Source Information

Ancestry.com. Washington County, Indiana Index to Death Records, 1882-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.
Original data: Indiana Works Progress Administration, comp. Index to Death Record Washington County, Indiana 1882-1920. Indiana, USA: 1940.

About Washington County, Indiana Index to Death Records, 1882-1920

This database is an index to the death records of Washington County, Indiana for the years 1882-1920. The index was created by the Indiana Works Progress Administration. In addition to providing the name of the deceased and a reference to the actual death record, the index also provides the person's age, date and place of death, sex, and color. The original death records are kept at the county health office in Salem, Indiana.

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 sixty-eight of the ninety-two 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.

Taken from Indiana, Ancestry's Red Book by Carol L. Maki, edited by Alice Eichholz. (Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry Incorporated, 1992).