Essex County, Virginia Death Records, 1856-1896

An Act passed by the State of Virginia in 1853 required that a register of marriages, a register of births and a register of deaths be kept by court clerks. It also required that a copy of these records be provided to two locations: the Auditor of Public Accounts in Richmond, Virginia, and the local clerk of the court. Unfortunately, the two records often differ. This compilation is based primarily on the copy that was filed with the Auditor of Public Accounts. It represents 3,927 death records for whites, non-whites and slaves, for the period 1856–1896. There are no records in this series for 1853–1855 and 1863–1869. The records in this volume include: 1,327 white; 2,096 colored; 467 slave; 29 unidentified; 13 free black; and 1 mulatto.

Entries include the full name of the deceased, race: White or Colored (free or slave), name of slave owner, gender, date of death, place of death, name of disease or cause of death, age, names of parents, where born, occupation, consort of or unmarried, name of person giving the information of death, and designation of informant. Earlier entries for Colored may also list whether free or slave and name of slave owner. The front matter includes: Abbreviations, Act Requiring Vital Statistics, Common Diseases and Causes of Death, and two Register of Death examples (1861 and 1896). A place name index adds to the value of this work.