Historical death records

Death records

Death registers

Death Registers - Seattle only (1881-1907)

Records from 1881 to 1891 include the name of the deceased, as well as their age, sex, race, marital status, birthplace, occupation, date of death, place of death, cause of death, and attending physician. Records from 1891 to 1907 additionally include the place of interment. The register entries are organized chronologically. Only registers from 1889 to 1899 have self-contained indexes. Registers from other years do not have indexes. We have the original volumes as well as electronic copies. The Seattle death registers are indexed and available online (external link).

Death Registers - county wide (1891-1907)

These entries contain basically the same information as the Seattle Death Registers (above). They are organized by first letter of the last name, and then chronologically.

King County death registers are indexed and available online through the Washington State Digital Archives.

Death certificates

Death Certificates - southeast King County only (1913-1951)

These certificates are limited to districts containing Black Diamond and Enumclaw. The records are organized by district, and then chronologically.

Coroner's records

Coroner's Inquest Transcripts (1897-1906)

Transcriptions of testimony given at King County Coroner's inquests. These records usually include the name of the deceased, death date and place and findings on the cause of death. The King County Archives' holdings only includes records from 1897-1900 and 1905-1906. Transcripts from other years (1899-1955) can be found at the Puget Sound Regional Archives.

Coroner's Scrapbooks (1914-1969)

These scrapbooks are comprised of newspaper clippings relating to accidental or violent deaths in King County that were investigated by the Coroner's Office (Medical Examiner). The clippings are organized semi-chronologically and are not indexed by name.

Burials

Burial-Transit Permits (1969-1977, 1981-1986, 1995, 1997-2006)

These forms are required before the disposition of any human remains can take place and are created after the completed death certificate is submitted. This series documents individuals who died in King County, were buried in King County or whose remains were transported through King County. Forms include name of the deceased, date of death, place of death, age, sex, cause of death (if a communicable or infectious disease), method of disposal (cremation, burial, storage or removal), and the date and place of burial or cremation. Varying information includes date of birth, place of birth, marital status and name of spouse. These records are not indexed and are organized semi-chronologically. Also included in this series is permits for individuals who were buried or cremated in Auburn only from 1963 to 1969. Also included are disinterment permits (when remains were exhumed and reburied elsewhere) from 1950 to 1968.

Death returns

King County Death Returns (1891-1907)

These are the original returns/certificates that were used to create the county death registers (above) and document people that died in King County (including Seattle) or were buried in King County. They are organized numerically by the return number (1-18901). They often contain more detailed information than the death registers including: name of deceased, date of death, place of death, cause of death, date of birth, age at death, place of birth, sex, race, occupation, place of residence, names and birth places of parents, place of burial, name of undertaker and name of attending physician.

These records are indexed in the King County Death Registers.

There are forty seven (47) death returns that were not included in the death registers and are indexed separately.

Exhumations

Record of Bodies Exhumed from Potters Field Cemetery (1900-1912)

Register of Individuals who died between 1900 and 1912 and were buried in the Potter's Field Cemetery (also called Duwamish Poor Farm or King County Hospital Cemetery) in Georgetown. The remains were exhumed and cremated at the King County Crematory in Georgetown. The index entries contain names, dates of death and ages at death. They are not organized in alphabetical order. The names in this volume are indexed and available online. King County Archives maintains a separate record of the disposition of 176 of these 855 cremains.

Death record indexes

Indexes at King County Archives

Auditor's Death Records (1897-1901)

Each entry in this index only contains a name, a date (presumably date of death) and an unidentified number. The entries are organized alphabetically. The index does not have many entries and is not a complete death index for these years. It is unknown what the purpose of the index was or what the numbers refer to.

Death Indexes - Seattle only (1907-1937)

Each entry in this alphabetical index contains the individual's name, the date of death, age at the time of death, and death certificate number.

Death Indexes - County wide (1953-1965, 1976-1978)

Each entry in this alphabetical index contains the individual's name, the date of death, age at the time of death, and death certificate number.

Additional indexes

Washington State Death Index, 1907-1979, is held by the Southwest Regional Branch of the State Archives in Olympia.

Washington State Death Index, 1907-1995, is held by the Eastern Regional Branch of the State Archives in Cheney.

Washington State Death Index, 1907-2002, is held by the Central Regional Branch of the State Archives in Ellensburg.

Washington State Death Index, 1907-2004, is held by the Washington State Library in Tumwater.

Washington State Death Index, 1940-1954 and 1965-1996, is available online through Ancestry Library Edition, a digital platform that may be available at your local public library.

Washington State Death Index, 1907-1960, is available online through the Washington State Digital Archives (WSDA). WSDA also features a name index to certificates.

Washington State Death Index, 1960-1974, is available online through the Vitalsearch website. The index is not searchable by name, but users may browse images by page number.

Social Security Death Index, 1962-present, is available online through Family Search, which documents all deaths recorded by the Social Security Administration.