Series 21866

Salt Lake City (Utah). Cemetery


Record of the Dead, 1848-1893.

View history of records' creator.

Schedule Description

This series documents deaths and burials recorded in Salt Lake City. Entries may include the ward, name of the deceased, to whom the deceased is related, birth date and location, death date, cause of death, the name of the medical attendant, and location of burial including block and lot numbers. Most persons recorded in the book were buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, but entries also include persons buried "at home," at the Mount Olivet Cemetery, the Jewish and Catholic cemeteries, as well as those transferred out of state.

Scope and Content

This series contains books used by the sexton to record deaths and burials in the city. The city council adopted an ordinance in April 1851 requiring the sexton to keep a record of deaths, "which record shall include the name of the person deceased, with his or her parents' names; and where and when born; the time of death; the disease or cause thereof; together with the physician's name or nurse who attended such person. In September 1856 sexton Jesse C. Little obtained a book containing columns for recording the required information, along with the columns to note ward in which the deceased lived and the location of the burial. This book is the earliest book in this series and was apparently "compiled and arranged" by Jesse Little from earlier records and other sources. Information from Little's original book appears to have been copied verbatim into Book A, with some additional information added from other sources over time. The sexton continued recording information in these record books until 1893. The information for each burial typically includes such information as the burial number, the ward in which the deceased lived, name of the deceased, to whom the deceased is related, birth date and location, death date, cause of death, the name of the medical attendant, and location of burial including block and lot numbers. Most persons recorded in the book were buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, but entries also note persons buried "at home," at Mount Olivet Cemetery, the Jewish and Catholic cemeteries, the Brigham Young Cemetery, as well as those transferred out of state.

Notes

This series was processed by Arlene Schmuland in April 1999. The books had been filmed and intermixed with series 21867 as well as series 6722. Films were cut and assigned to their proper series as a part of processing.

Since the register entries are roughly chronological, entries may be searched by approximate death date, if known.