Montgomery County Historical Society Montgomery County Historical Society
Dedicated to preserving and perpetuating the rich local history of the Montgomery County, Missouri area.

Census Mortality Schedules

In 1850, 1860, 1870, & 1880 there were mortality schedules in the Federal census that listed those individuals who had died within the year ending on June 1 of the census year. They are transcribed and digitized for easy access by the State Archives.  A listing with links is found here.

The 1850 & 1860 schedules list the name; age; sex; color; slave or free; marital status; place of birth; month of death; cause of death; profession; and number of days ill.  The 1870 schedule adds columns for whether the individual’s parents are foreign born and deletes the number of days ill and the slave or free columns.  Finally, the 1880 schedule adds columns for residency, where the disease was contracted, and the attending physician’s name. Beginning in 1890, the mortality schedule was reduced to aggregate data for a few cities from each state.  Missouri cities in 1890 were Kansas City and St. Louis.  St. Joseph was added in 1900.