About This Collection
Images of transcript of index prepared under Works Progress Administration Project 11791 from original Philadelphia Department of Public Health records deposited with the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania at 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia. The index covers three types of records: returns by sextons of churches and superintendents of cemeteries that were accompanied by physician's certificates, registers of deaths without information on place of burial (1833-1837), and registers of deaths providing information on place of burial (1836-1860). Information provided is the name of the deceased person, name of cemetery, occasionally the names of parents, date and cause of death, age at death in years and months, and name of physician. Note that the records do not cover all parts of the city, though an increasing number of cemeteries are represented beginning in the 1850s. Images are arranged alphabetically by surname of deceased. This collection is part of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission which was created in 1945.