I recently stumbled upon a random newspaper article, “Deaths on the Plains this Season.”[1]  Other than the title, the article provides little in the way of detail about why, or how, or from where came the list of names of 250 people who perished as they journeyed to a new life in the west.   Nearly all the names are associated with a death date, such as “C.S. Carter, June 5.”  Some, like “John Holeman, June 5, age 19” are accompanied by a bit more information, but with “Joseph Langley, age 47,” readers don’t know when he passed.

A man known only as “Battsford” died July 26, “shot by his captain.”   T Miller, age 26, was murdered June 15 by R. Tate.  But possibly Mr. Tate received his due – “Lafayette Tate, hung June 15, for murder of T. Miller.” 

M. J. Henderson died the same day.  He was from Wisconsin, age 1 year, 2 months and 15 days.

The Hardcastles were hit hard in their migration – W. C. died 16 August, age 23; R. P. died, 23 June, age 25; Mrs. D. A. Hardcastle died 6 June, age 26; J. M. Hardcastle died 7 June, age 6; and Mrs. D. J. Hardcastle died 16 June, age 25.  Who were these people who shared a surname?  Where were they from?  Where did they hope to make their new home?

A portion of names are associated with locations. Thomas H. Foster who died 18 May at age 25 hailed from Cumberland, Md.  R. H. Nelson from Monroe, Michigan died 26 May at age 25.  Illinois, Ohio, St. Louis, Pike county Mo., Harvard, Ind., Rarrington, Ohio, and Fairfield, Whoknowswhere all lost sons and daughters who once called those places home.

When I first ran across the article I considered how many genealogists who’ve had ancestors “just disappear” have thought about searching newspapers in far-flung locations?  Does anyone researching the Baxton family from Ohio City, Ohio wonder what became of G. C. Baxton, born about 1830?  He died – somewhere on the plains – 24 June 1852.[2] I tried to find the back story on some of the faceless names from the column, searching 1850 census records to see if I could identify any of those who had a specific location and an age associate with their names.  Sadly, I struck out on the handful I investigated.

But a Google search led me to David J. Langum’s “Pioneer Justice on the Overland Trails” with more news about two of those 250 deaths in the 1852 newspaper - T. Miller’s and Lafayette Tate.[3]  T. Miller, (unnamed in Langum’s article,) was a cattle overseer in the Brown emigrant party who fought with one of the drivers by the name of Tate.  The driver's brother, Lafayette Tate, 19, ran up, stabbed Miller in the back, then slit his throat.  Based on multiple diary accounts cited by Langum, we learn about the speedy frontier justice – with quickly assembled jury, judge, prosecutor and defense counsel.  Witnesses were examined, Tate was found guilty and thirty minutes later hanged.  According to the diaries Langum cited, the brother who originally fought with Miller was allowed to continue on with the company.  For those interested in more about pioneer justice on the trails, be sure to read Langum’s article. 

But even for those whose relatives might have disappeared in a less dramatic fashion, I hope this post might inspire researchers to not stop at just the local paper in their ancestral locations, but consult even far-off papers for details on their families’ lives.


[1] “Deaths on the Plains this Season,” Sacramento Daily Union, 2 November 1852, p. 2, col. 5; digital image, California Digital Newspaper Collection (www.cdnc.ucr.edu : accessed 7 July 2020).  A search on The California Digital Newspaper Collection for “death on the plains” led to other articles in Sacramento and San Francisco newspapers, some of which were repeats of each other.

[2] “Death on the Plains this Season.”

[3] Langum, David J. "Pioneer Justice on the Overland Trails." The Western Historical Quarterly 5, no. 4 (1974): 421-39. Accessed July 7, 2020. doi:10.2307/967307. 

It’s far too tempting to see a cemetery marker for an ancestor and assume she died in that place.  And then spend hours trying to find the death record there.   But it’s important to consider that she might have died hundreds or thousands of miles away.  Even a long-time genealogist can forget this when she really really really wants to find that death record. (Now who could I be talking about....Mary??!!!)

I recently researched the Smith family of Vernon, Shiawassee, Michigan.  Smith is rarely a fun name to research and this one was no exception.  I found a death record on Seeking Michigan for Robert Smith, age 66 who died in Vernon and was buried at Greenwood Cemetery.[1]  FindAGrave shows a memorial for him.[2]  Though no spouse is linked to him, the photo of the memorial for Elizabeth Smith who died 13 June 1907 at age 71 is clearly another side of the same grave marker.[3]

And that’s where the cautionary tale starts.  I spent ages looking for Elizabeth’s death certificate in Shiawasse and later all of Michigan on the SeekingMichigan website. I searched for everyone named Elizabeth who died in June 1907.  I searched for every person who died on 13 June 1907.  I searched for all the Smiths in Shiawassee.  I could not rustle up a death certificate for her.  But she’s buried right there!  Next to her husband!!  Where, oh where, is her darn death certificate?!!!

I finally had to put Elizabeth on the back burner.  Searching on Ancestry and FamilySearch I found a San Francisco area funeral home record for Robert Smith, Jr., Elizabeth and Robert’s son, which included a newspaper clipping of his death notice.[4]  Lucky for me, Robert Jr.’s sisters and daughters married people with far more imaginative surnames, including Dorward and Coppelberger. Names a genealogist can truly love.... Newspaper searches soon turned up a Flint, Michigan article indicating Elizabeth died in Los Angeles.[5] 

And then I dove down another rat hole looking for Elizabeth’s death certificate in Los Angeles.  Another cautionary tale - don’t believe everything you read in a newspaper.  Eventually I searched the California Death Index on FamilySearch to discover that Elizabeth died not in Los Angeles but in Alameda County.[6]  I guess to the reporter in Flint in 1910, one city in California is as good as the next!
​
So remember, just because someone is buried somewhere, it doesn’t mean they died anywhere near there.  Be willing to search far and wide for a death certificate.


Thank you to my friend, Karrie, who lets me research her ancestors like they're my own...

[1] Michigan Certificate and Record of Death for Robert Smith, Sr.  County of Shiawassee, Certificate No. 238.  Date of Death 29 Aug 1897

[2] Find A Grave Memorial# 39077645 for Robert Smith in Greenwood Cemetery, Vernon, Shiawassee, Michigan (https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=smith&GSfn=robert&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=24&GScnty=1304&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=39077645&df=all& : accessed 25 April 2017)

[3] Find A Grave Memorial# 39074584 for Elizabeth Smith in Greenwood Cemetery, Vernon, Shiawassee, Michigan (https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Smith&GSiman=1&GSsr=41&GScid=638&GRid=39074584& : accessed 25 April 2017)

[4] "California, San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1835-1979," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JNVX-C8M : 28 November 2014), Robert Smith, 15 Nov 1916; citing funeral home J.S. Godeau, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, record book Vol. 20, p. 1-404, 1916-1917, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco History and Archive Center.

[5] “Death of Mother,” The Flint Daily Journal, 18 June 1907, page 8, col 3 (GenealogyBank.com :  accessed 25 April 2017)

[6] "California Death Index, 1905-1939," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKSM-DGFS : 5 June 2015), Elizabet Smith, 13 Jun 1907; citing 13872, Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Department, Sacramento.

​I’ve presented my FamilyBrowse presentation as a webinar four times already this year.  It is so important to know how to find and use the unindexed records on FamilySearch.   In the talk I lead people through how to find various documents and one of my samples is the probate file of Michael A’hern, my 3rd Great Uncle. 

His will and inventory are mentioned in the digitized proceeding index for Somerset County, New Jersey, which is found on FamilySearch.  Unfortunately the actual will and inventory were not filmed by FamilySearch.  But just knowing that a will exists, makes it worthwhile to contact the court for copies of the documents. 

After I presented the talk as part of the Florida Genealogical Society’s 2017 Spring Virtual Conference, (http://flsgs.org/cpage.php?pt=268)  I had someone email and ask if I’d ever sent for the will and inventory.  As a matter of fact, I did.  And they are among my favorite documents for the picture they paint of this gentleman.

At the time Michael A’hern made his will, he had a wife, a niece, Katie McGill, who lived with him and a daughter and son, Mary T and John Edward A’Hern.  He bequeathed a life estate in his property to his wife, and upon her death provided for one specific bequest - $100 to Katie.  The remainder of the property was to be split between Mary and John, giving Mary three-fourths and John one-fourth.[1] 

I trust it didn’t bother John inherit the smaller portion.  I imagine he would have had a far greater earning capacity than his spinster sister and she was the one who continued to live in the family home and care for their aging parents. 

Michael’s typed will fills one page, and spills a few lines onto the next, upon which he set his hand “this nineteenth day of October, Nineteen Hundred and Three.”  The copy I received from the court clerk was a photocopy of this original will, complete with his signature in his shaky, 70-year-old hand.[2]

But it is Michael’s Inventory and Appraisement that brings this man and his life into focus.  Among his possessions were a 2-seat surrey, a carryall wagon, two buggy wagons – a new one valued at $25 and an old one worth $8.  He had a cutter sleigh and an old fashioned sleigh – clearly did not live near his brother in sunny California!  He had a harrow, a plow, a 1-horse cultivator and a mowing machine.  Nice, this inventory tells me about what he did for a living, and the tools he employed to do that work.  On his farm he had four young pigs, a tom turkey and 20 fowls.[3]

My favorite part of the inventory, however, involves a few other animals.  While the pigs, turkey and fowl are nameless (wonder why…?), the first items on the list must have been his favorites – three black and white Holsteins named Nellie, Spot and Fannie and a brown Jersey cow named Ida.  Joining them in the barn were a Charley, a black horse and a grey colt, Dan “coming 4 years.”[4]  Can’t you just picture Michael talking to Ida as he milks her? 

I just love the images these documents conjure in my mind as I read them.  What kind of genealogy documents send your imagination soaring?

If you have enjoyed this post about using FamilySearch, check out my recent blog post, “No Image Available? Maybe There Is One!”
 
 


[1] “Last Will and Testament of Michael A’Hern, of Franklin Township, Somerset County, N.J,” Will Book R, page 220 and following.  The will in the possession of author is copy of original will of Michael A’Hern received from Surrogate’s Court, Somerset County, New Jersey, probate file R 675

[2] Ibid.

[3] “Inventory and Appraisement of the Estate of Michael A’Hern, of Franklin Township, Somerset County, N.J,” Inventory Book S, page 497 and following.  The inventory in the possession of author is copy of original inventory of the estate of Michael A’Hern received from Surrogate’s Court, Somerset County, New Jersey ​ probate file R 675

[4] Ibid.

​In my latest post on the Julia Achard story, “Julia Achard and the Death of Sarah Ahern,” I quoted from some coroner’s inquest records.  Are you using coroner’s inquests to fill in your family history?  If not, maybe you should be.

If a decedent’s death was under “suspicious” circumstances, a coroner may have been called in to investigate.  “Suspicious” could mean some sort of accident, a suicide, or an unattended or unexpected death.   The coroner may eventually deem that the unexpected death was due to natural causes, but if the decedent had not been under a doctor’s care, or recently seen by a physician, there might be some question as to the cause of death and require a coroner’s investigation in the matter.

Where can you find coroners’ records?  You can contact the county where the death occurred to see if there was an inquest.  The coroner might be a branch of the sheriff’s department or might have an office unto itself.  When in doubt, do a little digging on the internet, or contact the county sheriff and they can point you in the right direction.

Some coroner’s records are available on FamilySearch.  Do a “Place search” in the catalog for the county and state of interest https://familysearch.org/catalog/search).  In the catalog section under “Vital records” for that county, you might find “Coroner’s records” listed.  Stark County, Ohio is one place that FamilySearch has made the coroner’s records available (https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/1922540?availability=Family%20History%20Library). 

When looking at on-line records, you may find that some of the pages have been blacked out due to privacy restrictions.

What might prompt a researcher to look at coroner’s records?  Sometimes the death certificate might indicate if there was an autopsy done.  A coroner’s report might provide more details.  Or maybe you found a newspaper article about the death which hints at an accident, a suicide or something otherwise suspicious. A newspaper article might even mention that a coroner's inquest would be held.  Or maybe the only death “certificate” you can locate is a line item in a death register, where the “Cause of Death” column notes “blood poisoning” or “RR accident.”  

Though the term "R.R. Accident" might seem self-explanatory following up with a coroner’s report can give you many more details of just what happened.  And if you find a young woman died of blood poisoning, you'll definitely want to look for coroner's records - many of these cases, were similar to the story of Sarah Ahern, the result of an illegal operation to terminate a pregnancy.

Some coroner’s reports are more extensive than others.  I’ve seen some one-page pre-printed, fill-in-the-blank forms and at the other end of the spectrum, some six-page or longer reports which include transcriptions of the testimonies of several witnesses.   But with each one, I came away with more details about the death I was researching.

Here’s one example… I found a brief article on Newspapers.com in The Akron Beacon Journal of 27 January 1896 indicating Andrew McGowan and George Thorn were killed by a train on the Fort Wayne road near Massillon, Ohio.[i]  I was able to find their death records on FamilySearch.[ii]  For each man, the ledger-style death record showed the cause of death as “R. R. Accident.”

But from the coroner’s records, many more details come to light regarding the death of “George Thorn, whose dead body was found at Newmans Creek Crossing alonth The P. Ft. W. Railway track on the 26th day of January A.D. 1896…”  Coroner T. C. McQuate states that after examining the body and heard the evidence “I do find the deceased…George Thorn in company with his friend McGugan were killed while intoxicated and trespassing on the P. Ft. W. R. track.  Said Thorn and McGugan were on their way home, going westward on The P. Ft. W. Ry track.  Said Thorn got close to a curve in the track about 100 yards above Newmans Crossing, he was struck and killed, said curve hiding view so they could not see east bout train, till it struck and accidentally killed him.”[iii]  McQuate reports much the same regarding the death of “Auda McGugan.”[iv] 

As you can see, the coroner’s report provides significantly more detail than the “R.R. Accident” noted in the death register.  If you haven’t used coroner’s records in your genealogy research, it might be time to have a look at some!



[i] “Miners Killed,” The Akron Beacon Journal, 27 January 1896, page 3, col 1, from Newspapers.com, accessed 5 March 2017

[ii] "Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001," database with images, FamilySearch.org. (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89ZR-VGKJ?mode=g&cc=2128172 : accessed 5 March 2017), Thornton, Geo. W, 26 Jan 1896; citing Death, Newman, Lawrence Township, Stark, Ohio, United States, source ID v 3 p 534, County courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 897,621 AND "Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F665-QQS : accessed 5 March 2017), Andrew Mcgougan, 26 Jan 1896; citing Death, Newman, Lawrence Township, Stark, Ohio, United States, source ID v 3 p 376, County courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 897,621.

[iii] "Ohio, Stark County Coroner's Records, 1890-2002," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9GKR-X9N?cc=1922540&wc=SNB8-SPJ%3A218158301 : 21 May 2014), > image 172 of 209; County Records Center, Canton.

[iv] "Ohio, Stark County Coroner's Records, 1890-2002," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GGKR-X51?cc=1922540&wc=SNB8-SPJ%3A218158301 : 21 May 2014), > image 174 of 209; County Records Center, Canton.