West Virginia Deaths - FamilySearch Historical Records/Known Issues

Known Issues
NOTE: The links on this collection send you to a partner site – West Virginia Division of Culture and History. They are the custodians of the records and provide the links to the images. If you are unable to view or verify them through our site you may visit their site at http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_select.aspx to search their records. Be aware that pertaining to Death Records, West Virginia has put the following notice on their site:


 * “Due to concerns about county death records which are less than 50 years old having social security numbers available for viewing online, we have blocked searching for all death records less than 50 years old. The 1963 deaths will become available on January 1, 2014.”

Question 1
Question 1: Some records appear to be indexed as a death date from the 1900s instead of the 1800s. How can I identify which records are affected? Answer 1: Generally, records with a death date from 1971 to 1999 fall into the suspect category of records that should be dated 1871 to 1899.

Question 2
Question 2: Some records are linked to the wrong images, or the links do not work at all. How can the correct image be found? Answer 2: This is a shared collection, owned by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. The only way to move between images on a film using their image viewer is to manually change the image number in the address bar of your web browser. To browse forward, increase the image number in sequential, ascending order (ex. 15, 16, 17.) To browse backward, decrease the image number in descending, sequential order (ex. 17, 16, 15.) (NOTE: This may not work for all records, or the record number may be off by more than just one digit.)

If this does not work, you have a few options for finding the correct image. You can contact the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and request research assistance. Fees are involved. You can contact the County Clerk’s office. The addresses for several of these are listed in the Learn More Wiki associated with this collection. These microfilms can be viewed at the Family History Library or some FamilySearch Centers. Call ahead to check if the film is available at your local center. The film number is listed toward the bottom of the record details page.

Question 3
Question 3: Some records appear to be indexed as deaths which are actually births. How can I identify which records are affected? Answer 3: Generally, records with an image viewed from our Partner Site that has a header “Register of Births …” or the Partner Site identifies the record as “Birth Records Search Results …” are birth records. Specific affected indexed records can be identified with a Film Number 559300: Births, v. 1 1853-1893, a Digital Folder Number: 4014156, and from Cabell County, West Virginia.

Question 4
Question 4: Some records appear to be indexed as a death date from the 1800s instead of the 1900s. How can I identify which records are affected? Answer 4: Generally, records with a death date from 1800 to 1853 fall into the suspect category of records that should be dated 1900 to 1953. Specific affected indexed records can be identified with a Film Number: 849406, a Digital Folder Number: 4229724, and an Image Number from 196 to 226, from Wirt County, West Virginia and the surname range from D to R; specifically:


 * surnames starting with D from 1841-1870 should be a 1941-1970 death date;
 * surnames starting with E - Q from 1831-1870 should be a 1931-1970 death date; and
 * surnames stating with R from 1831-1859 should be a 1931-1959 death date.

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Return to the West Virginia Deaths - FamilySearch Historical Records article.

Return to the West Virginia, Deaths 1804-1999 collection at FamilySearch.org.