Tracking Dead Ancestors

Minnesota researchers have several opportunities to locate a type of official death record before the State Department of Health began requiring statewide reporting in 1908.

• Corpse permits. Government regulations spawned a wealth of genealogically relevant records in addition to standard death certificates. The Minnesota Department of Health's Division of Vital Statistics kept a set of registers for the transport of corpses from reports supplied by railroad clerks, beginning in 1898. The registers are available at the Minnesota State Archives, at the Minnesota Historical Society, and are featured in the Minnesota Genealogical Journal (MGJ).

  Permits were issued for the transportation of corpses, primarily to other states, although some listed were intrastate shipments. Information about the deceased was reported, with the date and cause of death, when the permit was issued, the beginning and end points for the journey, and who, if anyone, accompanied the coffin. A sample of the extractions in the MGJ reads: Barry, Catherine d. 28 Nov 1899 of pulmonary tuberculosis Issued: 29 Nov 1899 at Minneapolis for Graceville Acc. by: N. Barry.

  In some cases, bodies were disinterred and moved to other locations. The original register also includes: permit number, name of medical attendant, name of health officer, name of undertaker, and the railroad company transporting the body. Individual entries cease in May 1905, after which there are only monthly totals for each railroad.

• Death record cards. Beginning in 1899, the State Department of Health asked the local units of government to provide information on all deaths, which the Department then entered on index cards. For details on the cards, see our research note on this topic. The free on-line the Minnesota Death Certificate Index provided by the Minnesota Historical Society will eventually include all these records.

• Mortality Schedule. The 1900 U.S. Census for Minnesota included a mortality schedule, the only state to require one that year. It is similar to the schedules from other years, asking for information on those who died in the 12 months prior to the taking of the census.

  When completed, the Schedule was compared to the information received by the State Department of Health. Those deaths included on the Mortality Schedule which had not been reported to the Department were extracted and published in The 1900 Minnesota Mortality Schedule, available from Park Genealogical Books.

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