Genealogy Source: Death Certificates

You found an ancestor's death certificate on-line or at the health department! All of your questions are about to be answered! Right?

Well, maybe.

You are relying on the truthfulness, memory and accuracy of basically two people. The attending physician and the informant. The doctor is going to provide the cause, date, time and place of death. The informant will provide the other crucial information: full name, birth date, place of birth, parents' names and birthplaces, etc.

The big question, how reliable is the informant? Chances are that the person giving the information is the spouse, child, sibling, parent, some other relative, or person acquainted with the decedent. How familiar are these people with the background of the person who died?

My mother's death certificate has one error on it. Her name is given as "Ruth Jane." It should be "Ruthjane," one word, no middle name. As I recall, Pop and I told the person recording the info that it was one name. On the record now, that's not the case.

The personal details that you generally find on the death record are: name, residence, sex, color, marital status, name of spouse, birth date, age at death [years, months, days], occupation, birthplace, father's name and birthplace, mother's name and birthplace, name and address of informant. Medical details? Date of death, dates physician attended the person, cause of death, place/date of burial.

The medical info should be reliable.

As far as the personal info, determine the relationship of the informant to the deceased. Then consider the state of mind of the informant. The closer he/she is, the more likely a memory lapse.

Spouses, siblings and parents are most likely to know more details. The children and other relatives should know most of the answers. Neighbors? Who knows!

On several of the death certificates that I have on file, one or both parents are listed as "unknown." The same goes for the parent's birthplace. The birthplace of one or both parents is incorrect in a few cases. In the case of  J.M. [James Morris] Simmons, his mother is given as "Dolly Simmons." Her maiden name was not given.

There are misspellings of given and surname in some cases. My Mom is a prime example. Spelling corrections had to be made to her great-grandmother's certificate. In some cases nicknames are given, especially if they were the primary name used. [Ama Jemima Simmons went by Mima.]

In a few cases, the birth date may not be given. An estimated age should be given though.

My most disappointing death certificate - personal information-wise - was that of Mary A. Crail. Given: date of death, residence, sex, place of birth, race, and age.
Marital status was incorrect. She was recorded as "married." "Widowed" would have been accurate.*
Father's name: T. Jones
Mother's name and spouse's name were "unknown."

Other errors have popped up. Aaron Crail's birthplace was given as Ireland on a son's death certificate. Isaac Prall's birthplace was given as Scotland on his son's death certificate. [That may explain Prall being a Scottish surname!] Catherine O'Neil Crail's birth was recorded as 15 December 1833. She died on 29 July 1934. Her age was given as 99 years, 7 months, 14 days. If 1833 was correct, then her age should have been 100-7-14.  [Matching up with family lore.]

How do you know the information on the death certificate is correct? VERIFY, VERIFY, VERIFY!
Locate a birth record, if possible. Check the census records. Research the rest of the family. Try to find as much corroborating evidence as possible Exhaust every possible lead!



*Unless James B. Crail abandoned the family, he died between 1853 and 1876.