01 April 2008
Missouri Death Certificates 1910-1957
It appears as if the
Missouri State Archives has completed the digitization of most of the 1910-1957 death certificates for the state.
The image in this post is part of the death certificate for William Lake, who died in Chariton County, Missouri on 1 December 1924.
The nice thing about the free online death certificates is that one can then easily obtain them for extended family members and potentially reveal new clues about the family.
In this case, I was hoping for a little more detail on the parents, or perhaps a different piece of information than I had before. I will keep looking in the index for the rest of the children of John and Charlotte Brown Lake.
There are a variety of records on the Missouri State Archives website. The death records are just one.
And if anyone is related to William Lake, fire off an email. His youngest brother, Granville, is my wife's great-grandfather.
Labels: lake, missouri
# posted by Michael John Neill : 3:37 PM
08 November 2007
Think about the informant
Think about the informant on the death certificate or other record you are viewing. Is there a chance they might not have had first hand knowledge of the information on the deceased. The informant on the 1946 death certificate of Granville Lake in Marcelline, Linn County, Missouri, was his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Ola Lake. While the information she provided in this case appears to be accurate (based upon other records), it is always possible that an informant is uncertain of some information, especially parents and place of birth for the deceased.
Labels: lake, tips
# posted by Michael John Neill : 8:31 AM
Make Certain You've Seen the Whole thing
The death certificate for Granville Lake (died 1946 Marcelline, Linn County, Missouri) contains an omission: the year of birth. Part of Granville's death certificate is shown along with this post entry.
The year of birth is a detail I would like to have. On the Lake certificate, like others from this era, there is a supplemental certificate to correct the omission. It always pays to read the entire document or see if an additional document is filed after the first one has been located. Of course, they had to stamp "supplementary" OVER the year of birth, but it is still legible (1863).
Granville is my wife's great-grandfather.
Labels: lake, tips
# posted by Michael John Neill : 8:21 AM
07 March 2007
Clarifying Clara
It is also important to note that a record can easily contain errors--the birth place of Clara's father, William Rhodus/Rhodes is most likely Tennessee and not Kentucky. The birth place of Matilda Jones, the mother, is likely Missouri and not Kentucky either.
Clara is my wife's great-grandmother and I'd love to hear from anyone else researching this family.
Labels: articles, lake, missouri
# posted by Michael John Neill : 5:38 PM
