Source Information

Ancestry.com. Wayne County, Indiana, U.S., Death Records Index, 1882-1920 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.
Original data: Indiana Works Projects Administration, comp. Index to Death Records Wayne County Indiana 1882-1920. Vol. I-III. Indiana, USA: WPA, 1941.

About Wayne County, Indiana, U.S., Death Records Index, 1882-1920

This database is an index to the death records of Wayne County, Indiana for the years 1882-1920. In addition to providing the name of the deceased, the index also provides the person's sex, color, age at time of death, and date and place of death, as well as a reference to the original record.

Birth and death records were recorded by the county health office beginning in 1882 where they remain before mandatory recording with the state board of health began in October 1907 for births and January 1900 for deaths. Certified copies may be obtained from either the county health department or the Division of Vital Records (1330 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46207).

The WPA began to index vital records, county-by-county, for the entire state, but the agency was abolished before the project was completed. Only 68 of the 92 counties had their birth and death records (1882-1920) and marriages (generally 1850-1920) collected. The completed county indexes are available in print at the Indiana State Library and Allen County Public Library, among others.