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| 1878 inquest for Daniel F. Gordon |
"The Coroner's office must inquire into the
circumstances of sudden, unexplained, violent and unnatural deaths. This may
require a post-mortem examination sometimes followed by an inquest. The
Coroner's inquiry is concerned with establishing whether or not death was due
to natural or unnatural causes. If a death is due to unnatural causes, for
example in a road traffic accident, accident at work or by drowning, then an
inquest must be held by law." (SMC Coroner's Office Website)
Coroner's files can be a significant source
of information. Not only will
information relating to the death of an individual be revealed, you can also
find insights into family relationships, clues as to a person's behavior and
other items that add color to your genealogical stories. Here are a few snippets of information from
San Mateo County Coroner’s Records...... (Read more in the Nov 2013 issue of the SMCGS Newsletter which is available to members online or in the SMCGS and other genealogical libraries.)
SMCGS member, Russ Brabec, has created an
Index to San Mateo County Coroner's Records. It currently covers the records from the inception of the county to 1971. A work in progress, it will eventually cover all records housed in the SMC Record Repository. Barry Goyette has joined the effort. The index gives the case number, the container, the name, age and birthplace of the deceased and the cause of death. As you see in this example there are some unidentified bodies, many more are listed as Unknown.
While all of the records can be ordered from the
San Mateo County Recorders Office, you can avoid the fee, which is a bit hefty, for reports through 1946 by using the digital images on
Family Search. To speed you on your way you will find a
Coroner's Records Finding Aid that allows you to go straight to the record set that includes the case you are looking for.
Navigating through these records on FamilySearch takes just a few minutes if you use the correct technique. Start by finding the right set for the case you want, perhaps #950. Click on
Coroner's reports no 934-988 1920-1921 to open the record set. This set of records has 510 pages. 950 would most likely be in the first half of those records and probably well before the half mark. Think easy navigation and pick say 200 type that into the box and assess where it got you. In this case it was page two of a case. I hit the back button to page one, but there was no case number so I went back another page and there it was 950. I admit that was a little bit of luck, but generally I do not have to work very hard to find the record. Say page 200 had been case 940, you might then use the box to go to 250. If that was case 955, you might go back to page 225. You now have at the most 25 pages either way to find your record.
Check out the other
SMCGS Databases and good luck with your research
The long-term project to index SMC Coroner's Records has been completed. The majority of the 40.000+ files were indexed by Russ Brabec. The index goes through the year 1984. An earlier post on this blog, SMCGS Databases Online: Coroner's Records, discusses the index and the digital images that are available on FamilySearch.
A jury was sworn, heard the evidence and on 14 Mar 1881 found that James Malaney, age about 58, nativity unknown but thought thought to have resided in Wisconsin previously, had died of exposure and exhaustion.
