Missouri death certificates: abstracts

Source: Missouri State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, certificates of death. Images from the Missouri State Archives, Missouri Death Certificates, 1910–1975 (free; downloaded 2026-09-26 to media/). The index is in data/raw/mo-death-certificates.csv, and each certificate is an occurrence (source_site mo-deathcert).

Abstracts record what the document says, including errors. Analysis is marked Note.

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Leonhard Hegnauer, 1916 (H0003)

File media/H0003_1916_death-cert_mo.pdf · Certificate 38609 · Reg. dist. 761 · filed 11 Nov 1916

• Place of death: St. Clair County, Appleton Township, Appleton City
• Name: Leonhard Hagenauer (indexed "Leonard Hagmauer")
• Male, white, married. Born 25 April 1843, age 73 y 6 m 6 d. Farmer, retired. Born Switzerland.
• Father: Hegnauer (given name not stated), born Switzerland. Mother: "not known".
• Died 31 October 1916. Physician attended 27–31 Oct 1916. Cause: cerebral hemorrhage; contributory hypostatic pneumonia, 4 days. Signed J. C. Bates, M.D., Appleton City, 1 Nov 1916.
• Informant: Mrs. Fred Hammer, Rockville, Mo.
• Burial: Bates County, [5?] Nov 1916. Undertaker Fred Lichsinger [?], Appleton City.
• Note: The birth date matches the Igis baptism (25 Apr 1843) exactly. The informant is his daughter Mary Christina, wife of Fritz (Fred) Hammer. The death place is Appleton City, St. Clair Co., not "Prairie City, Bates Co." (Ancestry tree) or "Appleton, Cape Girardeau" (WikiTree).

Susanna Katharina (Hirschi) Hegnauer, 1918 (H0038)

File media/H0038_1918_death-cert_mo.pdf · Certificate 4170 · Reg. dist. 58 · filed 20 Feb 1918

• Place of death: Bates County, Pleasant Gap Township
• Name: Susanna Katharina Hegnauer
• Female, white, widow. Born 15 May 1846, age 71 y 8 m 27 d. At home. Born Switzerland.
• Father: Christian Hirschi, born Switzerland. Mother: Magdalena Stocker, born Switzerland.
• Died 12 February 1918, 11:30 a.m. Cause: lobar pneumonia, 4 days [?]. Signed W. B. Reynolds, M.D., Prairie City.
• Informant: Mrs. Mary Hammer, R#1 Rockville, Mo.
• Burial: Reform Cemetery, [13/14] Feb 1918. Undertaker Frank Lee, Appleton City.
• Note: The State Archives index gives 21 Feb 1918, an indexing error. The certificate, Find a Grave (56820862) and the VA pension payment card all agree on 12 Feb 1918.

Martin Hegnauer Sr., 1927 (H0006)

File media/H0006_1927_death-cert_mo.pdf · Certificate 7203 · Reg. dist. 54 · filed April 1927 (a supplemental certificate is attached)

• Place of death: Bates County, Rockville Township
• Name: Martin Hegnauer
• Male, white, widowed, husband of Mary Hegnauer. Born 20 February 1848, age 79 y 1 m 7 d. Farmer, retired. Born Switzerland.
• Father: Lucius Hegnauer, born Switzerland. Mother: Margaret Barnet [= Bernet], born Switzerland.
• Died 27 March 1927. Cause: organic heart disease; contributory: age. Signed A. B. Freeman, M.D., Rockville.
• Informant: Mrs. Bertha Brown, Appleton City, Mo.
• Burial: Rockville Cemetery, 28 Mar 1927. Undertaker S. H. Bothwell, Rockville.
• Note: This is the key American record tying the Missouri family to Igis: it names his parents as Lucius Hegnauer and Margaret Barnet, and his birth date matches his Igis baptism (born 20 Feb, baptized 21 Feb 1848). The informant Bertha is his daughter (H0013).

Maggie Hegnauer, 1926 (H0035)

File media/H0035_1926_death-cert_mo.pdf · Certificate 15445-B · Reg. dist. 54 · filed 9 Jul 1926

• Place of death: Bates County, Rockville; resident of Rockville for 41 years
• Name: Miss Maggie Hegnauer
• Female, white, single. Born 15 June 1878 [sic; see note], age 48 y 11 m 12 d. Housekeeper. Born St. Louis, Mo.
• Father: Martin Hegnauer, born Switzerland. Mother: Mary Gambler [?], born Pa.
• Died 27 May 1926. Cause: exhaustion; contributory: carcinoma of the left breast, removed Feb 1926 (operation Feb 1926). Signed A. B. Freeman, M.D., Rockville.
• Informant: Lizzie Harden [?], Rockville.
• Burial: Rockville Cemetery, 29 May 1926. Undertaker S. H. Bothwell, Rockville.
• Note: The stated age gives a birth date of 15 June 1877, which agrees with Find a Grave (142891137). 1878 is a slip. Her St. Louis birth places Martin's family in St. Louis about 1877, and 41 years' residence puts their arrival in Rockville about 1885. Her mother's maiden name needs checking ("Gambler" is the best reading).

Christian Hegnauer, 1957 (H0010)

File media/H0010_1957_death-cert_mo.pdf · State file 57 027445 · filed 12 Sep 1957

• Place of death: Bates County, Butler, Boyd Rest Home. Usual residence: Butler, East Dakota [St.]
• Name: Christian Hegnauer
• Male, white, widowed. Born 3 May 1867 [sic; see note], age 90. Retired farmer. Born Granfork [Grantfork], Ill. U.S. citizen.
• Father: Leonard Hegnauer. Mother's maiden name: Hirschi.
• Died 6 September 1957. Cause: generalized bronchial pneumonia, 2 days; due to general senility and nephritis, 10 years. Signed Carter N. Luter, M.D., Butler, 9/6/57.
• Informant: Leonard Hegnauer, Canton, Ohio.
• Burial: 8 Sep 1957, Eddie [?] Cemetery, Prairie City, Mo. Funeral director Oscar Eckhoff [?], Appleton City.
• Note: 1867 is very unlikely. His parents married on 4 Jul 1866, and his elder sister Mary Christina's 1870 and 1880 census ages put her birth between Aug 1866 and Jun 1867 (her exact 18 Dec 1866 is tree-only), which leaves little or no room for a May 1867 birth; his own 1870 and 1880 census ages point to 1868. Find a Grave (54201853) gives 3 May 1868, which is accepted. The informant is his son, Rev. Leonard Samuel Hegnauer of Canton, Ohio (H0019). Grantfork is in Madison County, Illinois, where Leonhard and Susanna married in 1866.

Anna (Wirz) Hegnauer, 1943 (H0045)

File media/anna-hegnauer_1943_death-cert_mo.pdf · Certificate 27614 · Primary reg. dist. 4035 · filed 9 Sep 1943

• Place of death: Bates County, Rockville, Mo.; 63 years in this community. Usual residence Rockville, Bates Co., Mo.
• Name: Anna Hegnauer (state index "Hegnaner")
• Female, white, married; husband Chris Hegnauer, living, age 76. Born 17 September 1860, age 82 y 11 m 3 d. Housewife. Born Switzerland. Not a foreign citizen.
• Father: Samuel Wirtz [Wirz], born Switzerland. Mother: maiden name unknown, born Switzerland.
• Died 20 August 1943, 6:30 p.m. Attended from January 1943. Cause: myocarditis, 5 yrs; due to Bright's disease, 5 yrs; due to arteriosclerosis, 10 yrs. No operation or autopsy. Signed M. O. Bi[e]ske [?], D.O., Rockville, 22 Aug 1943.
• Informant: L. S. Hegnauer, Canton, Ohio.
• Burial: 22 Aug 1943, Prairie City, Mo. Funeral director Oscar Eckhoff, Appleton City. Registrar Mrs. Wilbert Steiner, 23 Aug 1943.
• Note: This identifies her as the wife of Christian Hegnauer (H0010). "Chris, 76" fits his birth in 1868 (he was 75 until May 1944, so the clerk rounded or used the 1867 year also on his own certificate). The informant is their son Rev. Leonard Samuel Hegnauer of Canton, Ohio (H0019), who was also informant for his father in 1957. The age computes exactly from 17 Sep 1860. "63 years in this community" puts her in the Rockville area from about 1880. Her father Samuel Wirz is new: the next step is Swiss origin (the Wirz surname is common in Aargau, Basel-Land and Zürich) via her immigration and marriage record. Find a Grave 69271525 ("Anna Wirtz Hegnauer").

Martin Hegnauer Jr., 1950 (H0015)

File media/H0015_1950_death-cert_mo.pdf · State file [1]9313 (top edge cut) · Reg. dist. 27 · Primary reg. dist. 3005 · Registrar's no. 60 · filed 20 Jun 1950

• Place of death: Bates County, Butler, Butler Memorial Hospital, stay 21 days. Usual residence Rockville, Bates Co., Mo.
• Name: Martin Hegnauer (state index "Hegnaver")
• Male, white, never married. Born 28 January 1884, age 66 y 4 m 11 d. Farmer. Born St. Louis, Mo. US citizen. Not a veteran. No Social Security number.
• Father: Martin Hegnauer. Mother's maiden name: unknown.
• Died 9 June 1950, 4:05 p.m. Cause: uremia; due to generalized arteriosclerosis with nephrosclerosis. No operation or autopsy. Signed Frank M. Sipes, M.D., Professional Bldg., Butler, 9 Jun 1950 (attended 8–9 Jun 1950).
• Informant: Robert H[o]ff [?], Rockville, Mo.
• Burial: 11 Jun 1950, Rockville Cemetery, Rockville, Mo. Funeral director Oscar Eckhoff, Appleton City. Received by the local registrar 10 Jun 1950.
• Note: A St. Louis birth in January 1884 agrees with his sister Maggie's (St. Louis, 1877). The family was still in St. Louis in 1884 and moved to Rockville about 1885 (Maggie's certificate: 41 years' residence in 1926). The stated age is one day short of the computed 66 y 4 m 12 d, a routine clerk's slip. The informant is not family, which suggests none of Martin Sr.'s children then living were close by. Worth checking: the 1900–1940 censuses for Martin and his siblings in Rockville Township.