Iowa Mortality Schedules - Inventory

Iowa Mortality Schedules
The Iowa Mortality Schedules Collection consists of an index and images of mortality schedules in Iowa from 1850–1880. Mortality schedules include individuals who died in the year preceding the federal census. Mortality schedules exist for the census year 1850, 1860, and 1880. Census enumerators requested information from the head of household about deaths that had occurred from June 1st to May 31st of the previous year. In 1918 to 1919, the Bureau of the Census distributed the original schedules to states or to the National Library of the Daughters of the American Revolution when states were not interested.

Mortality schedules list a small percentage of the total population. At the time of the 1870 census, it was surmised that as many as one-third of all deaths were not reported. For instance, when a family was scattered by the death of the head of household, there was no one left to report it. In 1880, a supplemental report from attending physicians added 60,000 additional names to the schedules.

In the absence of vital registration in many states, mortality schedules provided nationwide death statistics for one year of each decade, 1850–1880. According to the official statistical report for 1870, this was done to assess the death rate for age-groups, sex, race, nationality, and occupation and to “deduc[e] the effect of the various conditions of life upon the duration of life.”

Census mortality schedules are usually accurate, but this accuracy depended on the knowledge of the informant and the care of the census enumerator.

Coverage Table Description
Iowa’s first two counties, Demoine and DuBuque, were formed while Iowa was still part of Michigan Territory in 1834. New counties were by legislation as population warranted. Counties were first formed along the Mississippi River with the territory to the west of each county under the jurisdiction of the eastern county until an area gained enough population to form a county. Early counties were large and established to maintain law and order. These boundaries were not intended to be permanent. When Iowa became a state there were 33 counties, over time there have been as many as 100 counties. Some counties disappeared altogether and others were absorbed into other counties. Today there are 99 counties. Because shifting boundaries not all cities reside in the county of the same name. The coverage table Iowa Mortality Schedules (below) lists all the counties in Iowa that have images in this collection. Then under each DGS number across from the corresponding county are the image numbers. The NARA film roll number that corresponds with the DGS are as follows: