The library holds a large collection of obituary clippings and death records from local newspapers and other sources. Obituary clippings come chiefly from the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal and are complete from 1970 to the present. Earlier records are much less complete but extend into the late 1700s. An index to these various records by surname is available by clicking on the files to the right, which provide the name of the deceased; year, month, and day of death; age; and source. Some entries include date of newspaper.

Following is a guide to the sources referenced in the index:

AKS OBIT BK: Scrapbooks of obituaries clipped by genealogist Amos K. Stauffer. The scrapbooks contain obituaries of personal interest and are not comprehensive for a given time period or geographic area.

HANNES EBY BUR REC: Record of burials (not obituaries) kept by John (Hannes) Eby from 1793-1845, chiefly of his friends, associates, and relatives in northern Lancaster County.

IDL DIARY: Diaries of Ira D. Landis, the first director of the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society. An avid historian and genealogist, Ira clipped obituaries of personal interest from the local papers and pasted them in his diaries. The clippings are not comprehensive for a given time period or geographic area.

JB LEDGER (TRANS): Transcription and translation of the ledger kept by coffin-maker Johannes Bachmann of Strasburg, Pa., in which he recorded the names of persons for whom he built coffins from 1771-1810. This is a record of deaths rather than a collection of obituaries.

JNB BOOK: Records of funeral sermons preached by Mennonite Bishop Jacob N. Brubacher from his church record books, 1880-1913. This is not a collection of obituaries.

LANC NEWSPAPERS: Obituaries from the Lancaster newspapers saved as hard copy (on original newsprint) from March 2005 through May 2008, or as pdf files from June 2008 to the present. Note: The indexing project is ongoing so the more recent years may be incomplete in the index.

SCRAPBOOK: Obituaries clipped from the Lancaster newspapers and pasted in scrapbooks from the late 1960s through February 2005. Log in to access the scrapbooks online.

WASH HSE REG: List of deaths (not obituaries) copied from the "Washington House Registers," Strasburg, Pa., from Feb. 1875-Aug. 1880.

The cost for photocopies or scans is $.50/copy. Minimum copy charges may apply. For questions or copies of these records, please contact the library at .

The Lititz Public Library has on their web site an index of obituaries from the Lititz Record Express that is very useful: http://www.lititzlibrary.org/lititz/lib/lititz/pdfs/obituraryproject.pdf

The Pennsylvania Department of Health has death indices from 1906-1961 in pdf format on their web site.

Click here for a guide to online Pennsylvania obituaries and death indexes.