United States, Panama Canal Zone, Index to the Gorgas Hospital Mortuary Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States

What is in the Collection?
This collection includes records from 1906-1991

This collection contains a partial index to the mortuary's registers of military personnel, canal employees and canal zone civilians processed through the Gorgas Hospital Mortuary. Acquired from the National Archives "Access to Archival Databases" (AAD). The records are from Record Group 185 Records of the Panama Canal. See also ARC Identifier 570981. Additional information about this collection may be found on the National Archives website.

The following seven years are not included in this collection: 1912, 1917, 1918, 1955, 1960, 1965, and 1980. Gorgas Hospital, located in the Panama Canal Zone, was run by the U.S. Army, but is now under Panamanian control.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Facts found in this collection may include:


 * Full name
 * Age
 * Sex
 * Date and place of death
 * Burial place
 * Estimated birth year

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The birth date and birth place of your ancestor.
 * The death date and death place of your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible ancestors. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine which individual is your ancestor. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination. Next, click on your ancestor's name. This will take you to a descriptive page with a link to the image.

Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

For tips about searching on-line collections, see the wiki article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s mortuary record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the age and the estimated birth year to calculate an approximate birth date.
 * Use the date and place of death to find the family in census records.
 * Not each record contains the same data. For example, some records may be missing the place of death, age, or date of place.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Look for another index. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor.

Citing this Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually. Collection Citation Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):