B26: If I know where and when my ancestor died in the U.S., how do I obtain the death certificate and what sort of information will be on it?

How do I obtain the death certificate?

Death certificates are usually registered at county level at the Register of Deeds or Vital Statistics offices and also at the state level vital statistics offices. There are some places, usually large cities, where the records are kept at the city level.

Descriptions and addresses of the appropriate offices for the various states can be found in the following sources, usually available at any public library:

• Ancestry's Red Book. American State, County and Town Sources. Ancestry Publishing, Salt Lake City, UT, 1989 or newer
• The Handy Book for Genealogists. United States of America Everton Publishers, Logan UT, 1991

The degree of access to death records varies considerably from almost full access, at least to an index, to needing to prove with various certificates that you are a direct descendant. The fees assessed for search and copy also vary widely; some places will do non-certified copies for less than the notarized official copies.

Older records may have been microfilmed and it is useful to check the files at the LDS Family History Centers to see if it is possible to view via microfilm. This is usually restricted to records at least 72 years old.

Personal visits to these offices to get information may require an appointment made a considerable time in advance. When writing for information, it is usual to enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope (SASE).

What information is on the death certificate?

This too varies from one location to another and from one era to another. Minimally, one gets the name and age of the deceased (although sometimes I have seen just Mrs. J. Surname, for example), the date of death and place of death.

Other items which may be included are:

• occupation
• date and place of birth
• names of parents
• years in the U.S.
• name of spouse
• residence at time of death
• cause of death (in some recent records, this has been blocked out)
• attending physician
• burial information (funeral home, cemetery)
• person reporting the death information (usually though not always a relative)

A word of caution! All the information may not be correct and must be assessed in reference to other records on the individual. The person reporting the information may not have been well informed and just made guesses on the age, names, dates, spelling, location. etc.