Death Certificate

[Caroline]

Just wondered if anyone could advise me on how I would go about obtaining the death certificate of my great great gran who died in Maryland in 1907 ?

I haven't a clue where to start !

Caroline

[SarahND]

Hello Caroline,
Every state is different, so I had to look this up. This appears to be the link to the death record index for Maryland:

http://mdvitalrec.net/cfm/index.cfm

Search the index, then you can register and order the record for $25. However, at the moment this can only be done by mail. Where are you located? I didn't go far enough in the ordering process to find out whether or not you had to send a U.S. cheque or whether it could be paid for in some other way.

All the best,
Sarah

[momat]

Hi Caroline,
Try this U S site
http://www.footnote.com/

[SarahND]

Hi Maureen,
Footnote.com is a great site for government and military records, but they don't have many vital records (yet?). I can't see any for the state of Maryland. They do have some newspapers, where one could search for an obituary, but none from Maryland in the relevant time frame. The only option for a death certificate is to order from the state, I'm afraid. Only a few states have them available online (Missouri and Ohio are two I can think of right away that are available for free; Vermont is on Ancestry. I'm sure there are more, but not many.)

All the best,
Sarah

[Caroline]

Hi Sarah,

Thanks so much for that site. I've located the death certificate on it and I've contacted them to ask how I can order it as I live in Scotland. Have located some other relatives certificates on it as well, but I'll just order the one just now as it's quite expensive.
Can you give me an idea of what info would be on the death certificate ? I don't suppose it will be as detailed as Scottish certificates.

Thanks again,
Caroline

[SarahND]

Hello Caroline,

Can you give me an idea of what info would be on the death certificate ? I don't suppose it will be as detailed as Scottish certificates.

Actually, you have a good chance that it will be MORE detailed than the Scottish certificates My only question is how much information would be available in 1907. It would be a hard year to predict for many of the central and western states, but I would think that you would have a good chance in Maryland of finding a pretty detailed form. The closest I can come in terms of year in my own records is 1913. In that year (and since) the information is as follows (Always subject to the knowledge of the informant):

Name
Sex
Race
Place of death
Date and time of death
Single, Married, Divorced or Widowed
Date of Birth
Age at death
Occupation
Birthplace
Father's name and his birthplace
Mother's maiden name and her birthplace
Name and address of informant
Cause of death
Contributory cause of death
Signature and address of attending physician
Length of residence at place of death
Usual residence
Place of Burial
Date of Burial
Name and address of undertaker

These detailed forms were implemented in the early part of the 20th century. The exact year depends on where, so I'm crossing my fingers that Maryland will be an early one. Do tell us when you get the certificate, so that others will know.

All the best,
Sarah

P.S. I see from the FamilySearch Wiki that you might not have all that information until 1911-- but you might! The 1913 certificate I was looking at was from Ohio.

https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Maryla ... _1898-1972