Record of the Parish List of Deaths 1785-1819 [Of Salem Massachusetts]

Salem Massachusetts famous for its witchcraft trials of the late 17th century is situated about 30 miles northeast of Boston. The work at hand compiled by William Bentley is a transcription of the death entries found in the parish records of the East Church of Salem of which Mr. Bentley was the pastor. The book was edited for publication by Ira J. Patch and was originally published in 1882 as part of the Historical Collections of the Essex Institute. The abstracts themselves over 1200 in all are arranged in chronological order and they are among the most complete death notices we have seen. Typically the notice's include the decedent's name and his/her age and the cause of death; his/her place of birth; the names of parents and/or surviving family members; and something about the decedent's life or character. In all these handy notices refer to nearly 2500 early inhabitants of Salem each of whom may be found in the complete name index at the back of the volume.