Daily AncestorWorms
Worms on an old death record means an infestation of intestinal parasites such as roundworms or tapeworms, a cause often given for young children.
Parasitic worms live mostly in the gut and spread through soil, water and food contaminated with their eggs. Heavy infections caused belly pain, poor growth, weakness and anemia, which could leave a child unable to fight other illness.
Families and doctors also blamed worms for fevers and fits whose real cause they could not see, so the entry is not always literal.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Sarah Ross, 3, F, W, June, Worms
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Daily Ancestor. "Worms." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/worms. Last checked 2026-10-01.