Ancestry Magazine

Death certificates, registers, and indexes are only a few of the documents created to document a death. One of them may contain the information you seek.

Nothing brings genealogy to the surface of everyday life like the passing of a loved one. That was exactly our situation this past summer when we each lost a parent within a two-week time span. Fortunately, the love of our families and friends helped us through this painful time.

Our experience was also a reminder that death documentation is one of the important building blocks of genealogical research. In this article, we will examine the basics of gathering family history information from this most fundamental research tool.

Who kept death records?
Many British and European countries began keeping birth and death records in the nineteenth century. Before then, churches maintained registers of chr istenings and burials, and colonial settlers in America brought British laws and customs with them. Thus, churches were initially the guardians of vital records, and ministers in many colonies were required by law to report christenings and burials to civil authorities. In time, some colonies, primarily those in New England, passed laws requiring local town or county clerks to maintain records of births and deaths. Not until early in the twentieth century was the registration of births and deaths required by the majority of states.

Why is it necessary?
Death documentation is necessary for several reasons. It allows health and legal authorities to determine the cause of death in case of infectious disease and to make certain no foul play was responsible. Legal proof of death is also needed in order to settle an estate as well as for pension, probate, insurance, and burial.

What documents will you find?
While records vary widely through time, location, and detail, some of the more common types of death records a researcher will encounter are the death certificate, record of death, death register, and death index.

Death certificate. The death certificate is an actual certified piece of paper with extensive detail regarding the deceased. Since the early twentieth century, a certificate of this type has been required by all states.

Record of death. The record of death is essentially a summarized copy of the original on file at the state level. Copies of this record may be obtained from a variety of sources, for example, from the vital records offices of the state, county, or city in which the death occurred as well as from the health department, state archives, or state historical society.

Death register. Death informati on was often kept at the county level, at other times in communities, in a large register-style book, especially before 1900. Such entries provided the most basic of information such as name, age, occupation, etc.

Death index. Many states and localities have prepared an index to their death records. Many of these indexes are available online, either through various state archives or at subscription websites like Ancestry.com and others. By looking up an ancestor in such an index, the researcher can then request an official copy of either the certificate or death record.

Regardless of the type of record found, that record will include some or all of the following fields of information. This total listing of data fields was taken from a modern death certificate. Many of these fields are extremely important as they provide links to other sources of potentially useful research data.

Fields of Data
Name. Four separate fields allow for the detailing of the full name. Sometimes a middle name or a name suffix provides a research clue.
Date of death. This information is important as it provides a concrete time to search for an obituary in a local paper. Obituaries, while not primary source material, can be a goldmine of family information.
Sex.
Social Security Number. Provides a link to Social Security records. For people born after 1880, this might lead the researcher to the original Social Security application.
Age.
Date of birth. The obvious link to the birth certificate, another vital record.
Birthplace. Provides the probable location of the birth certificate.
Was deceden t ever in U.S. armed forces? Military records are an excellent source of genealogical data.
Place of death.
Name of facility (mortuary).
County of death.
City or town of death.
Marital Status. Marriage certificates are yet another type of vital record.
Most recent spouse. Provides the name of the spouse in marriage records to confirm the correct record has been located.
Decedent’s usual occupation.
Kind of business/industry.
Decedent’s education. School records might provide additional family information.
Ancestry. If previously unknown, this can help in forming a research strategy since different ethnic groups present their own unique research problems and techniques.
Race.
Residence state.
Residence county. Property ownership records are generally kept at the county level and these records provide data such as when a person may have moved to that county.
Residence city or town. Same as above.
Residence street and number.
Father’s information. This information helps prove the link between the decedent and the preceding generation.
Mother’s information. Same as above with the added benefit of providing the mother’s maiden name, which is a key piece of data in the research process.
Informant. This is significant as it gets to the reliability of the information. Who is the informant? How i s the informant related to the decedent? How close was the informant to the decedent?
Mailing address of the informant. This might help in that the researcher could possibly write to the informant and discover additional genealogical information.
Method of disposition.
Was body embalmed?
Place, location, and date of disposition. This names the cemetery where the deceased is buried. Some cemetery records, including the headstone, can provide useful clues.
The signature and license number of the funeral practitioner or authorized person.
The name, address, and license number of the funeral home. In some cases, the funeral home maintains information on the deceased relevant to genealogy such as burial cards, burial permits, and cemetery information.
Certifying physician.
Date signed.
Viewed body after death.
Name of attending physician if other than certifier.
Name and address of certifier (Type or Print).
Time of death.
Registrar’s signature.
Date filed.
Was an autopsy performed?
Were autopsy findings available prior to completion of cause of death?
Manner of death.

The final portion of the complete death certificate concerns the cause of death. In some states this is confidential information and is provided only to proven close relatives of the deceased. For genealogists who are tracking a medical pe digree, such information is an important part of their research.

Remember, good genealogical research requires that the researcher start in the present and work back through time, one generation at a time. This approach allows the researcher to hypothesize that one generation is directly connected to the preceding generation. After gathering as much data as possible on (and from) the living family members, the researcher turns to those ancestors who have died most recently. Following this logic, the first significant piece of genealogical evidence the researcher encounters is the death certificate.

The death certificate can be considered both primary and secondary source material. It is primary for the death date, but secondary for birth information and other information that took place earlier in the individual’s life. By definition, primary source material consists of official documents recorded by a duly appointed or elected official at or near the actual time the event occurred. Sound genealogical research requires such documentation.

Death is never a particularly pleasant event to deal with. However, the healing power of genealogy can be especially appreciated during such a difficult time. There is comfort in knowing that your loved ones will not be forgotten.

Terry and Jim Willard hosted the ten-part PBS Ancestors series. They have researched their family history fifteen generations on both sides.