Almshouse Burial Permits

2013 Bicentennial Celebration

 

A Sample Burial Permit
Record Series Almshouse Burial Permits
Index Index
Dates 1911-1933
Location Warren County Records Storage & Archives
Format Preprinted burial permit forms
Arranged Chronological by File Date
Volume 0.1 cubic ft
Department Social Services
Legal Restrictions Restrictions May Apply
Use Restrictions Staff will access all records and must approve all requests for copies
Historical Background Provisions for the issuance of burial permits are found within the State's Vital Statistics Laws including but not limited to Chapter 270 of 1885, "An Act for the preservation of the public health and the registration of vital statistics." and Chapter 309 of 1888, as well as Ch. 661, Section 23 of the Laws of 1893. Within these are contained provisions for the issuance of burial permits upon the filing of death certificate with the local registrar. Of the very few that are in the almshouse collection, Form 6 (c. 1911 period), which specified that the stub be kept by the issuing officer, and the permit by the keeper of the cemetery. A later permit, Form VS 61 c. 1930, included extracts of the Vital Statistics Law, and cited responsibilities of filing, issuance, retention. That we have both stubs and/or permits illustrates that keepers of the period 1911-1933 may not have followed instructions to the letter. Nonetheless they provide additional evidence of the role of Superintendents of the Poor to the end illustrated in the Laws of 1885.
Description of Record Series Preprinted burial permit forms (NYS Dept. of Health Form 5, Form VS 61) with handwritten entries and containing: name of deceased, dates of death, burial, and permit, age, cause of death, undertaker, place of burial, certificate of death, signature of registrar/clerk; not all information provided for each permit. Total # of permits - 51. These do not represent a complete set of permits for the time period. Burial permits may also be found in the town where the decedent was buried. Series item # CO-2 # 633.
Purpose of Record A record of permit authorizing the burial of inmates of the County Home in the Almshouse or other cemetery in accordance with the Laws of New York.
Other Formats None
Finding Aids Indexed with summary containing name, date of death, place of death, burial date and place, age. Series location on inventory database.
Related Series Almshouse Admission Records, Almshouse Card Files, Almshouse Fiscal Records, Almshouse Reports of Death. Photo of Almshouse and cemetery in Public Works Construction Photographs. County Proceedings of the Board of Supervisors document government operation of the Almshouse and services to the Poor c. 1831+. Also available: Almshouse Cemetery with index and map.