The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1905-02-23
BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, DEATHS.
Records Not Always Properly Kept.
BY County Officials.

At the present time the press of the
state is devoting considerable space
to the laxity in which birth, death anu
marriage records are kept. The Cul-
yer Citizen gives the following infor-
nation in regard to this subject:
The county records concerning
births, marriages and deaths in the
county. as required by law to be col
lected and kept by the secretary of
the county board of health. contain,
in the matter of births, nineteen items
for record In each case, among which
are: Give name of child, sex, date and
place Of birth, mothers maiden name,
age, residence and birth place. also
fathers name, age, occupation and
birth place, and the name and post
Office address of the physician or
householder, whose legal duty it is
to report the birth, on blank slip, 10
the secretary, and transcribed by
him for permanent record.
Blank slips for marriage returns are
provided, upon which are filled by the
person officiating. twenty items for
record in each marriage. These are
to be returned to the county clerk,
and transmitted each month by him
to the secretary of the county board
of health. whose duty it is to trans
cribe each item in his record book of
marriages. These records show the
full names of groom and bride; place
OF residence and birth; ages; father
name; mothers maiden name, with
place of marriage; occupation OF
groom; name of person officiating and
date of marriage These returns of
both marriages and births are to be
labeled with page and record number
for the book in which they are record
ed, and placed and preserved on file in
the secretary's Office.
The record of each death occurring
in the county is obtained from form
of certificate of death issued by the
Indiana state board of health. filled
out from information obtained from
the family or friends of the deceased,
ard the physician and the undertaken
in attendance, whose names and ad-
dress are attached to their respective
forms of certificate. The record con-
tains for each death. full name of de-
ceased; date of death: disease causing
death: its duration; physicians name;
age of deceased at time of death; sex;
residence; occupation; condition in
life; birth place: place of death; faith
er's name and birth place; mother S
maiden name and birth place; date and
place of burial and undertaker's name
twenty items in all
There is, upon an average. i'll Mar
shall county. annually about 500 births
over 200 marriages and about 500
deaths. all of which are to be recorded
as above described bv the secretary
of the county board of health, i'll addi-
ton to the record of all contagious
diseases occurring in the county. Over
1850 names are recorded each wear,
consisting in all four per cent. of the
population of the county.
These records are valuable to the
people inasmuch as from them cor
rect certificates can be obtained of
births, marriages and deaths, estab-
lishing legal claims which may involve
the present and future rights of any
person who may have an interest in
such a record They become more
valuable as time advances. and will
he examine with intense interest by
future generations. for they will con-
tain family history of every person
who has the privilege OF a birth in
Marshall county. and the honor of be-
ing a citizen OF the great state of
Indiana The officer intrusted to col
lect and keep these records complete
has assumed a great responsibility.