Elon and Catherine Carman had three children. My great-grandfather Joseph and his brother Jacob survived into adulthood. Their sister Caroline did not. Elon’s Declaration for Pension (1910) listed the three of them, with the word living after Joseph and Jacob and dead after Caroline. Census searches indicated that Caroline probably died sometime between 1870 and 1880, at a young age. She was born in 1869.

Recently, I discovered Caroline’s death certificate. She died in 1872. She was only 2 1/2 years old.

I am always struck by how common death in childhood used to be when I find these relatives of mine who didn’t make it to adulthood, and how fortunate we are that medicine has progressed so much that such deaths are now rare.

West Virginia? Yes, most of my ancestors did not stray far from Philadelphia or South Jersey, but a Craner escaped to West Virginia. This wonderful state has a project to place scanned images of vital records on line. And, guess who I found? My escapee, Richard Craner.

This is exactly the sort of thing the internet should be used for. While some states are requiring photo id & proof of kinship to request vital records that are too old to be any use to identity thieves, others are making scanned images available. ( Arizona is another state doing this.)

Not to mention that New Jersey blocks out the cause of death, even on records over 100 years old. Now, why should it be a secret what my G-G-G-Grandfather Ansel Irelan died of in 1892?

Of course, New Jersey Vital Records does not exactly have the best track record when in comes to genealogy requests. How much easier it would be for them if they just scanned all those old records and put them on the internet. Then they wouldn’t have to deal with us pesky genealogists anymore!

Thanks to the databases that the Gloucester County Historical Society is putting online, I was able to obtain a death date for Mary V. WARE, wife of Uriah and mother of George W. WARE. I sent away for her death certificate, and it confirmed that her last name was indeed COLEMAN, as my grandfather had indicated in the brief notes that have passed to me. Mary’s parents were Jacob and Rebecca COLEMAN. My grandfather’s notes also indicate that one of the Colemans lived 1799-1899, and I am surmising that it was Rebecca, who I found in the 1880 census, although the dates don’t match up perfectly. Lots more to investigate here.

Certificate of Death
25 Ward, Philadelphia, 2091 E. Somerset
Joseph Funston

Sex: male

Color: white
Widower
Date of Death: 1 – 1 – 1921

Date of Birth: Nov 28th 1850
Age: 70 yrs, 1 mth, 3 days
Occupation: Boxmaker
Birthplace: Philada
Father: Joseph Funston
Father’s birthplace: Philada
Mother: Not reported
Informant: John H. Funston, 4619 A St.

… Cause of Death:
(Ill?) Gas Poisoning
probably accidental
(signed) Wm. H__ght, Jr.

Former or usual residence: Amber & Somerset, 25 Ward

Place and date of burial:
Greenmount Cemetery, Jany 4 1921

CONRAD, Nicholas: Death Certificate 1942

Transcribed from a photocopy obtained from the Pennsylvania Division of Vital Records.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Department of Health
Bureau of Vital Statistics
Certficate of Death

1. Place of Death
County: Philadelphia
City: Phila.
Name of Hospital: Protestant Episcopal Hosp.

2. Usual Residence of Deceased
State: Pa.
County: Phila.
City: Philadelphia
Street No. 2069 E. Clarence St.

3. Full Name: Nicholas Conrad
4. Sex: M
5. Color or Race: W
6. Widowed
Wife: Sophia Conrad
7. Birth date of deceased: Feb. 22, 1867
8. Age: 75 yrs, 8 Months, 24 Days
9. Birthplace: Phila.
10. Usual Occupation: Warper
11. Industry or Business: Textile
12. Father Name: Nicholas Conrad
13. Father Birthplace: Unknown
14. Mother Name: Unknown
15. Mother Birthplace: Unknown
16. Informant’s own signature: [signed] Edward C. Conrad
Address: 2069 E. Clarence St. Phila. Pa.
17: Burial, Date: Nov. 20, 1942, Place: Northwood, Phila. Co.
18. Signature of funeral director: [signed] John N. Hackman
Address: 905-07 W. Lehigh ave. Hackman Bros., Inc.
19. Date received: Nov. 20, 1942
20: Date of Death: Nov. 16, 1942, 7:00 P.M.
…