Series 2245

DESCRIPTION: It was the duty of the justice of the peace to act as coroner and hold inquests on the bodies of those supposed to have died of unlawful means within his precinct. According to legislation passed in 1896, a register of inquests was to be kept recording the date; the name of the deceased if known, if not, a description of the deceased; the description of any property found on the deceased and its disposition; and the cause of death if determined. These two volumes record inquests held by the city judge who was also the ex-officio justice of the peace for the city. In 1965, with the creation of a state medical examiner's position, the series ends.

In addition to the description and dispostion of the body and property found with it, the first volume often records a brief procedural summary of the inquest, including the names of the jurors, the names (but not the testimony) of witnesses, a summary of any autopsy held, and an itemization of costs incurred in holding the inquest. Ocassionally a pertinent newspaper clipping, suicide note, etc. was glued into the volume. The second volume rarely includes such detail: Entries are frequently limited to a docket noting dates of orders, subpoenas, and requests for post mortems, along with the resultant expenses.

ARRANGEMENT: The volumes are chronological. Entries are primarily chronological.

RELATED RECORDS: An account of the autopsy for some of these individuals may be found in the AUTOPSY RECORD BOOK, series 4580, which spans the years 1913 to 1919. Some of the cases recorded in these registers and turned over to the district court for filing can be found in series 3851, CORONERS' INQUEST CASE FILES, 1886-1937.

FINDING AIDS: Both volumes have partial indices. Entries in the first are arranged chronologically. In the second, the entries are in alphabetical order by the first letter of the deceased's surname.

PROCESSING NOTE: The first volume was microfilmed in 1981, the second in 1991. Archivally processed by A.C. Cone in 1990.

CONTAINER LIST