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ERC: Genealogy and Family History: Records
BURIAL-TRANSIT PERMITS
Once
the completely filled out death
certificate is hand-delivered to the local registrar's office,
the clerk there looks over the form to make sure it was filled out
properly. If everything is in order, the death certificate is
approved and an official stamp is place upon it. The registrar's
office assigns a unique number to the certificate. The desired
number of copies of the death certificate are ordered. Then, a
burial-transit permit is filled out and approved. This will allow
the burial to take place. Occasionally, the funeral director fills
out the permit at the funeral home and brings it along with the
death certificate to the local registrar for approval. Whichever the
case, if all the forms are filled out properly, the death
certificate and permit are approved and the burial-transit permit is
returned to the funeral director. The director then calls up the
cemetery where the person is to be buried, giving them all the
pertinent information, which may be entered onto a form that the
cemetery will use. Arrangements are made for the burial between the
funeral director and the cemetery.
It must be pointed out that a burial cannot take place in New York
State without a burial-transit permit accompanying the body for
burial.
Here are three examples of burial-transit permits, two from 1945
(one issued in Kings County, the other on Long Island, in Nassau
County), and another from 2005, issued in New York City.
Note that two of the three permits have been filled out by hand. Even though
the clarity of the images below is subpar due to the need to reduce
its size, one can easily see how the spelling of the deceased's name
can easily be misinterpreted and thus entered incorrectly into the
cemetery records and subsequently into any searchable cemetery
database. Similar errors could also have been made when the
actual death certificate was filled out:
1945 KINGS COUNTY
(BROOKLYN):
It is stated that the death certificate has
been furnished to the Health Department as required by the
Sanitary Code. It is also stated that "this permit must be
handed to the Keeper of the Cemetery or Crematory by the Funeral
Director charge of the funeral." Here the funeral parlor is
named Kirschenbaum Bros., address: 345 Throop Avenue (Brooklyn,
New York). The deceased is named and their age is given in
years, months and days (if available). The permit then states
when and where the deceased passed away, whether it be at home,
in a hospital, or elsewhere. Here, the deceased passed away at
Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. The body was then
removed from either "home or chapel." The date of death (Oct.
14, 1945) is given here, though the date of burial is listed at
the top of the document. As stated previously, the transit
permit is given a number. The name of the Acting Assistant
Registrar of Records is stamped at the bottom of the form.
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2005 NEW YORK CITY:
Here, the death occurred in New York City at
10 East End Avenue, which happens to be a twenty-story building
of co-ops by 79th St. and the East River. The name of
the department where approval is sought for the transit permit
is different from the one issuing the permits in Kings County. Here it is the New York City Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene, and the name of this form is "Permit to
Dispose of or Transport Human Remains." The date of
"disposition" is not only written by hand on the form, but is
stamped at the top left. The death certificate number is typed
in the upper right. The name of the Medical Examiner is listed,
as well as the method of disposal, i.e. interment, cremation, or
"other." The place of disposition, i.e. the cemetery name (here
erased per request) and county/state is listed. Ms. Hochberg
passed away on 24 February 2005 and was buried three days later.
As part of the form, it is stated that "the certificate of death
having been filed as required by the health code, and all laws
and regulations governing the preparation and disposal of human
remains having been complied with, permission is hereby
requested to dispose of the remains as identified above." The
funeral parlor is mentioned (here, Plaza Jewish Community Chapel
at 630 Amsterdam Avenue in New York City.) Their state
registration number is listed along with the name of the
licensed funeral director (and his signature) and his license
number. Then the name of the City Registrar is stamped at the
bottom and the official raised seal is imprinted on the form.
Thus, "permission is hereby granted to dispose of the remains as
requested above."
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The permit form
seemed to change a bit periodically through the years; however,
it also
differed depending on where the death had occurred. |
| Here is another
permit from 1945, but this one was issued in Nassau
County, Long Island, New York. |
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