Find Dukes County Obituary Records
Dukes County obituary records are held by individual town clerks across Martha's Vineyard, not at the county level. Each of the seven towns on the island keeps its own death records, with Edgartown serving as county seat. Searching for obituary records here means working with small-town offices that go back centuries. You can also find Dukes County death records through the Martha's Vineyard Museum, the Vineyard Gazette newspaper archives, and the Massachusetts State Archives. This guide walks you through every source, from the town clerk offices to online genealogy databases, so you can track down the obituary records you need from this island county.
Dukes County Overview
Dukes County Town Clerks for Obituary Records
Dukes County does not keep vital records at the county level. That is a key thing to know. Death records on Martha's Vineyard are held by each town clerk. If someone died in Oak Bluffs, you go to the Oak Bluffs Town Clerk. If the death took place in Edgartown, the Edgartown clerk has it. This setup can be tricky for people who are not sure which town they need. The good news is that all seven towns are on one island, and the clerks tend to know each other well enough to point you in the right direction if you call the wrong one.
The Edgartown Town Clerk at 70 Main Street is the most commonly used office for Dukes County obituary records. Edgartown is the county seat and has the largest collection of older records on the island. You can reach them at 508-627-6180 or by email at townclerk@edgartown-ma.us. Walk-in visits work best for detailed research, but phone and mail requests are fine for simple certified copy orders. Fax requests go to 508-627-6156.
Fees for death certificates in Massachusetts are set by state law under MGL Chapter 46, Section 26. Town clerks charge $20 for the first certified copy. Each extra copy of the same record costs less. You need the full name of the person, the date of death (or close to it), and the town where the death happened. Bring a valid photo ID if you go in person.
| Edgartown Town Clerk | 70 Main St, Edgartown, MA 02539 | 508-627-6180 |
|---|---|
| Oak Bluffs Town Clerk | 56 School St, Oak Bluffs, MA | 508-693-3554 |
| Tisbury Town Clerk | 51 Spring St, Tisbury, MA | 508-696-4215 |
| West Tisbury Town Clerk | 1059 State Rd, West Tisbury, MA | 508-696-0147 |
| Chilmark Town Clerk | 401 Middle Rd, Chilmark, MA | 508-645-2110 |
| Aquinnah Town Clerk | 65 State Rd, Aquinnah, MA | 508-645-2304 |
| Gosnold Town Clerk | 46 Tower Hill Rd, Gosnold, MA | 508-627-3884 x1 |
Note: Contact the clerk in the town where the death took place, not where the person lived, for the fastest results on Dukes County obituary records.
Dukes County Historical Obituary Records
The Martha's Vineyard Museum in Edgartown holds one of the best collections of historical records for Dukes County. Their archives include old town records, family papers, cemetery records, and newspaper clippings that go back to the 1600s. For obituary research, the museum is especially useful when you need records that predate state-level collection, which started in 1841. Before that year, death records were kept only at the town level, and some of those early books have been moved to the museum for preservation.
The Martha's Vineyard Museum maintains archives of historical Dukes County obituary records, cemetery indexes, and family papers from the island's earliest settlements.
The museum's research library is open to the public and staff can help with genealogy questions about island families.
Early Dukes County vital records up to 1850 have been transcribed and published. These compilations cover births, marriages, and deaths from the colonial period through the mid-1800s. You can find them at the museum, at the Vineyard Haven Public Library, and through the New England Historic Genealogical Society. The published volumes are organized by town, so look under Edgartown, Tisbury, or Chilmark depending on which part of Martha's Vineyard your family lived in. The New Bedford Whaling Museum also holds some Martha's Vineyard historical records in their collection, since the island had close ties to the whaling industry.
Search Dukes County Obituary Records Online
The Massachusetts Archives Vital Records Search is the best free online tool for older Dukes County death records. It covers 1841 to 1910. Type in a name, pick the town, choose "Death" as the record type, and set your year range. The results show volume and page numbers that point to the original record books. Digital images of many Dukes County records from 1841 to 1925 are free to view on the site.
If you can not find what you need in the online database, the State Archives staff will email free scans of up to five records from 1841 to 1930. Send your request to archives@sec.state.ma.us with the name, date, and town. Certified copies from the archives cost $3.00 each and take four to six weeks by mail. Pay by cash or check to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
For more recent Dukes County obituary records, from 1936 to now, you need to go through the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics or the local town clerk. The RVRS charges $20 in person, $32 by mail, or $54 through VitalChek online. The town clerk offices on Martha's Vineyard are often faster and cheaper for recent records since you can call and pick up in person without the state processing delay.
Dukes County Obituary Genealogy Resources
The Dukes County Genealogy Trails website has a free collection of historical obituary notices from Martha's Vineyard. These come from old newspapers and public records. The entries include names, dates, ages, and sometimes family details that you will not find on a death certificate. This is a volunteer-run site, so the collection is not complete, but it can fill in gaps when official records are hard to get or when you want the personal side of the story.
The Vineyard Haven Public Library has a solid local history collection that is worth a visit for Dukes County obituary research. Their holdings include old town reports, genealogy files, and newspaper clippings sorted by family name. The West Tisbury Library and Chilmark Library also have genealogy resources, though on a smaller scale. Staff at all three can point you to the right shelf or suggest where else to look on the island.
The Duke's County Historical Society works with the Martha's Vineyard Museum on preservation projects. They have helped index old cemetery records, church burial logs, and probate files that tie into obituary research. If you are tracing a family that lived on Martha's Vineyard for generations, these groups can connect you with other researchers who may have already done some of the legwork. Island families tend to be well documented because the community is small and has deep roots.
Dukes County Obituary Newspapers
Two weekly newspapers serve Martha's Vineyard and both run obituary notices. The Vineyard Gazette, based in Edgartown, has been in print since 1846. It is one of the oldest weekly papers in the country. The Gazette's obituary section covers deaths across all seven Dukes County towns and often includes detailed write-ups about long-time island residents. Their archives are a primary source for historical obituary research on the island.
The Martha's Vineyard Times is the other weekly paper. It covers the same ground as the Gazette but with a different editorial voice. Both papers run paid death notices and staff-written obituaries for notable residents. If you are looking for a recent Dukes County obituary, check both papers since families sometimes place a notice in one and not the other.
For older newspaper obituaries, the Martha's Vineyard Museum keeps microfilm and bound volumes of the Vineyard Gazette going back to the 1800s. The Boston Public Library also has some Vineyard Gazette runs on microfilm. Online, sites like Newspapers.com and GenealogyBank have digitized portions of these papers, though coverage varies by year. The Gazette's own website has recent obituaries but does not offer a deep digital archive of older issues.
Note: The Vineyard Gazette has run obituaries since 1846, making it the best single newspaper source for Dukes County death notices across nearly two centuries.
Massachusetts Laws on Dukes County Death Records
Death records in Massachusetts are public records. Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 46, Section 11, the funeral director must file the death certificate with the town clerk in the place where the death occurred. For Dukes County, that means one of the seven island town clerks gets the filing. Section 9 says a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician's assistant can sign the declaration of death. Section 17B gives the state registrar authority over original records and certified copies.
Anyone can request a death certificate from a Dukes County town clerk. There is one limit. The cause of death line is kept confidential under MGL Chapter 46, Section 46-2A. Only close family members, legal guardians, and people with a documented legal interest can see that part. Public copies come with the cause of death section left blank. For most obituary research, this restriction does not matter since cause of death is rarely the point of the search.
The Massachusetts Public Records Law under MGL c.66, Section 10 gives you the right to request any government record. Town clerks must respond within 10 business days. The first two hours of search time are free for towns with over 20,000 people. Dukes County towns are all under that mark, so free search time does not apply here. Copy fees are $0.05 per page for standard copies.
Nearby Counties
These counties are closest to Dukes County. Barnstable County covers Cape Cod, which is the mainland connection for Martha's Vineyard ferry service. Nantucket County is the other island county in Massachusetts. If you are not sure which county holds the obituary record you need, check where the death took place and contact the clerk in that town.