Chapter 4 · Life in America · Death & obituaries
An American death certificate names the parents but gives the birthplace as a grieving relative remembered it. The obituary in the Polish-language press is often better: it names the village, the parish and relatives on both sides of the ocean.
Death certificates
State death certificates give the date of birth, the parents’ names and a birthplace, usually only “Poland” or “Austria”. The informant’s name tells you who gave the details, which helps judge how reliable they are.
The Polish-language press
Hundreds of Polish-language newspapers served American Polonia. Dziennik Chicagoski and Dziennik Związkowy in Chicago, Kuryer Polski in Milwaukee and many local papers printed obituaries that name the village and parish of origin, and sometimes the relatives still in Poland.
Cemeteries and funeral homes
- Polish Catholic cemeteries kept burial registers with next of kin
- Older gravestones sometimes carry the village name carved in Polish
- Funeral home records name the person who paid, often a child or sibling
- Burial permits link the death certificate to the cemetery
How we can help
Death records and obituaries are searched within Ancestral Village Identification and Immigration & Passenger Records, especially when earlier records are silent.