Dealing with Death Certificates

I love death certificates.  I sort of collect death certificates, well, at least for family history purposes.  They’re a wealth of information – and some of it is good!

Like all documents, the information contained on a death certificate is only as good as the informant. If the informant knows the correct dates, names or spellings, the document MAY be correct IF the document transcriber records it correctly.  As I wrote in an earlier post, good genealogists are good skeptics.

What can we learn about our ancestors from their death certificates?  What is the most valuable information found in these documents?  How should we approach them?  What cautions should we consider?

Consider the certificates of three brothers, three of my great grand uncles.

William F. Ashlock died 12 October 1922 in Wise County, Texas.  These facts and the cause of death are the most reliable facts on a death certificate.  Why?  Because they are the facts provided by an attending physician who is aware of the date, time and place of this event.  This information is found on the right side of the three samples we see here. We look here at only the left side of these samples.

• Place of death:  Decatur, Wise County, Texas
• Name:  William F. Ashlock
• Sex:  Male
• Race:  White
• Marital Status:  Widower
• Date of birth:  March 18, 1837
• Age:  85 yrs. 7 mo. 25 days
• Occupation:  Farmer
• Birthplace:  Illinois
• Name of Father:  Joe Ashlock
• Father’s birthplace:  Kentucky
• Name of Mother:  Miss Elizabeth Norman
• Mother’s birthplace:  Kentucky
• Informant:  W. H. Ashlock
• Address:  Decatur, Texas
• File date and official who filed it:  November 6, 1922 by Carla Faith

Joshua Middleton Ashlock died 17 March 1923 in Wizard Wells, Jack County, Texas.

• Place of death:  Wizard Wells, Jack County, Texas.
• Sex:  Male
• Race:  White
• Marital Status:  Married
• Birth date:  March 27, 1848
• Age at death:  74 yrs 11 mo 19 days
• Occupation:  Farmer and Carpenter
• Place of birth:  Dallas County, Texas
• Father’s name:  Josiah Ashlock
• Father’s birthplace:  Illinois
• Mother’s name:  Elizabeth Nobles
• Mother’s birthplace:  Illinois
• Informant:  Mrs. Dora Crabb of Jean, Texas
• Information recorded by Hattie E. Worley (I think.) on March 28, 1923

James Wesley Ashlock died July 23, 1936 in Wise County, Texas.

• Place of death:  Wise County, Texas
• Sex:  Male
• Race:  White
• Marital Status:  Married
• Date of birth:  July 31, 1850
• Age at death:  85 yrs 11 mo 22 days
• Occupation:  Farmer, Retired
• Date he last worked:  Dec. 1926
• Years he worked at this occupation:  50
• Birthplace:  Dallas, Texas
• Father’s name:  Josiah Ashlock
• Father’s birthplace:  Unknown
• Mother’s name:  Elizabeth Norman
• Mother’s birthplace:  Unknown
• Informant:  G. C. Ashlock
• Burial place and date:  Anneville Cemetery on July 24, 1936
• Undertaker:  O.L. Christian of Decatur, Texas.
• Filed July 28, 1936 by J.A. Chandler

Josiah Ashlock was born in 1814 in Anderson County, Tennessee.  He married my great, great grandmother Elizabeth Norman in Greene County Illinois in 1833.  She was born in Kentucky.  They began their family in 1834 with the birth of their daughter Nancy.  Their oldest son William F. arrived in 1837 followed by two daughters and a son. They arrived in Texas in about 1844 as part of the Peters Colony and settled on land along both sides of the Denton and Dallas County lines.  The original grant would be mostly north of the President George Bush Freeway east of where it intersects with with Stemmons Freeway (I – 35).  Joshua Middleton was the first of this Ashlock family to be born in Texas in 1849.  His younger brother James Wesley was born in July of 1850 also in Dallas County.  Josiah would die around 1852.  Elizabeth Norman Ashlock married my great, great grandfather Stephen Riggs.  He also had Peters Colony land surveyed in southeastern Denton County.  His first wife had died sometime before 1850.  My great grandmother Rachel Marinda Riggs would be born in Denton County in 1855.

So how did our three death certificate informants do at the death of these three Ashlock brothers?

The informant for William F. Ashlock was W. H. Ashlock.  I’m not sure who he was.  He may be a son or a grandson.  He knows his family.  He gets William’s birth date, birthplace, mother’s name and birthplace all correct.  He names William’s dad as “Joe” Ashlock.  While I can understand the 1820’s use of this name, I doubt I’ll ever find it in any official documents related to Josiah Ashlock.  He missed the place of William’s father’s birth.  All-in-all it’s not a bad performance.

The informant for Joshua M. Ashlock was Dora Crabb.  I’m not sure who she was. She gets Joshua’s name, place of birth, and father’s name correct.  She misses by one year the correct birth date.  She is also incorrect about Joshua’s father and mother’s birthplaces.  She also gives the wrong maiden name for Elizabeth.  This might confuse a well intended family historian.

The informant  for James Wesley was his son G.C. Ashlock (That’s Grover Cleveland).  He’s right about his father’s birth date, birthplace and name.  He gets his mother’s name correct.  He doesn’t know his father or his mother’s birthplace and he doesn’t guess.  He doesn’t know everything but he won’t confuse you with what he doesn’t know.

What do we learn from these death certificate examples and how we can use death certificates in our genealogy research?

1. Death certificates are very reliable for the date and cause of death.  I will take this date of death over what is on a headstone or in a family bible.  Why?  Think about it.  Use the comment section.
2. If the date on a death index is different from a death certificate, I’ll give more weight to the certificate.
3. The information on any document is only as good as the informant and as reliable as the transcriber.  I like the information from an attending physician and treat everything else with less weight.
4. What do we do with the other information on a death certificate?  Use it to corroborate other information you have.  Use it as clues on where to research next.

I love death certificates and what they provide family researchers!  I’m just a little skeptical and you should be as well.

Happy Hunting!