West Virginia Deaths - FamilySearch Historical Records

= West Virginia County Death Records =

How To Use This Record
County death records are the best source after 1853 of death information. Use birth date and birth place information of the deceased to find earlier records of the deceased and his or her family. Use the names of parents, the place of residence, occupation, and marital status of the deceased as clues for further research. The informant could be a child, parent, or spouse of the deceased.

Why This Record Was Created
The state required counties to begin recording deaths to track public health issues.

Record History
Clerks of each County Court recorded deaths beginning in 1853, when West Virginia was part of Virginia. West Virginia began collecting deaths from the counties in 1917.

Record Description
Death entries were recorded in pre-printed register books containing many entries per page beginning in 1853. Earlier records were handwritten. They were usually typewritten by 1930. After 1917, death records were submitted to the state on individual certificates, while registers were maintained in the counties.

Record Coverage
Counties kept death records from 1853 to the present.

Most deaths in the counties were recorded because of the legal requirement for registration.

Record Content
County death records contain some or all of these genealogical facts:


 * Name of deceased
 * Death date and place
 * Cause of death
 * Age at death in years, months, and days
 * Gender
 * Color or race
 * Marital status
 * Parents’ names
 * Birthplace
 * Occupation
 * Name of informant (earlier entries include relationship to deceased)

Record Reliability
The death date, residence, and other facts that were current at the time the death occurred are quite reliable, though there is the chance of misinformation. Other data, such as date and place of birth, have more chance of error due to the lack of knowledge of the informant, transcription errors, and other circumstances.