Excerpt from Annual Report on the Vital Statistics of Massachusetts, Births, Marriages, Divorces and Deaths: For the Year Ending December 31, 1932

Death Registration. - Massachusetts was the first colony to recognize the im portance of the registration of vital statistics and Chapter 3, Acts of 1639 of the Laws of the Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay required the registration of births, marriages and deaths, and in 1840 it was required by statute that copies should be filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth. In 1880 the registration area for deaths recognized by the United States Bureau of the Census, i.e., the States, and cities in other States, effectively enforcing satisfactory registration laws of all deaths registered, included but two States, Massachusetts and New Jersey, the District of Columbia, and a number of cities in non-registration States.

During the period 1841 to 1932, inclusive, deaths have been reported, recorded, and tabulated in the Division of Vital Statistics.

These records are not only on file in the cities and towns in which they occurred and in the city and town given as the residence of the deceased at the time of death, but also at the State House.

Purpose. - Death registration often gives the first intimation of pestilential disease, permitting health officers to attack epidemics in their incipiency. It serves as evidence in the inheritance of property and in the settlement of life insurance. It is useful in preventing crime through the restriction placed upon the disposal of dead human bodies, and Insures a permanent and uniform record of the death of each individual for both sentimental and legal reasons.

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