Daily AncestorObstruction of the bowels
Obstruction of the bowels meant the intestine was blocked so nothing could pass; old statistics grouped it with hernia.
IPUMS puts hernia and intestinal obstruction in one code, and the 1911 Census Bureau manual does the same, asking doctors to state the form and whether the bowel was strangulated.
The manual indexes intussusception, the bowel slipping into itself, under the same title.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Abel Tranter, 58, M, W, Nov., Obstruction of bowels, 5 ds.
Sources
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Daily Ancestor. "Obstruction of the bowels." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/obstruction-of-the-bowels. Last checked 2026-10-12.