Death Reports of American Citizens Abroad 1835-1974

Among the many collections Ancestry has updated over the last three or four weeks, one in particular caught my eye: All Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad, 1835-1974.

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It turns out this collection has been in the database for eight years, but since I'd not heard of it before, I decided to take a peek. And what treasures it holds, with huge potential for an Irish-American researcher who is struggling to make a connection between their Irish immigrant ancestor and a place in Ireland.

Click on the image to view a taster: Thomas Devine, born c1846 and naturalised in Montana in 1893, suffered a heart attack while visiting Londonderry and died in the City Infirmary. He was buried in Cloughcor cemetery and the plot was marked by a headstone. He had a son and daughter living in Londonderry, and another son and daughter living in New York. Their four addresses are provided, and it is noted that the elder son, resident in Londonderry, had taken ownership of the family farm.

The collection holds more than 210,000 reports of death compiled by US consulates around the world. Among them are 4,420 reports of deaths of American Citizens in Ireland, most of them naturalised Irish-born; in most cases the deceased appears to have been visting family in Ireland.