[or-roots] archives - old death info

[Leslie Chapman]

I would suspect that the estate info is going to be the best bet for any
clues to cause of death etc. That far back there categorically is no
"official" info unless possible criminal activity was suspected or the
individual was "very important."  It is possible there was news from his
local paper at the time of death, especially if he was important or
notorious or the cause of death was unusual or it was a slow news week.

My experience has been that searching the relevant time zone newpapers I
usually find no mention of my ancestors, even though some of them were of
some prominence. Keep in mind that often (as it is now in many papers) obits
were a paid service. (my ancestors were cheap   .  .   .  er I mean frugal)
So chances are you may not find anything in the paper of that time. I
searched the prominent Coos County papers and the local paper at the time of
death of my maternal grampa and his obit only appeared in relatively short
lived Coos Bay publication of the time. So it is a crap shoot, if it is
really important you will need to cover all the bases.

One other possibility that is really a long shot is that the records of the
attending physician might still exist. They would most likely be in Knigh
Library at the U of O, unless they are still in the posession of his family
or successor. Typically medical records in this day and age have a seven
year life span. Or so I have been told by several docs I went to for old
info. Sorry, if it's over seven years old we destroy it.

By the way many of you may be unaware that the Archives are run by our list
mom; Layne Sawyer. She is dedicated to the preservation of Oregon history
and it's availability to us the public, and a very busy lady.

Les C

-----Original Message-----
From: or-roots-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
[mailto:or-roots-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us]On Behalf Of Paulette
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 7:31 PM
To: or-roots mail list
Subject: Re: [or-roots] Death certs in 1859?


Very helpful answer - it's cool that the Archives has a good online index to
look into before one goes there, but fun to go anyway...the people there are
helpful and informative.