Plainfield library adds 1850 & 1880 Hendricks County mortality schedules

The Plainfield Public Library's Indiana Room has added microfilm of Hendricks County's 1850 and 1880 mortality schedules to their collection. The mortality schedule was a supplement to the federal census, taken during 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. It recorded information on people who had died within the previous year - so the 1850 mortality schedule is for those who died between 1 June 1849 and 31 May 1850; the 1880 mortality schedule is for those who died between 1 June 1879 and 31 May 1880. The mortality schedules included the person's occupation and the cause of death, which are even more important information because Indiana did not start keeping death records until 1882.

Plainfield library is in the process of acquiring the microfilm of the 1860 and 1870 Hendricks County mortality schedules, as well as the mortality schedules for the other counties in Indiana. This microfilm was previously available only at the Indiana State Library and a few other repositories.