Thanks to Andrew Huston and Dave Kearny for your responses to my query about early Somerset County coroner's records, etc. I was interested as well in what Mr. Brown of the Delaware Medical Examiner's Office had to say to Mr. Huston about the lack of coroner's records in the Delaware Public Archives. Now that I think about it, this isn't entirely surprising. Several of the last Sussex County coroners were friends of my family and both of the ones we knew were undertakers, as opposed to medical professionals. In Delaware, anyway, the office of coroner was an elective position like the county row offices (prothonotary, recorder of deeds, register of wills, etc.) and coroners worked part time out of their own homes, along with pursuing their regular occupations. They probably simply kept their records, such as they were, after their terms ended, as opposed to having them entered into large dockets at the courthouse. Another close friend of mine was an undertaker who purchased an already established business which had started in the 19th century. He had old ledgers that came with the business containing quite a bit of information of historical value. So trying to track down pre-Civil War records of this type is probably a losing proposition. Oh, well. Thanks again, Dick Carter -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 3:00 AM To: [email protected] Subject: LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS Digest, Vol 5, Issue 142 LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS Administrivia For information about the Lower Delmarva Roots Mailing List, including list guidelines and instructions for unsubscribing and subscribing, see the LDRoots FAQ: http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm Today's Topics: 1. Re: Somerset County, MD ante-bellum coroner's records and/or newspapers ([email protected]) 2. Antebellum coroner's records and/or newspapers (Dave & Jane Kearney) 3. Re: lower three counties of Pennsylvania (Jackie Helmke) 4. Dames Quarter Parks ([email protected]) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 14:12:32 -0400 (EDT) From: [email protected] Subject: Re: [LDR] Somerset County, MD ante-bellum coroner's records and/or newspapers To: [email protected] Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" This won't help you with Maryland, but for anyone interested in Sussex County, DE, I have looked, without success, for a coroner's report for a Jonathan Short. His 1793 probate administration shows expenses paid both to the coroner, and also for witness fees at an inquest. I checked first with the DE Archives (the most likely repository), and they did not have anything about it. I also checked with the DE Historical Society and came up empty-handed. I then corresponded with Hal Brown, Deputy Director of the Delaware Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Mr. Brown went WAY above the call of duty, and sent me this response (within 3 days): I am sorry to report that we do not have a single record here prior to 1955. Delaware established a medical examiner system in 1955 to work alongside of the pre-existing coroner system. It was not until about a decade later in 1964 that the system became successful. In 1970, after 15 years of uphill battles with supporters of the antiquated coroner system, it was abolished, resulting in a statewide medical examiner system. Just to be positive, I personally visited our archives today and there is simply nothing in existence here, prior to 1955. Whereas the Delaware archives did not have the record you are seeking, I would next check with the Delaware Historical Society _http://delgensoc.org/dehisrec.html_ (http://delgensoc.org/dehisrec.html) and also see what they have. I'm sure you are probably already aware of Delaware Genealogical Abstracts from Newspapers. Volume 3: Delaware Marriages and Deaths from the Newspaper? Might be worth a peek, but who knows? (I do not have a copy or would check right now for you). If nothing else, it might serve as a guide to what newspapers were in existence at that time. _http://www.heritagebooks.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=HBI&Affiliate=dkc&Product_C ode=R0030_ (http://www.heritagebooks.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=HBI&Affiliate=dkc&Product_Code=R0030) I haven't been able to locate a newspaper based in Sussex around 1796, so I'm afraid this angle will be a dead-end as well. It's too bad; I think there are many interesting stories which have been lost with the coroners' records. Andrew Huston **********