I believe the first ***City of Savannah*** death certificates start about 1854. Keep in mind that compliance was not 100% and Savannah did not include all of Chatham County. Also, these death certificates DO NOT include family data. The fields are: Age, sex, race, nativity, marital status, occupation, Date of death, Place of death, disease causing death, duration of disease, place of burial, name of undertaker, physician. And, as always, they were not filled out by the deceased so everything except the death info is suspect. In 1919 the State of GA started their system with better forms. There were earlier state attempts at death certificates, but compliance was spotty at best. Frank J. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 8:58 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [GACHATHAM] Re: Death Certificates Prior to 1919 - State of Georgia Frank J: Noted your recent message relating to obtaining Death Certificates. It is my understanding that the Georgia Department of Human Resources, Vital Records Service, Atlanta, Georgia, has Death Certificates subsequent to January 1919. However, for earlier records relating to Chatham County (Savannah) Georgia, the Vital Records Office in Chatham County may be of assistance. Could you please advise how far prior to January 1919, the Vital records Office in Chatham County (Savannah), Georgia may have death certificates. Your cooperation and assistance will be appreciated. Robert D. Peterson e-mail address: [email protected] ============================== Visit Ancestry.com for a FREE 14-Day Trial and enjoy access to the #1 Source for Family History Online. Go to: http://www.ancestry.com/subscribe/subscribetrial1y.asp?sourcecode=F11HB