Historical cause of death 1600s-1800s
What did visitation of God mean on a death certificate?
On a death record, visitation of God meant a sudden natural death, the inquest formula ruling out violence and accident without naming a disease. In modern terms it usually pointed to sudden natural death, most often heart attack or stroke. It is a legal verdict, not a medical opinion, and it means a coroner's jury actually viewed the body; look for the inquest report. Expect it on records mostly 1600s-1800s.
Also written on records as: died by the visitation of God, act of God.
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Related terms
Browse the full genealogy records glossary for more occupations, causes of death, and legal terms.
FAQs
What is visitation of God called today?+
Sudden natural death, most often heart attack or stroke, broadly speaking. Doctors of the period diagnosed without laboratory tests, so one label often covered several conditions we would now separate. This page explains historical record language and is not medical advice.
How was visitation of God written on death records?+
Clerks and doctors also wrote died by the visitation of God and act of God. Spelling wandered from register to register, so check every variant before you decide a record is missing or wrong.
Where do these definitions come from?+
They are drawn from period dictionaries, government archive glossaries, and standard genealogy references, cross-checked against each other; provenance is documented with the dataset. Inside AncestorIQ, Deep Research reads the record itself and explains terms like this in context, against your ancestor's own document.
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