Death Certificates

Prior to the twentieth century, the process of record keeping for key family or personal events was, for the most part, left to the family. Bible records are all that we have to go on to try and track many important changes in people's lives. We do have official records such as the Federal census, draft registrations, and legal documents. But prior to the twentieth century our nation was still expanding west, and many states were added throughout the nineteenth century. In newly developed territories and states survival certainly took priority over record keeping.

As the population of the United States grew much of that changed in the early part of the twentieth century. Official records for births, marriages, and deaths became more organized and often required in most areas of the country. As the century progressed, official records became the order of the day, and we now think little about the vast array of official documents.

Today to mark our journey through life it would not be uncommon to find birth, military, medical, social security, driving, legal, marriage, death, and work related documents. On a personal level, death records are our least favorite, but least invasive since we are not here to see them.

Many of these records are starting to make their way to genealogists in on-line forums that help greatly with research. Here in Georgia, the State Archives recently made their Death Certificates for the early part of the twentieth century available, and others will follow. Our first records, shown here, were a result of a search of the Georgia Archives and we have saved that sub-set here for our own records and to reduce research time for family members.

Our search of death certificates has produced a few surprises. Often genealogists have recorded the last residence as the place of death, and this often proves to be inaccurate when the death certificate is viewed. In addition to death dates, these records also offer some confirmation on birth locations, spouses, parents, and other data.

As a side note, we are somewhat confounded by the number of discrepancies between tombstone dates and death certificate dates, since one would think the date on the death certificate is always accurate. How can the date on the tombstone become inaccurate in such a short time? Why would someone alter the death date on a tombstone?

Many genealogists have a keen interest in tracking their family medical history. The death certificate records are an invaluable source of information if you have a reason to need this data. These records also remove much of the interpretation and inaccurate memories concerning a person's death. Fortunately or unfortunately these records also can clarify causes of death long forgotten or "not discussed" within the family. Suicide or violent deaths were often not discussed in polite company, and these records can reveal some interesting differences between official and unofficial information.

But to understand old death certificates one has to follow the changes in medical terminology over the years. Although this would not be anything like an exhaustive list, here are a few of the common terms you will find among these records and their modern counterpart.

Apoplexy - Stroke resulting in paralysis
Bright's Disease - Kidney inflammation
Dropsy - Heart failure
Consumption - Tuberculosis
Nephrosis - Kidney failure

There are many web sites listing hundreds of these terms and their meanings and they are easily located with a quick search. It is important to note that our knowledge of medicine is very different today. For example it is not uncommon to find infant births where the cause of death is listed as "premature birth." Today a doctor might recognize "premature birth" as an event and look for a deeper cause of death such as underdeveloped bodily functions or organs. There is little doubt as medicine continues to develop the death certificates of today will look as unusual to future researchers as these do to us.