HEALTH DEPARTMENT:

An Inventory of Its Death Registers at the Minnesota Historical Society

Government Records

Part or all of this collection is restricted.
For details, please see restrictions.

OVERVIEW


	Creator:	Minnesota. Department of Health.
	Title:	Death Registers [microform].
	Dates:	1899.
	Language:	Materials in English.
	Abstract:	Death registers containing information on deaths that occurred in Minnesota during the year 1899, compiled from certified copies of death registries sent to the State Board of Health and Vital Statistics (Health Department) by local registrars. The compiled registers are incomplete; they do not list all deaths that occurred in the state during the year. They are not considered official death records.
	Quantity:	3 microfilm reels; 3.75 cubic feet (3 boxes).
	Location:	See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

This microfilm reproduces registers containing information on deaths that occurred in Minnesota during the year 1899. The information was compiled from certified copies of death registries that were sent to the State Board of Health and Vital Statistics by local registrars (township clerks and village, borough, and city health officers). These local officials were required by state law (General Laws: 1870, chapter 25; l871, chapter 49; 1887, chapter 114; and 1899, chapter 337) to maintain birth and death registries for their jurisdictions and to submit certified copies of them to the state board each month. Researchers should be aware, however, that the compiled registers are incomplete; they do not list all deaths that occurred in the state during the year, either because the deaths were not reported to the State Board of Health and Vital Statistics by local registrars or because information received from the registrars was not recorded by the board.

The register pages are numbered in a single numerical sequence, beginning with number 1 and ending with number 1290. These numbers appear in the upper right corner of each page.

The forms give biographical and genealogical information and ownership history of the farm, and some include additional supporting documentation and/or reminiscences.

The death registers are organized by place of death into two major units—1) counties, and 2) cities—each of which is arranged differently. The counties extant in 1899 are arranged in alphabetical order (see pages 4-6 for the order in which the counties appear on the microfilm and the register page number at which each begins). Within each county, entries are grouped first by village of death and then by township of death. The villages and townships are usually, but not always, arranged alphabetically; entries for each village and each township are listed in roughly chronological order. The cities begin with the records for Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth (in this order); they are followed by those for 37 smaller cities, arranged in no apparent order (see page 6-7 for the order in which the cities appear on the microfilm and the register page number at which each begins). Register entries for each of the cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth are initially grouped according to disease or cause of death (loosely defined), with entries for each disease/cause of death listed in roughly chronological order. Register entries for each of the smaller cities are arranged in a single, roughly chronological sequence. The cities of Rochester, Fergus Falls, St. Peter, and Faribault have separate entries each month for deaths that occurred in the city proper and for those that occurred at the state institution in the city (generally marked “insane” or “feeble minded,” as appropriate).

Researchers should be aware of the following anomalies in the records when searching for a particular death:

• Not all of Minnesota’s 87 counties were established by 1899. Clearwater County was formed from Beltrami County in 1902. In 1906 Koochiching County was formed from Itasca County and Mahnomen County was formed from Norman County. Pennington County was formed from Red Lake County in 1910, and Lake of the Wood County was formed from Beltrami County in 1922. Researchers should search for death entries under the “parent” counties of the more recently organized counties.

• The legal status, boundaries, and names of some counties, townships, villages, boroughs, and cities changed over time. The publications listed on page 8 are helpful in identifying these changes.

The register entries are recorded on pre-printed forms that include, in addition to place of death and name of the reporting official, some or all of the following information: date the report of death was received; date (month and day) of death; full name, sex, color, marital status, age (in years, months, and days), place of birth (usually state or country only; occasionally city if in Minnesota), and occupation (rarely filled in) of the deceased; disease or cause of death; full names and birthplaces of the deceased’s parents (usually state or country); and name and address of the attending physician. Most of the entries consist of a one-line register entry; a few, however, are recorded on pre-printed 3” x 5” cards attached to register pages that contain the same information as the one-line entries. Unless otherwise noted on the microfilm, information recorded on the back of a card appears on the film frame that follows the one containing the front of the card.

The Microfilm: Some filled-in information on the registers may be difficult to read on the microfilm due to handwritten entries in faint, smudged, smeared, or different colors of pencil lead and/or ink, especially when the information is recorded on age-darkened or colored paper or card stock. These conditions can produce poor contrast between the color of the text and the color of the paper, making legible photographic reproduction especially difficult. In an effort to increase the legibility of the information on the microfilm, some register pages and cards may be filmed more than once at different camera settings, with a target identifying the intentional duplicate exposure. Some information may be obliterated by ink stains or lost due to paper tears.

The death registers for each county and each city are preceded on the microfilm by an introductory target. A running target at the bottom of each film frame gives the title and publisher of the microfilm and the frame number.

A roll contents list enumerating the contents of each microfilm roll is filmed following this description on roll 1; a list of the counties and cities, in the order in which they appear on the microfilm, is filmed following the description on rolls 2 and 3. A selected list of publications relating to changes in the boundaries, names, and legal status of Minnesota places follows both the roll contents list and the counties/cities list.

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ARRANGEMENT

Organized by place of death into two units: 1) counties and 2) cities, each arranged differently. The counties are arranged alphabetically. Within each county, registers are grouped by village and then by township, each in alphabetical order; entries for each village and each township are chronological. The cities unit begins with Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth (in that order), followed by smaller cities in no apparent order. Entries for each of the three large cities are grouped by cause of death and listed thereunder by date; entries for each of the smaller cities are chronological. The register pages are numbered in a single numerical sequence.

Register entries include, in addition to place of death, some or all of the following information: date of death; full name of the deceased; decedent's sex, color or race, age, marital status, place of birth (state or country, occasionally city if in Minnesota), and occupation; cause of death; names and birthplaces (state or country) of the deceased's parents; and name and address of the attending physician.

Most entries consist of a one-line register entry, but some are recorded on cards containing the same information as the one-line entries that are attached to register pages.

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Access Restrictions:

Originals are closed. Access and use requires the permission of the State Archivist. Please consult reference staff for more information.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minnesota. Department of Health. Death Registers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Microfilm Production:

Saint Paul, MN : Minnesota Historical Society, 2003.

Positive microfilm copies are shelved in the Hubbs room in the death records drawer. Negative microfilm copies are stored under SAM 417.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 977-38

Processing Information:

Digitized by: Minnesota Historical Society, May 2019

Catalog ID number: 990017380960104294

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

MICROFILM

Location

Page

Reel 1

Aitkin County.