Plainfield library adds 1860 & 1870 Hendricks County mortality schedules

The Plainfield Public Library's Indiana Room has added microfilm of Hendricks County's 1860 and 1870 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 1860 mortality schedule is for those who died between 1 June 1859 and 31 May 1860; the 1870 mortality schedule is for those who died between 1 June 1869 and 31 May 1870. 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 now has the 1850-1880 Hendricks County mortality schedules and is in the process of acquiring 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.