Printed from The Searcher, April 1994DEATHS IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY 1873
by Peggy Schultz
Death records for Los Angeles County moved from downtown to Norwalk; these were copied at the Hall of Records, now located on Imperial Boulevard near the Norwalk City Hall and courthouse. This new facility is quite easy to reach by the Santa Ana Freeway (#5), and there is ample free parking.
Vital records are located in the basement, where indexes for marriages, deaths and births (early) are shelved in cabinets with rollers and large flat tops on which to place the huge volumes. They are the same type of cabinets used at the old downtown office; however, there is more room in the new facility, as there is no staff other than those to help researchers. And, you can stay as long as you like during regular hours.
The earliest records, which begin for Los Angeles County in 1873, are very incomplete. Death records for the City of Los Angeles are recorded in separate volumes, and begin with September 1887.
These indexes are also on microfilm, available at the LDS Family History Library in West Los Angeles. However, the films are not easy to read; part of each page is quite dark and almost illegible. I was unable to get a good photocopy and had to go back to Norwalk to proofread sections transcribed for films.
Following are all records for the year 1873 in Volume I of Los Angeles County Death Index. Although called an index, it’s actually a fairly complete record, including, name, date of death, race or color, age, sex, whether married or single, where born, cause of death, attending physician, and a column for comments about employment.
I discovered this “employment column was a catch-all and really should have been labeled “remarks.” Some columns are eliminated here due to space limitations, but I copied important information under “remarks”. Standard 2 letter abbreviations appear for states; F = female, M = male in the sex column; S = single, M = married, and Wd = Widow in the COND. Column.
Transcribed by Laurie Houlihan
May 1, 2008
L.A. Death Records ~ Death/Cemetery Index ~ Archive Index
This Web page is sponsored on behalf of the California portion of The USGenWeb Project by Richard S. Wilson. Although believed to be correct as presented, if you note any corrections, changes, additions, or find that any links provided on this page are not functioning properly please contact the Archive Coordinator for prompt attention to the matter.