Death Records

Important Note About Copyright Some contributors have suggested images posted here may be subject to copyright protection. I'm a lawyer, and let me assure, that's not the case. THESE IMAGES ARE NOT COPYRIGHTED. Reason 1: To the extent images are from Hathitrust, and Google scanned them, Google does indeed "request" that the images not be used for "commercial" purposes My purpose is not commercial and, though Wikitree is owned by a company that's for profit, the purpose of Wikitree isn't commercial either. But even if you have doubts, remember that Wikitree's policy of posting only restricts the posting of copyrighted images. Google only makes a request but does not claim a copyright (see for yourself, here), and that's understandable (see next reason). Therefore, even if you think that Wikitree's purpose is commercial, there's no copyright being violated by these images. Reason 2: The reason, no doubt, the smart attorneys at Google didn't claim a copyright is because, whether scanned by Google, Ancestry.com or FamilySearch, a copyright cannot be taken for images that are already in the public domain, as the Hathitrust images are and as are virtually every government record in the United States. That's not my opinion, either; it's the settled law of the United States, per this.

Mendon (Mass.), Baldwin, T. W. 1920. Vital Records of Mendon, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850. Boston, Mass: Wright & Potter Printing Co. Page 474. Available online without restriction courtesy of Hathitrust here.