Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh City Deaths - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection consists of death registrations for the city of Pittsburgh for the years 1870 to 1905. The records are from the Allegheny County Courthouse. The records are arranged in numbered bound volumes and are chronological by month and year.

The city of Pittsburgh began registering deaths in 1870. The records were house at the Allegheny county courthouse until 2008 when they were transferred to the state department of vital records. The state of Pennsylvania took over recording deaths in 1906.

Deaths were recorded to better serve public health needs. Death records were used in connection with the probate of wills and the administration of estates. The information in this index is very reliable. However, keep in mind that it still may contain alternate spellings or misinterpretations.

Record Content
Helpful facts included in the index are:


 * Name of deceased
 * Race, gender and age of deceased
 * Marital status and occupation
 * Date and place of death
 * Cause of death
 * Names of parents if a minor
 * Birthplace of deceased
 * Residence and length of residence
 * Previous residence
 * Date and place of interment
 * Name and address of attending physician
 * Date of Certificate and number

How to Use the Record
To begin your search it is helpful to know the following:


 * The name of the person at the time of death
 * The approximate death date

Search the Collection
To search the collection fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them to your ancestors to make this determination. 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.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

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

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s death record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family. For example:


 * Use the age to calculate an approximate birth date.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find or verify their birth records and parents' names.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth and parents’ names to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * Search for any alternate names your ancestor might have used, such as a nickname or alias.
 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Search for names of their parents, if known.
 * Check for a different index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.
 * There is some variation in the information given from one record to another record.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities.
 * 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.

For a summary of this information see the wiki article: United States, How to Use the Records Summary (FamilySearch Historical Records).

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Websites

 * Allegheny County
 * Online Pennsylvania Death Records and Obituaries

Related Wiki Articles

 * Pennsylvania Genealogy
 * Pennsylvania Vital Records

Citations for 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):