Arizona Deaths - FamilySearch Historical Records

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Collection Time Period
The certificates cover deaths from 1870-1951.

Record History
Statewide registration of vital statistics began in 1909 and the state achieved 90 percent compliance 1926. Some earlier records for 1887 to 1909 consist of deaths recorded by the individual counties where the death occurred. The counties that participated sent copies to the Arizona Department of Health Services, and the records are available at both places. The Office of Vital Records is responsible for maintaining and issuing certified copies of vital records, including death certificates for deaths that occurred in Arizona. The Office of Vital Records officially began recording birth and death events in July, 1909. However, it maintains a sampling of death records, from 1877, from other sources. 

Why This Record Was Created
Death certificates were created to record deaths in Arizona in compliance with state law.

Record Reliability
Information pertaining to death is reliable; including death, name of the attending physician or attending medical professional, name and address of the funeral home used, and the exact date and place of burial. Other information is dependent upon the reliability of the informant.

Record Description
Each death certificate was created on a pre-printed form.

Record Content

 * Key genealogical facts found in all death certificates are:
 * Dates of death and burial
 * Frequently, birth date of the deceased
 * City, county, and state of death
 * Name and location of the cemetery where the deceased is buried
 * Frequently, the country or state and sometimes the town and county of birth for the deceased
 * Frequently, the country or state and sometimes the town and county of the birth for the parents
 * Name of the deceased, married name of the spouse, names of parents, often with maiden name of the mother
 * Name of the informant, who is often a child or other family member
 * Age of the deceased usually in years, months, and days
 * Sex of the deceased
 * Residence or address of the deceased, often including length of residence at that place or in the United States, if foreign born
 * Whether the deceased was single, married, widowed, or divorced at the time of death
 * Occupation of the deceased

How To Use This Record
Arizona death certificates are the best source for death information after 1887. Death records can provide information leading to additional genealogical records.

Related Web Sites
This section of the article is incomplete. You can help FamilySearch Wiki by supplying links to related websites here. Arizona Genealogy Birth and Death Certificates

Related Wiki Articles
Arizona Birth, Marriage and Death Records

Sources of This Collection
"Arizona Deaths, 1870-1951," database, FamilySearch; from Arizona Department of Health Services. "Death certificates (Arizona), ca. 1870-1951." Arizona Department of Library, Archives and Public Records. FHL microfilm, 101 reels. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

A full bibliographic record is available in the Family History Library Catalog.

Citations for an image or index published in FamilySearch Collections
An example of citing these records is: Arizona Department of Health Services. Certificate of death. From FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org), April 23, 2010. Edgar Wilson Smith, 1939, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, Reference number 115.

Instructions for citing this source can be found at: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections