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From: LYNN JEFFERIES< >
Subject: Cemetery returns, etc.
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 10:48:48, -0500

Teri,

The Cemetery Returns Index will tell you the name, age, cause of
death, physician and place of burial. Sometimes, miscellaneous
information will be included, such as the parent's names, if
recording the death of a child. The Returns are indexed
alphabetically and typed. If you find the name you want in the
Returns index, then you can request a copy of the actual Cemetery
Return, which might have additional information. This is obtainable
from the Philadelphia City Archives.

As of July 1860, there are yearly Death Registration indexes. These
are hand written, and indexed only by first letter of the surname. As
I have mentioned in other posts, there is a so-called Short Index
available for some years. This is a separate index and was compiled
by first letter of surname, then first letter of the given name. It
is very hit-or-miss as to the years covered.

In cases of unexpected deaths, there would have been a coroner's
inquest. The City Archives has some of these. You can check their web
site for the exact years available. Also, the Public Ledger (and
probably other newspapers) printed news stories about unexpected
deaths, their referral to the coroner and then, later, the results of
the coroner's inquest. These articles can be quite informative,
because they usually give the circumstances of the accident or
whatever.

As for city directories, last year I posted a list of the all the
directories printed. You can probably access the posting through the
Philly List archives. However, the rough dates are 1795 through 1935,
with some years not having any.

Lynn

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• Cemetery returns, etc. by LYNN JEFFERIES< >