 |
Hamilton County Genealogical Society Record Index - Data Base |
Index of death and marriage notices appearing in the Cincinnati Daily Gazette, 1827-1881
|
Title: Index of death notices and marriage notices appearing in the Cincinnati Daily Gazette, 1827-1881 Introduction from published book: No other Cincinnati newspaper has ever reached the national stature of the Cincinnati Daily Gazette. The Gazette (and its successors, The Commercial Gazette and the Commercial Tribune) was considered to be the finest newspaper published west of the Alleghenies. The editors were men of great ability with Murat Halstead being one of the better known. Correspondents and reporters included such talented people as Whitlaw Reid. Famous for its enlightened editorial policies in what could be at times a rather unenlightened city, the Gazette provided excellent coverage of local news as well as coverage of national and international news. Death notices of local citizens were published on a daily basis. These death notices quite often included people who had previously lived in Cincinnati and Hamilton County. For a brief period in the 1830's and 1840's, the Board of Health published, on a weekly basis, the names of persons who died in the local hospitals, and cases brought before the coroner. These death notices are of great use to the family history researcher, since before 1865 the City of Cincinnati did not keep any record of deaths, and until 1908 death certificates were not required by the State of Ohio. Between the years 1865 and 1908, the City of Cincinnati did keep records of persons who died within the city limits (mostly the immediate downtown area during this time) and then only if the family or undertaker reported it to the office. Even if the death was recorded, the information contained in the certificate was minimal (e.g. name, age, address, place of burial, and country of birth). Death notices, on the other hand, frequently contained additional useful information about the deceased and their survivors. Of greatest importance is the fact that there were a considerable number of death notices that were published in the 1830's and 1840's. Previous to this, there had been little or no information about persons who died during this time, since most cemeteries that kept records were not started until the mid 1840's. Also of some importance is the fact that the Cincinnati Daily Gazette published the names of the victims of the cholera epidemics of 1832 and 1866, and on a less complete basis, the victims of the 1849 major epidemic. These death notices are of great use to the family history researcher, since before 1865 the City of Cincinnati did not keep any record of deaths, and until 1908 death certificates were not required by the State of Ohio. Between the years 1865 and 1908, the City of Cincinnati did keep records of persons who died within the city limits (mostly the immediate downtown area during this time) and then only if the family or undertaker reported it to the office. Even if the death was recorded, the information contained in the certificate was minimal (e.g. name, age, address, place of burial, and country of birth). Death notices, on the other hand, frequently contained additional useful information about the deceased and their survivors. Of greatest importance is the fact that there were a considerable number of death notices that were published in the 1830's and 1840's. Previous to this, there had been little or no information about persons who died during this time, since most cemeteries that kept records were not started until the mid 1840's. Also of some importance is the fact that the Cincinnati Daily Gazette published the names of the victims of the cholera epidemics of 1832 and 1866, and on a less complete basis, the victims of the 1849 major epidemic. Typically for an adult, a death notice would contain the person's full name, the name of the spouse (if married), the person's age, the date of death, and in a few cases the place of birth. If the deceased was a child or minor, the notice usually listed the names of both parents. Some information that might also have been included: the number of years the person lived in Cincinnati or America, other places of residence, or the place where they died, if it was not in Cincinnati. Since not all this vital information can be contained in this index, the date of the death notice is supplied after the person's name so that the reader may look for this additional information in the original notice, if desired. In the case where the deceased was a soldier (i.e. during the Civil War), or died in another county or state, the date of the notice might be several weeks or months after the event occurred. At this time, news from far away traveled very slowly. This index contains the name of the deceased, sorted alphabetically by last name, the date(s) that the death notice appeared in the newspaper, and the actual date of death and age, if published. In the case where a death notice is published for more than two days, only the first two days are listed, or the two days which contain the most information about the deceased and their family. In some cases for the death of a child, the age was given in months, weeks or days. In the index, this is listed as a number followed by an 'm', 'w', or a 'd' (e.g. 6m =6 months old, 4w = 4 weeks old, and 3d = 3 days old). In the case where a child was stillborn, a '-' appears in the age column. During the 1860's and 1870's, death notices were also occasionally published for persons living in neighboring counties and states (i.e. Indiana and Kentucky). For the most part, these names are not included in this index unless there was some connection listed with Cincinnati or Hamilton County (e.g. a relative lived in Cincinnati or the person was to be buried in a Hamilton County cemetery). During the early 1830's, when there were few death notices published, estate notices or notices of administration were included in this index. In this case, no date of death was listed, but frequently a surviving spouse or relative was named as executor, and it provides the latest possible date that the death could have occurred, and possible clues to additional court records that might be available. In addition, there are several periods after 1874 when burial permits issued by the City of Cincinnati were published on a daily basis. These are also included, when available, and usually include the date of death, age, and state or country of birth. The total number of death notices included in this index exceeds 37,000 names. During the time covered by this index, there were a few marriage notices that were also published. The total number of marriage notices included in this index is almost 11,000 names. However, the majority of these notices were during the 1860's and 1870's. These marriage notices are indexed both by groom name and bride name, and contain the date that the notice was published in the paper. This is NOT the date that the couple were married. The issues of Cincinnati Daily Gazette covered by this index are the issues that are still in existence, and are located in the History Department of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County located at 8th and Vine Street, and also at the Cincinnati Historical Society. The editions of the newspaper begin in July 1827 and run through Dec. 1881. There are several gaps where the microfilm issues are missing but are supplemented by the hardbound issues. These include:
July 1, 1827 -- May 31, 1828 June 30, 1829 -- July 7, 1829 Jan. 1830 -- Sept 25, 1830 April 1831 -- April 1837 Sept 8, 1838 -- March 4, 1839 Jan. 1, 1843 -- Dec . 31, 1843 Jan. 1, 1845 -- Jan. 21, 1845 Jan. 1846 -- Dec. 1849 June 25, 1852 -- July 30, 1852 June 26, 1854 -- July 3, 1854 Oct. 22, 1854 -- Dec. 31, 1854 Jan. 1855 -- June 1855 July 1864 -- Dec. 1864 Oct. 1868 -- Dec. 1868
The reader should be aware that during this time period there may be a great many spelling variations of a given surname over a period of time, and alternative spellings should be checked to ensure that all family members have been found. These include cases where a vowel is frequently changed with another vowel (e.g. McVay, McVey, and McVoy) and such cases where there are different spellings for the same sounding name (e.g. McClain, McClane, McClean, McLain, McLane, McLean). The letters 'C1 and 'K1 are also frequently interchanged, and should be checked for, especially if a surname begins with one of these letters.
|