WASHINGTON COUNTY:

Includes a general index, 1870-1981 (reel 42, part) and 1982-1994 (reel 44, part).

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Access Restrictions:

Original death record volumes and original township reports of deaths are closed for use. They are available on microfilm.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Washington County (Minn). Death Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Microfilm Production:

Salt Lake City, UT : Genealogical Society of Utah, 1994.

Available on interlibrary loan from the Minnesota Historical Society. Inquiries regarding purchase should be directed to the Genealogical Society of Utah.

Location of Originals:

Originals: Washington County auditor; Stillwater, MN

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: 995-61, 2020-26; 2022-29

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 990017324390104294

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This is an index, in four parts, to the retyped death records on rolls 42-44 (below). It specifically provides references to death record volumes A-C and 1-4 (1870-1981). However, with the information given (date of death and township/village/city of death), it is possible to get reasonably close to the individual death records in the "township reports of deaths" (rolls 45-50), "death records, 1911-1945" (roll 51), and "death certificates" (rolls 51-70).

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At some point, county personnel went through the "township reports of deaths," "death records, 1911-1945," and "death certificates" (through part of 1981), and typed selected information about each death into bound volumes. Information transcribed includes name, date of death, sex, color, marital status, age, place of birth, names of father and mother, and date of filing. Information not transcribed is the cause of death, physician’s name/signature, place of burial, or name of undertaker (and for the period 1870-approximately 1876 the date of arrival in Minnesota). Within each volume, the records are arranged alphabetically by township/village/city, and thereunder chronologically.

In order to locate the corresponding death certificates for the transcripts in books 1-4 (1946-1981; the death certificates are found on rolls 51-70), researchers should use the following process: Note the volume number (1-4), the page number of the volume, and the item number of the record on the page (1-7). This three-part sequence (e.g. 1-2-6, for volume 1, page 2, item 6) is the unique identifier for the death certificate numbers identified on the roll list below. Each certificate number is then noted either on the top or in the left hand margin of the certificate.

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The original reports of deaths submitted by each local registrar (township clerk, village clerk, or city clerk or health officer) to the county clerk of court for recording in the official county records. These are, in part, summarized by the volumes found on reels 42-44, but they contain substantial additional information. Initially, they are on report forms that were submitted periodically (usually annually) by the local registrar to the clerk of court. From 1870 to ca.1876, they also include a column noting when the deceased arrived in Minnesota, sometimes to the month and day. After ca.1900, they consist of an individual return for each death, and after ca.1907 the return has become an official death certificate. After 1900 most of this information also was forwarded to the state Health Department. Not every year is present for each jurisdiction.

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Compilations that continue the local registrars’ reports of deaths. They appear to be county-produced transcriptions of the reports, although some may be the original reports. They are arranged by year, and thereunder by civil subdivision (township, village, city). The civil subdivisions are largely alphabetical within each year, except for certain years when the city of Stillwater precedes the other jurisdictions. The years 1941-1942 are represented by negative photostats of the full death certificates; no transcriptions are present for these years. The quality of these certificates on the microfilm is very poor, with some data on some certificates illegible.

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Death certificates are filed in rough chronological order by the date of filing, not the date of death. Beginning with at least 1949, these records include death certificates for Washington County residents who died outside of the county but within Minnesota. For certificates from 1946 to 1981, file numbers correlate with the retyped death records in volumes numbered 1-4 on rolls 42 to 44. File numbers are found either on the top or along the left hand margin of the certificate. This three-part sequence (e.g. 1-2-6, for volume 1, page 2, item 6) is the unique identifier for the death certificate numbers identified on the roll list below. Death certificates from 1982 to 1987 are numbered sequentially in one sequence #1-3873, prefaced by the last two digits of the year. Death certificates from 1988 to 1994 are numbered sequentially within each year beginning with 1 and prefaced by the last two digits of the year.

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Organized chronologically, and within that, there is one sheet per township or city. Information recorded generally includes the following, when known: date of death, name, sex, race, marital status.

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RESTRICTED.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Vital statistics -- Minnesota -- Washington County.

Places:

Washington County (Minn.) -- Statistics, Vital.

Document Types:

Death records -- Minnesota -- Washington County.

Microforms.

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