Daily AncestorHeart disease
Heart disease on an old record meant some illness of the heart that the doctor did not name more exactly, such as a valve or muscle disease.
The 1911 Census Bureau manual lists heart disease, heart trouble and even organic heart trouble as undesirable terms, and asks doctors to name the exact disease, such as mitral regurgitation or valvular heart disease.
IPUMS sorts heart deaths on the 1850 to 1880 mortality schedules into several codes, from pericarditis to organic and functional heart disease, so a bare heart disease is hard to place.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Abner Quist, 66, M, W, Farmer, Jan., Disease of heart
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Heart disease." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/heart-disease. Last checked 2026-10-12.