Ancestry.com Posts “Death Records of American Citizens Abroad, 1910-1974”

In a news release this morning, Ancestry.com announced that they have digitized the “Death Records of American Citizens Abroad, 1910-1974.” These records were formerly in paper format at the National Archives and could only be accessed in the research rooms at that facility. The papers were scanned under a May, 2008 agreement with NARA.

From the Ancestry.com news release:

“Death Reports of American Citizens Abroad” includes records of the U.S. consular officers that reported to the Department of State the names of U.S. citizens who died within their consular districts. These death reports commonly provide acceptable documentation in the English language for cases in which satisfactory proof of an American death might be very difficult to obtain in any other form.

I checked for any American citizen by the name of Canfield who may have died abroad and whose papers might now be available online. Sure enough, two Canfields were listed. They are:

• Lloyd Jewett Canfield, born abt 1906, died 16 May 1972 in Norway.
• Michael Temple Canfield, born abt 1926, died 21 December 1969 in Canada.

In clicking on through to the original digitized record of Michael Canfield’s death, I came up with a fascinating document. It seems that Michael was on his way to London, England when he died on board the plane in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Some of the facts found on the form of interest to genealogists are as follows:

Form: FS-192 – Report of the Death of An American Citizen
Name: Michael Temple Canfield
Occupation: Publishers Representative
Naturalized
Date of Death: Dec. 21, 1969
Age: 43 years, 4 mos, 11 days
Place of death: On board B.O.A.C. flight at Halifax International Airport while enroute to London, England.
Cause of Death: Coronary occlusion – arteriosclerosis
Doctor attending: Dr. A. E. Murray, Halifax, Canada
Disposition of Remains: Interred at Halifax, England
Disposition of Effect: In possession of executors, Bank of New York
Informed by Telegram: Mrs. Michael T. Canfield, 36 Hays Mews, London W.1, England – Widow – Dec. 21, 1969
Copy of this report sent to: Mrs. Michael T. Canfield, 36 Hays Mews, London W.!, England – Widow – April 10, 1970
Copy of this report sent to: Emmet, Marvin & Martin, Counsellors at Law, 48 Wall St., New York – April 10, 1970
Traveling or residing abroad with relatives or friends as follows: Enroute to London, England via B.O.A.C. Flight when death occurred at Halifax International Airport on board plane.
Other Known Relatives: Mr. Cass Canfield, Guard Hill Road, Bedford, NY – Father

Remarks: Death Certificate on file with office of Registrar-General of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Canada; copy FS-192 sent Am Embassy, London, England since decedent resided in that district. Passport Z763372 issued to Michael Temple Canfield on January 24, 1968 at London, cancelled and forwarded to executors.

The following is from the Ancestry.com News Release:

Ancestry.com also launched Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad, 1963-1974. This first installment of more than 80,000 records consists of letters, formal reports, passports and other key historical documents that verify deaths of Americans overseas.

Included in this valuable collection are some familiar names:

• Judy Garland – Listed as “Judy Garland DeVinko”, Garland died of “barbiturate poisoning, incautious overdose, accidental” in her Chelsea, London, house in 1969.
• Sylvia Plath – The death record states that American author “Sylvia Plath-Hughes” died of “Carbon Monoxide Poisoning (domestic gas) whilst suffering from depression. Did kill herself” in February 1963 in London. She is buried in Yorkshire, England.
• Mama Cass – Listed as “Ellen Naomi Cohen”, Mama Cass, from The Mamas and the Papas, died of “fatty myocardial degeneration due to obesity,” contrary to rumors she choked on a ham sandwich, while in London in 1974.
• Jimi Hendrix – In 1970, controversy surrounded Jimi Hendrix’s London death, as there was no solid confirmation of his cause of death. This record collection continues to add to the mystery: James Marshall Hendrix’s death record was replaced with a note showing that J. White checked out the death record in 1979. Today, the check-out slip is the only document in Jimi Hendrix’s file.

Once NARA records are digitized, Ancestry.com posts them online for its subscribers. Additionally, NARA archive visitors will have access to the digitized files on-site through Ancestry.com.

Search the “Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad, 1963-1974” at Ancestry.com.