McGorray Brothers Funeral Home Ledger Books (MS 4805)

The McGorray Brothers Funeral Home was founded by Mark McGorray on the westside of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1873 as the McGorray Funeral Home. It became a prominent Irish Catholic funeral home, and it moved to the westside suburb of Lakewood in 1922.

This collection provides the genealogical researcher with valuable information, particularly those interested in Irish Catholic family history of Cleveland, Ohio. The funeral record books include the name of the deceased, date of death, age, gender, cause of death, residence of the deceased, and place of burial. It also includes the name the person responsible for the funeral arrangements (often next of kin), that person’s address, and the attending physician and his address.

This index allows researchers to search the funeral record books, providing the full name, death year, and age of the deceased, along with container, folder, and page numbers to aid in locating the physical record within the collection. More detailed information, as described above, is provided at the WRHS Research Center Reading Room. Manuscript number 4805 McGorray Brothers Funeral Home records, 1876-1934 contains other documents and files in addition to the funeral ledger books. See the finding aid to this collection for more information about the collection and what it contains.

Researchers can access and make copies from the collection at the Western Reserve Historical Society Research Center Reading Room. Reference staff can provide copies for researchers unable to schedule a visit to the Western Reserve Historical Society. For information about the WRHS Research Center location, hours, admission fees, and research fees, contact the reference staff at 216-721-5722, x1509, or via email at reference@wrhs.org.