Is Unregistered Death possible after 1900 in U.S.?

Question

I am researching my great uncle, James Barton (no middle initial), trying to find a death record. I believe he was living in Mt. Victory, Hardin County, Ohio in 1900. I found a 'James Barton' married to Grace Barton with a child (Opalin) listed on this U.S. Census.

I believe this might be my great uncle as he was raised about 50 miles from Mt. Victory. I know he died before 1910 and following Grace Barton's timeline, I found she remarried in 1910 - on her marriage record she was listed as a widow. I'm assuming her husband, James Barton died and was buried in Mt. Victory, Ohio.

I have searched multiple on-line databases looking for a death record for my great uncle without success. I have searched in Ohio and surrounding states. Have also done searches using alternative spelling of the last name.

I recently discovered and contacted the Hardin County Genealogy Society and they are researching to see if they have a death record that has not been indexed. The woman that responded to my email mentioned, '... if his death was recorded, we would have it.'

Is it possible in the U.S. for a death within a city / town to have not been recorded?

Another friend doing family research mentioned that sometimes 'you just can't find a death record'. I don't understand why that would be possible in the 1900's in the U.S.

It seems there would have to be some kind of death record by a coroner or funeral home in order to bury someone.

UPDATE: I received feedback from the Hardin County Historical Society and they could not find a death record for my great uncle James Barton. The woman that responded said she knew of two doctors in Hardin county that 'refused to write death certificates unless they were paid to do so.'

Feedback from user2448131 to my initial inquiry was valuable (Thanks for that!) re: the State of Ohio not making death certificates mandatory until after 1908.

The website linked (Ohio Connections) listing a 'Barton James Sep 25, 1908 Franklin Vol. Sep-Oct/GR9231 Cert. 1936' was not my ancestor - the age at death was too old.

So without a death certificate, where do I look next to find a burial site or accurate date of death? On the on the 1900 census James's mother claimed five living children, whereas on the 1910 Federal Census his mother claimed she had only four living children. As I mentioned earlier, on the 1910 Federal Census, I found a James Barton married to Grace (Hall) Barton living in Mt. Victory, Ohio. Grace Barton remarried in 1910 and the marriage certificate stated she was a widow.

As I've mentioned before, I've checked the major on-line databases (Ancestry, Family Tree, Ohio Vital Records, etc.) and can't find any burial listed for my great uncle.

Any further suggestions?

Any suggestions as to

Answer 1

An article at ohiohistory.org seems to have some clues as to where to look, and has some general information on the requirements in Ohio at that time. It appears your relative may have died during a transition period for death records in the state of Ohio.

In July 1867, it became a statewide law to record deaths at the probate court of the county where the death occurred. There is no statewide index to these deaths prior to December 20, 1908.

So if the death occurred before Dec. 1908, the records should be in whatever local 'probate court' would have held jurisdiction. After that date:

On December 20, 1908, the Ohio Department of Health began recording all deaths in the state of Ohio.

So records before 1908 are dispersed in local courthouses, with no mandated indexing at any higher level. They should exist, unless the all-to-common courthouse fire or flood which could destroy locally stored information.

The web site linked to does provide a search engine, and using it comes up with one hit for a James Barton in that time frame:

Barton James Sep 25, 1908 Franklin Vol. Sep-Oct/GR9231 Cert. 1936