Missouri Death Certificates Update AND Volunteer Opportunities!

With all the snow, ice, and frigid temperatures during the past few weeks, it’s been the perfect opportunity to stay home and work on genealogy projects. One result of having genealogists with leisure time this month is the lightning speed with which volunteers have been able to index the newest Missouri death certificates eligible for posting online, and we have some great news to share with you about that project. Also, if you are looking for other ways to stay busy, we have some suggestions for you. Please read on for details!

Our friends at the Missouri State Archives have announced the completion of another year of completed digitization of Missouri death records. In record-breaking time, the 1975 death certificates have been indexed, and as of Friday, 30 January, they are online at https://s1.sos.mo.gov/records/archives/archivesmvc/deathcertificates#searchDB, the Missouri Secretary of State's website. Once there, you will see that it’s been updated to include the newest certificates. Also note that beginning with the certificates from 1954, you can search not only for a deceased person, but for his or her spouse, mother, or father.

Ongoing Death Register Project Needs Volunteers!

Of particular interest for those of us in St. Louis is a joint project between StLGS and the Missouri State Archives involving the St. Louis City death registers. Prior to 1910, as you probably know, Missouri did not require deaths to be recorded at the state level. However, the City of St. Louis kept death registers, although not every year was included, and not every death was recorded. Many years ago, volunteers at StLGS meticulously scoured microfilmed copies of the registers and indexed them. The project was a huge one, and in the interest of time and privacy concerns, the completed index did not include all the available information contained in the registers.

When that project was completed, we made it available to StLGS members on our website and also on a CD for purchase in our online store. Although the website data is for members only, you can learn more about the registers at https://stlgs.org/research-2/life-death/deaths/death-registers-1850-1908. (The CD is still available for purchase at https://store.stlgs.org/shop/index-1850-1908-st-louis-death-register/.)

Now, according to Liana Twente, eVolunteer Coordinator at the State Archives, volunteers have “reviewed and indexed 736 pages of Death Registers, with Volume 48 currently in progress. This project consists of reviewing an index provided by the St. Louis Genealogical Society and adding fields that weren’t originally included (like gender, race, and cause of death). When finished, the index entries will be added to our Pre-1910 Birth & Death Records database. This project is conducted over email, where volunteers will receive a batch of images and a spreadsheet with the corresponding index to review and enter additional information. Once completed, the spreadsheet will be returned to me via email, and a new batch of images can be requested.” 

If you’re interested in working on the death register project, or you would like more information, please send an email to Liana at archvol@sos.mo.gov. 

More Volunteer Opportunities!

If you are interested in working with a lively group of fellow genealogists at our spacious office in Maplewood, we have many projects in the works just waiting for more volunteers. You can, of course, work from home on StLGS projects as well, but we have a great group in the office on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings. We always have indexing and proofreading, and we have a list of current volunteer opportunities on our website at https://stlgs.org/about-us-2/volunteer-opportunities. On that page, you will find a Volunteer Interest form to fill out online, or you can download the form and mail it in. We can’t wait to meet you!