St. Louis Genealogical Society has compiled a list of burials in St. Louis, some as early as the late 1700s. When burial records are made available to the society, the society volunteers compile them. More than one million names are included in the current list. The records for many burials have been lost as the cemeteries moved with the development of the city.

The city experienced several epidemics causing group burials with no identification. A voluntary death registration started in St. Louis in 1850. The registration includes the name of the burial location and the date. In the 1880s, St. Louis City required a burial permit and the extant burial permits are available on microfilm. The film plus a list of the available records by date is available in the History and Genealogy Department at St. Louis County Library Headquarters.

The death register provides the number of the burial permit, which then can be used to locate the correct permit. A burial permit was required if a person died at another location and was returned to St. Louis for burial. All of this information is available on the CD, St. Louis Death Registers: An Index to Deaths Recorded in the City and County of St. Louis 1850–1908. CD Products. StLGS members have free access to this information by logging into the website and clicking on the “Members’ Benefits” button on the home page.

Last modified: 30-Jun-2016 18:31