04 December 2008

Habben Family Found in 1880 Mortality Schedule at Ancestry.com


I already knew they were there, but it was nice to find them in just a few clicks.

The image contained in this blog post contains part of the 1880 mortality census schedule for my aunt Christina Habben and her son Harm. They died in Harmony Township, Hancock County, Illinois. Interestingly the entry indicates that she had been in the county for 12 years and son Harm for 10 years.



I've also included the search results page for Christina from Ancestry.com as well. I really wish they would not use the word "city" on the results, but I realize that database administrators have to pick some word to use. The problem is that the political jurisdictions smaller than county are not always cities, sometimes they are townships. There is no town of Harmony in Hancock County.

The 1880 mortality schedules provide information on:

  • gender
  • marital status
  • place of birth
  • age
  • month of death
  • cause of death
  • census year
  • and location
  • how long in the county

Remember that mortality schedules are a "census of the dead," and only are for those deaths that took place in the 12 calendar months before the census date. So the 1880 mortality schedule not deaths for all of 1880. It is deaths in the 12 months preceding the date of the 1880 census--1 June 1880.

The 1850-1880 United States Mortality Schedules can be searched here.

These records were microfilmed by the National Archives years ago and have been available there at at the Family History Library for some time as well.

Christina was a sister to Johann Ufkes (1838-1924), my great-great-grandfather.