How do I find more information on my deceased extended family?

No. It is next to impossible to point you in the RIGHT DIRECTION without some specifics.

I can tell you where to find death certs for Texas... but, not much point in this, if your situation is not about Texas.

There are thousands of free sites, WHICH ONE will work for you, needs fine tuning.

I agree with you for putting personal info for living persons.. that puts them at risk. For finding ancestors or other relatives who are no longer living, it is common practice.

If your grandfather was born prior to 1940, you normally will find him in that census. The siblings will be there, as well as the brother.. assuming he was alive at the time. This applies also to the 1930 census.

It helps narrow the time frame. From there, the state may or may not have a death index online.

www.familysearch.org

If this child "Martin" communicates with you again - ask him. Ask where he lived, where he went to school, the name of his teacher, who were his brothers and sisters, what age he was when he died, indeed any other questions that will give you something to search on.

Other things you can do - research your grandfather's family, census records may help you narrow down the time of this child's death to within 10 years. For instance his name might be there for 1891 census and gone by the 1901 record. Unless of course he was born after one census and died before the next. Ask if he was older or younger than your grandfather. Check church records where the family lived, for baptism entries. If you can find one, the same church my know if there is a burial record too. You say you don't want hard copies of anything, but the paper trail is the only sure way to find out. If you can narrow down the year and month of death, a trawl through microfilms of old newspapers might yield some info. If the child died as a result of a terrible accident, there may be a news item in the paper.

Some states have vital information available online for free. Vital information being death certificates, birth certificates, marriage certificates. It all depends on the state, some have it free, some charge. Try www.(statename).gov (example http://www.mass.gov/portal/) or search google for "state name" vital statistics (because finding it on the home page can be impossible).

If you know a date or rough range of dates when this accident occurred you might try contacting the librarian in the town where it happened to see if there are any newspaper articles about it. Keep in mind things like an obituary will come out days after the death. Most libraries keep a copy of every issue of the local newspaper on microfiche or now digital copies. There would be no way to scan those for specific information, so you need to provide a time window to search. If it's a smaller town they probably only have 1 or 2 funeral homes, you could contact them to see if they have information. Funeral home usually writes the obituary with the assistance of the family, which is then published by the local newspaper.

Curious, if this was your grandfathers brother, can't your grandmother/grandfather just tell you?

Type the name into the web search, you probably will not find much, but if you want someone on YA site to "find: any information full name, place he lived and at the very least date of death would be needed, but you can try a search on Familysearch.org it is free and you do not need to create an account to do a search. Find a grave is also a free site that you might try, but there will not be much information at about a child beyond birth and death dates. I know of NO state that provide actual certificates without a fee, although you can usually find death record information, If you want to know about him your Mother is correct, you should ask your Grandmother.

Your public library may have a subscription to Ancestry.com.

Your local Family History Center (In larger LDS churches) may have one too.

Either or both may have a subscription to a newspaper archive.You could sign up for the free 14-day trial in Ancestry.com and cancel after 10 days.

The death may be on

https://familysearch.org/search

Once (if) you get a name, death date and death place, you can

1) Write to the public library there with a SASE and a small ($10) donation and ask them to see if the accident rated a news story

or

2) Post a query on that county's query board in either Ancestry.com or GenForum (NOT both) and hope a kind-hearted volunteer will look for the accident story for you.

Well you might work on family stories and 'ghost hunting' explanations....BUT we don't, you have more information and for some reason you think we can mind read, ( not acquired that skill as yet).......... you give NO SURNAME...NO DATE........... NO COUNTRY or STATE... we do not make guesses and I am not sure how you expect anyone to find a 'Martin' killed in a car accident somewhere in the World from the time cars were invented up to 2013.........

Real information details required please..................

Add FACT you can't find anyone with no surname, no date, no place as previously said.so you know the surname date place, then you need to look in the newspapers in that area for an accident around that date, the newspapers on film/fiche re in your local library and if it is in another area then you will need to ask for interlibrary loan, or go online and see what newspaper archives are available in the country you are looking in................

Ancestry.com site.