death records

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Death records are the recording of a person's death and can reveal the date and location of death, age at death, birth date if known, cause of death, as well as the names of parents. In the United States, death records are usually filed with the department of Vital Statistics of the state where the individual held residence.

There is some known recording of deaths as early as the mid-1600s in colonies like Virginia, but the onset of recording death officially varies by state to state, with some not recording deaths until the early part of the twentieth century. Massachusetts, for instance, prior to 1850, had no official policy on recording death, but you can find older death records in "The Tan Books," a compilation from different townships in which town clerks and various functionaries obtained information on past deaths from gravestones, cemetery records, family bibles, physician records and mortician records.

Death records may be needed for a variety of reasons including insurance claims, surviving spouse military benefits, and are also useful for genealogy research.

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