The Adams County Indiana Genealogical Society felt a need for additional Adams County death dates to be available for researchers. It was to supplement the Death Records Index done by the WPA, and the Adams County Cemetery Records done by the Allen County DAR. In 1997 and again in 2001 the society with the Berne and Geneva Public Libraries began the collecting of death dates, entering and printing these in book form. Each project was made possible with an Indiana Heritage Research Grant.

These dates were taken from funeral home records, newspaper and personal scrapbooks, and church records. Where the records were lacking information or needed verification, other outside sources were used such as census records and newspaper obituaries. Each of these sources is noted. All the information is public information and readily available.

The format of the original project includes the following, although space on the website does not allow the posting of each. Surname, First name, (Spouse or Father) Maiden name, previous marriage Birth year, month, day or age at death Residence Death year, month, day Place of death Funeral Home (BY2 is Berne Yager) Cemetery - all common names given Location of cemetery Cause of death, if given Contributor to death Military involvement Additional information available in the source

Additional information codes include
ch for church or children
sp for spouse(s)
p for parents
bplp for birthplace of parents
bpl for birthplace
occ for occupation
sib for siblings
cau for cause of death
Maj indicates that at least five of these categories are listed in the given source.

Verifying sources include: Census records, and Adams County birth, death, and marriage records. Van Wert Co. and Mercer Co Cemetery books were also used. The DAR cemetery books are listed by volume and page. These sources were used only to verify, not to supplement the listing. The codes for the source material are preceded by B, D, G, or Z referring to where the information is held, whether Berne, Decatur, Geneva, or Zwick Funeral Home. Newspapers are preceded by BW, BTW, BEN, BC for Berne Witness, Berne Tri-Weekly, Bluffton Evening News and Bluffton Chronicle; DDD for Decatur Daily Democraft and ACW for Adams County Witness. BEWB is the Elmer Baumgartner Scrapbook; BGD contains the extractions of Gillig and Doan Funeral home’s Books I, II, and III, by Peggy Dick as well as the Wemhoff Monument Records also done by her. SAT refers to the Swiss Ancestral Tree and OMII refers to genealogical projects available on the web. See the Adams Co. page for links.

To contact the holder of the source, you may contact the Heritage Room at the Berne Public Library, heritage@bernepl.lib.in.us; Kelly Ehinger of the Adams Public LIbrary System, ehinger@apls.lib.in.us; Rose Bryan of the Adams Public Library System, bryan@apls.lib.in.us, and Mr. Bill Zwick of the Zwick Funeral Home at 520 N. 2nd Street, Decatur, IN 46733.

Errors will certainly occur, as the sources are not perfect, nor are those who have worked many hours to complete this project. Spelling differences will always occur. To report corrections please contact the Heritage Room at heritage@bernepl.lib.in.us.