{"id":24149,"date":"2017-08-01T11:00:46","date_gmt":"2017-08-01T15:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=24149"},"modified":"2022-04-11T15:26:05","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T19:26:05","slug":"genealogy-101-27-the-mortality-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/genealogy-101-27-the-mortality-schedule.html","title":{"rendered":"Genealogy 101: #27 The Mortality Schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article \u2013 part of an ongoing \u201cIntroduction to Genealogy\u201d series \u2013 Gena Philibert-Ortega explains how the mortality schedule, part of the U.S. census, can provide information about your ancestors who died in the year previous to the enumeration of the decennial census. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201c<\/em>From the Family Kitchen.<\/em><\/span>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Have you taken a look at the U.S. census mortality schedule? Like other census schedules, the mortality schedule does not include information about everyone \u2013 but for those who have an ancestor who died a year prior to the census enumeration, it can hold valuable clues for your family history research.<\/p>\n

Why Mortality Schedules?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Death registration was not consistent throughout the United States until well into the 20th century. If you refer back to our previous article on Death Certificates<\/a>, you will see that states differed on when they required deaths to be registered. So, when researching a time before mandatory death registration, the mortality schedule can be an important resource.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the benefit of the mortality schedules? Well, for those who find an ancestor, the information in this enumeration can verify a death \u2013 plus give additional information like cause of death which can be helpful, especially for those interested in tracking family health history. However, as the blog CSI: Dixie points out, those causes of death may not be precise and can in some cases show biases on the part of the informant.*<\/p>\n

However, this May 1870 Michigan newspaper article indicates that a physician was to be consulted to look over the causes of death. It reports:<\/p>\n

The assistant marshals are to submit their mortuary report to some physician that he may correct any mistakes that exist in the registering of diseases from which the persons in the schedule died.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, Michigan), 30 May 1870, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the mortality schedule does have its limitations, for those who have ancestors that died prior to the enumeration of the decennial census, mortality schedules can provide additional information during a time when death certificates are less common. In addition, these schedules are also useful in finding deceased African American ancestors.<\/p>\n

The Mortality Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n

The mortality schedule was taken in 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880. In addition, the states of Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, and South Dakota conducted a mortality census in 1885.**\u00a0 The mortality schedule of the U.S. census recorded those who had died in the year previous to the enumeration (June of the previous year to May of the census year). Researchers can expect to find the following questions on these enumerations:***<\/p>\n