Hi all, Does anyone know if there is an index somewhere to all those cremanes that are at the State Hospital in Salem? There was another story about them in the Oregonian Friday and they are going to have meetings on what to do with all these old containers soon. It seems to me that somebody mentioned quite some time ago that there was an on-line index somewhere for all those people but I can't find it. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe you have to go there or call them to have them look in their index? Thanks, Nathan

You could call the writer of the recent stories about the cremains. However, the articles do say that most of the names on the containers are illegible. Maggie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nathan Haines Sr." <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2005 3:06 PM Subject: [GFO] State Hospital question > Hi all, > Does anyone know if there is an index somewhere to > all those cremanes that are at the State Hospital in > Salem? There was another story about them in the > Oregonian Friday and they are going to have meetings > on what to do with all these old containers soon. It > seems to me that somebody mentioned quite some time > ago that there was an on-line index somewhere for all > those people but I can't find it. Maybe I am wrong. > Maybe you have to go there or call them to have them > look in their index? > Thanks, > Nathan > > > ==== ORFORUM Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe, send a message to [email protected] that > contains (in the body of the message) only the single word: unsubscribe > > ============================== > Jumpstart your genealogy with OneWorldTree. Search not only for > ancestors, but entire generations. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13972/rd.ashx >

I don't know if an on-line index exists, but I do know that not all the containers are identifiable. I have tried to obtain the cremains of my grandmother, and even though I had the container number and the vault where originally interred, her remains could not be located. If there is an index, maybe I can try again. Ben Tabler USN (ret)

> Hi all, > Does anyone know if there is an index somewhere to >all those cremanes that are at the State Hospital in >Salem? There was another story about them in the >Oregonian Friday and they are going to have meetings >on what to do with all these old containers soon. It >seems to me that somebody mentioned quite some time >ago that there was an on-line index somewhere for all >those people but I can't find it. Maybe I am wrong. >Maybe you have to go there or call them to have them >look in their index? > Thanks, > Nathan Try this out Nathan, http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/ go to genealogy, then to historic records index. Some of them are indexed here as all of the records have been indexed that are located now at the Oregon State Archives. Some of the folks died after 1954 so you can't get access yet to their info but the other place is to check the death index for your possible folks, then to get the death certificates from the archives 1903-1954 are available for the cost of a photo copy, and you get to hold the real thing while you do it yourself, such a deal. Photo copies are 25¢ the last I was down. On the folks you find on the above web site you can ask to see the hospital books on and photo copy the info from them. They list the person's name, when they were admitted, why, how long they had been there and what they died of and sometimes a few other things. like where they were buried as not all were cremated. Not all were buried, dug up, cremated and placed in the cans which went into a vault, that leaked water onto them, and then were removed and put in the store room. So any one that thinks they have family there PLEASE look into it right away and see about picking them up and having them placed with your family. I know of a couple of people that are now in the process of doing just that. Lets give them a proper resting place and the proper recognition that they are due. Please remember not all of these folks were insane, a lot of them died of TB, and other things. Many that were sent there were very old and had no family, no homes and were senile not insane. At least one case that I am aware of the husband wanted to get rid of his wife so he had her committed even though she was perfectly healthy, she ended up working in the wards and died there. That is one reason that now days it is so hard to commit someone that truly is insane and truly needs help. Go and see who you can find. Janice M. Healy Co-compiler of "Oregon Burial Site Guide" Aloha, Oregon U.S.A. Mailto:[email protected] "Oregon Burial Site Guide" http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/obsg.html Plan ahead for the following conferences: NGS Conference 1-4 June 2005, Nashville Tennessee FGS Conference 9-10 Sept 2005, Salt Lake City Public service site http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/ancestors.html

Nathan and Ben, There is an index on line at the Oregon State Archives. There are 8,102 names of persons that died at the state hospital from 1883-1936. (this is what it says about these records) The registers document the deaths of Oregon State Hospital patients. Information includes date of death, patient name, age, nativity, county from which the patient was committed, month and year of commitment, cause of death, grave number, and remarks. The remarks focus on the city and/or county to which the remains were sent. My relative was not claimed at her death so there is no county named with her indexing. That may be a way to distinguish them apart, who was claimed and who was not. Try entering Johnson, Nancy. It will show her State Hospital record just for an example. http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/banners/genlist.htm Scroll down to "Hospital, Oregon State" in the idexing list. On the actual search page, there is no choice for this option, so you just need to enter at least a last name or partial last name. I also read the current article in the Oregonian about the latest plans to find a final resting place for all of the mishandled remains at the state hospital, so yesterday I emailed a letter to Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson expressing my thoughts on the subject. I too had requested the remains of my 3rd great grandmother over a year ago, filled out their form and paid $15.00 for a certified death cert (a copy would not do) and sent it all down to them only to hear back (3 months later) that they couldn't find any record of her. I'll post again if I get a reply from her. Hope this helps. Diana ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nathan Haines Sr." <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2005 3:06 PM Subject: [GFO] State Hospital question > Hi all, > Does anyone know if there is an index somewhere to > all those cremanes that are at the State Hospital in > Salem? There was another story about them in the > Oregonian Friday and they are going to have meetings > on what to do with all these old containers soon. It > seems to me that somebody mentioned quite some time > ago that there was an on-line index somewhere for all > those people but I can't find it. Maybe I am wrong. > Maybe you have to go there or call them to have them > look in their index? > Thanks, > Nathan