NEWS RELEASE
March 19, 1998

Department of Community Health Announces Genealogical Death Indexing System on the Internet

Department of Community Health Director James K. Haveman, Jr., today announced that a resource for historical information on Michigan deaths before the turn of the century is now available on the Internet. This Genealogical Death Indexing System (GENDIS), provides a complete recording of the facts from death ledgers, including the name of the decedent, the date, place, and cause of death, information on the decedent's occupation, parent's names and the places of birth for the decedent and for each parent.

"This automated indexing system on the Internet will greatly improve customer service and the public's ability to find the records that they want," said Department of Community Health Director James K. Haveman, Jr. "It also serves as a fine demonstration of citizen participation in this effort to preserve Michigan's history."

This comprehensive data file will be maintained by the Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics and is housed in a computerized indexing system that allows genealogists and others to use key facts, such as the decedent's name or year of death, to locate and view the records they are searching for.

This new service is possible thanks to the efforts of volunteer genealogists from across the state and the support of the Michigan Genealogical Council and the Abrams Foundation. The file being made available has been developed through a project to automate Michigan's earliest recordings of deaths. This project, which began in 1987, has been conducted under the careful coordination of Margaret Tager Walker, a genealogist and general coordinator of the project for the Michigan Genealogical Council. Copies of these early death records are prepared and distributed to volunteer genealogists across the state to be carefully deciphered and transcribed. These transcriptions are then captured electronically and inserted into the data file used by the GENDIS indexing system.

This new system currently contains information on 81,540 Michigan deaths which occurred and were recorded during the years 1867 through 1874 and into 1875. When completed, the database will contain 481,000 deaths records for the years 1867 through 1897.

This automated system is greatly superior to the traditional method of searching for a specific death recording. It allows direct access, for the first time, to the entire statewide file of deaths for these years. Until now only indexes consisting of name listings or unordered microfilms were available to researchers on a state wide basis. The indexing features of this new system allows genealogists and other historians to quickly hone in on those records that match their search criteria. GENDIS also has the capability to search on a range of years or varied spellings of names, which is important for genealogical work.

The web site for GENDIS is located on the Department of Community Health's web page. The direct address is: http:/www.mdch.state.mi.us/gendis/index.htm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS CONTACT: Geralyn Lasher
March 19, 1998 (517) 241-2112