebook and Twitter accounts. She continues her interest in helping younger genealogists get involved at American Ancestors by assisting with educational programs from local schools, scout groups, and universities.