USING MICHIGANOLOGY WEBSITE–Finding death certificates from 1944 & 1945

For a very long time I made use of the Seeking Michigan website.  They offered us death record images that were 75 years or older and various other historical documents.

Every year I looked forward to January 1st when the new records would come online.  I would use my Legacy program to figure out which of my Michigan ancestors died in a certain year and look for those records.  I believe we were up to 1942 or 1943 death records, when the Seeking Michigan site was taken down and all records were transferred to Michiganology. 

When this change over first took place it was nearly impossible to find records that were so easy to locate on the Seeking Michigan site.  Many of us with Michigan roots were pretty frustrated.  I offered a LOT of feedback to the new site, as did others.

In the ensuing 4 or so years I have pretty much avoided the website. 

Recently I decided that there really were records I needed and maybe, just maybe there had been some improvements in the search engine on the site.

I’m happy to say that I was well rewarded for my efforts. 

I went in with a list of 1944 and 1945 deaths for which I needed a certificate.  There were 11 people on my list.  In review I had two of the certificates already, shared with me by my cousins Paula & Marion. 

That left 9 death certificates to find.  

How many was I able to locate?  8 of the 9.

I found that the less information I entered the better my chances were of finding a record.  Just a first and last name or even just a last name and year of death. It seemed to me that the website was working better than it had a few years ago.  I still think there is room for improvement.  On the occasion when I didn’t enter a year of death I was given a list of names and the county they died in.  When you get a long list of results with the same name, it would be nice for them to list the year of death to narrow it down a bit.

As you can see below, in entering William Gould, I received 31 hits. This screen shot just shows the first few.  But, if I didn’t know what county I might end up having to look at all 31 records.  Having a death year would improve this. 

(Please click on the image to enlarge it)

Here are the list of names for those death certificates I located

CURRY, Frederick William – 5 Nov 1944, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan

ERB, Catherine – 8 Dec 1945, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan

GOULD, Helen C – 17 Feb 1945, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan

HEAD, Emogine – 19 Nov 1945, Three Oaks, Berrien, Michigan

LINDOW, Charles Herman – 10 Feb 1944, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan 

McTAGGART, Sarah – 10 May 1944, Bad Axe, Huron, Michigan

PRATT, James William – 26 May 1944, Richmond, Macomb, Michigan

SINE, Hattie – 6 Apr 1944, Albion, Calhoun, Michigan

I was not able to access the record for Grace M. Thorpe Stanton, who died May 29, 1945.  It’s possible those images just haven’t been uploaded yet.  I’ll try again later this year.

UPDATE - On March 15, 2021, I went back to the Michiganology website and searched again for Grace Thorpe Stanton's death certificate and found it.  Perhaps I hadn't searched correctly the first time.  Never give up!

Overall, I’m very pleased with being able to locate this many death records.  Wouldn’t it be great if all states had vital records available like this?  I know many do….but not all.

If you have Michigan ancestors and haven’t used the Michiganology website in a while, I’d encourage you to try again. 

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2021   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

TREASURE CHEST THURSDAY ~ Birth record for my 7th great grandfather–William Critchfield 1686, Boston, British Colony Massachusetts

Today’s find are several references to the birth record of my 7th great grandfather, William Critchfield.

What the above record appears to be is someone’s hand written, alphabetical copy of births that occured in Boston, Massachusetts in 1686.  This is not to be confused with an “original” birth record.  But, it certainly gives us an idea where we might find an original record.

I also located this record on Ancestry.com in the record collection Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988.



Here is another reference to this birth.  Also located on Ancestry.com in the record collection Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Boston, Births, 1630-1799; Vol 2,3,4,5,7.



I have attempted to find the original record of this birth, online, by using both ancestry, family search and NEHGS/American Ancestors websites.  I haven’t located the record.  Perhaps it can be found in a courthouse or historical society in Boston?

In the meantime, I will be able to reference William’s birth with the 3 records above. This puts him in a place and time that is appropriate to other records I have.

Here is how I am descended from William Critchfield and his wife Susannah:

8th great grandparents

William Critchfield & Susannah (MNU) maiden name unknown

7th great grandparents

William Critchfield (1686-1773) & Agnes Trynte Opdyke (abt 1690-1754)

6th great grandparents

Elizabeth Opdyke Critchfield (abt 1727-after 1786) & John Frampton, Sr. (abt 1714-abt 1784)

5th great grandparents

John Frampton, Jr. (1743-1808) & Anna Barbara Martin (1746-1822)

4th great grandparents

Rachel Frampton (1781-1855) & William Gillen (1782-1841)

3rd great grandparents

Emily Gillen (1810-1887) & Rev. Isaac C. Hunter (1798-1842)

2nd great grandparents

James Gillen Hunter (1832-1884) & Susan Caroline Boggs (1842-1913)

Great grandparents

Florence Hunter (1869-1946) & Robert Lee Bowden (1863-1906)

Grandparents

Florence Lee Nora Bowden (1888-1986) & Joseph Albert Milne (1883-1957)

My Mother (this is her side of the family)

Me

If you think you might be related to anyone mentioned in this blog post, please contact me.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

FRIDAY FINDS - David Frampton, Rebel Prisoner - Dec 1861

MYSTERY MONDAY - Who's Your Daddy? Brick Wall Post #5 - William Gillen 1782-1841

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2016   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

IS THAT INDEX CORRECT? HERE’S WHY WE NEED TO LOOK AT THE ACTUAL DOCUMENT

HERE IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT AND READ DOCUMENTS AND NOT JUST DEPEND ON THE INDEXED TRANSCRIPTION

Yesterday I was doing a bit of research on a 3rd great granduncle and his second wife.
 
I knew that Isaac F. Gillen 1823-1907 had married Amy “Emma” Kimball 1830-1886 on 28 Mar 1852 in Lawrence Co., Ohio.  Here they are in my Legacy program.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)



Emma died in 1886.  I had information from the 1900 census that he had remarried to a lady named Martha E. born about 1867 in Ohio.  I had no further information about Martha.

My next step was to look on the Family Search site for a marriage record for Isaac & Martha.

Here is what I found in the index:

Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1997
Name:     Isaac F. Gillen
Event Type:     Marriage
Event Date:     20 Sep 1889
Event Place:     Lawrence, Ohio, United States
Age:     21
Birth Year (Estimated):     1868
Spouse's Name:     Martha E. Snyder
Spouse's Age:     19
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated):     1870
Reference ID: Vol. 15, p 216, no 2
GS Film Number: 317721
Digital Folder Number: 004016335
Image Number: 00152

NOTE that Isaac’s age is listed as 21.

Isaac was born in 1823 and this marriage took place in 1889.  That would make my Isaac about 66 years old when this marriage took place, NOT 21.  Martha would have been about 22 years old at the time of the marriage, if she was born about 1867.  Her age isn’t that far off, but Isaac’s is another story.

Fortunately, there was an image of the marriage record for me to look at.  Here is the image.



OK, the names are there – Isaac F. Gillen and Martha E. Snyder.  The date of marriage was 20 Sep 1889 in Lawrence Co., Ohio.

But those ages listed after their names.  What’s up with that?
 
Here is that portion of the document highlighted.  Read those words in the red boxes carefully.

“Isaac F. Gillen, who being first duly sworn, saith that he is MORE THAN 21 YEARS OF AGE, that he has no wife living, that he is not nearer of kin to Martha E. Snyder than second Cousins, that she is MORE THAN 18 YEARS OF AGE, that she has no husband living……………”

There you have it.  The indexer has listed their ages as 21 and 19.  Not sure where  the 19 came from, since the document has an 18 on it.  Maybe misread?

Isaac was certainly MORE THAN 21 years of age in 1889, wasn’t he?

It’s just invaluable for us, as researchers, to view the actual documents and not depend on transcriptions, indexes etc.  How many times I’ve received a “typed” copy of a record, only to later look at the original and find several errors.  I try to always ask for a photo copy of any original record I send for.

Having access to these original documents online is invaluable to us.  But, if we don’t have access online, then we must not just take the indexes and transcriptions as the final word.

Have you run across similar issues when you’ve viewed the original record vs what was indexed?  I’d love to hear about it.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
VITAL RECORDS–HOW TO REQUEST THEM AND KEEP TRACK OF THOSE REQUESTS
EASY DOCUMENT EDITING TIPS

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION 

AMANUENSIS MONDAY – BIRTH RECORDS - WHAT INFORMATION DO THEY REVEAL?

BABY FINK  &  MITA FREDA DOLLER

The other day we talked about VITAL RECORDS – HOW TO REQUEST THEM AND KEEP TRACK OF THOSE REQUESTS

I have learned to be patient when I submit record requests.  However, after about a week to ten days, I start looking through our mail with greater anticipation.  Let’s just call it “hope.”  Having no idea when the records will appear or even if they will, makes the anticipation all the more fun.

Imagine my excitement when I got the mail on June 20th and saw that envelope I had addressed to myself.  Could this be a response, so soon?  I only mailed my requests on June 10th.  You can nearly always tell by the feel of the envelope whether you have a record copy or a piece of paper/letterhead with the disappointing “sorry no record located.”  Most copies of vital records are printed on a different, heavier type of stock than letter paper.  

In this case when I felt the envelope I was hopeful because it was pretty thick. 
When I opened it, I did in fact receive ALL FOUR records I had requested.  Two birth records and two death records.  

    Time for the genealogy happy dance!

Let’s look a the birth records first.  These are for my husband’s grandparents, Henry August Fink and Freada Emma Meta Doller.  

NOTE: If at all possible it is always a good idea to get every vital record available for a person’s life.  Every piece of evidence we gather and cite makes our identification of this person and their link to the family more concrete.

HENRY AUGUST FINK or as his birth record states BABY FINK

State of New York, County of Erie, City of Buffalo    ______Ward

BIRTH RETURN

1.  Name of child – Baby Fink
2.  Sex – Male
3.  Color or Race if other than white – left blank
4.  Date of birth – January 14th 1893
5.  Place of birth – Buffalo Gen’l Hospital
6.  Name of father – Geo. Fink
7.  Maiden and full name of mother – Barbara Ludwick
8.  Birthplace or country of father – U.S.   Age 32     Occupation – Coachman
9.  Birthplace or country of mother – Ger  (Germany?)   Age  31
10. Number of this mother’s previous children – 2   How many of them now living – 1
11. Name & address of medical attendant or authorized person in own handwriting – John V. Woodruff (there is an address under the signature which is not completely readable)
12. Date of this return – January 15th 1893

This confirms some information I already had, such as his parent’s names and his date & the city of birth.  That information came from his descendants and from other sources such as marriage, death and census records.  What this does give me is further verification for what I already know, plus some new information such as:

• the occupation of his father at the time of his birth 
• how many previous children were born to his mother and how many are now living. 
• his place of birth at the Buffalo General Hospital

Since Henry Fink and his wife Freada had four children and all of those children were confirmed, I suspect that perhaps Henry was too. 

Would the confirmation record give evidence of his name? 

How do I find out when he was named? 

Good questions.

Now let’s take a look at Henry Fink’s future wife’s birth record.

FREADA EMMA META DOLLER or as her birth record states META FRIDA DOLLER

State of New York, County of Erie, City of Buffalo   ________Ward

BIRTH RETURN

1.  Name of child – Meta Frida

2.  Sex - Girl

3.  Color or race of other than white – left blank

4.  Date of birth – August 24, 1895

5.  Place of birth – No. 73 Harmonia St.

6.  Name of father – John Doller

7.  Maiden & full name of mother – Bartha Killer or Bartha Koller

8.  Birthplace or country of father – Germany    Age  35   Occupation – Labor

9.  Birthplace or country of mother –     “        Age 30

10. Number of this mother’s previous children – 6     How many of them now living – 1

11. Name and address of medical attendant or authorized person in own handwriting – Mrs. N. S. Smith, 286 Bowen St.

12. Date of this return – 8/26/95

These birth records are two years apart.  The forms appear to be the same.  Although I cannot read some of the information pre-printed on the second record for Meta Frida Doller, I am using the first record as a template.  

Like the first record, this one verifies information that I already have such as date of birth and parent’s names.  Here though, the name of the child is slightly different from the name she went by in all the other records I have for her.

 

Certainly Meta Frida  is not a common name.  Her marriage record, obituary and cemetery headstone all give her name as Freada M. Fink or Freada M. Doller.  The first time I see evidence of the name Freda E. is the 1925 New York state census.  In reviewing the other documents I have for her, I see no other reference to the name Freada Emma.  

I am married to her grandson and friends with another of her grandchildren.  Both of them have always told me she was called Freada Emma Meta Fink aka Doller.  This now makes me question the validity of that second name of Emma. 

Where did that name originate? 

Did she ever use it in any legal capacity or on any records?

Good questions.

Another note about Freda’s birth record.   Her parents John Doller & Bertha Keller are believed to have been married in Germany about 1884.  They came to the United States about 1885 or 1886 (I still need to get further evidence for their immigration).  Freda’s older brother, Irven Doller was born in Germany.  Note that on the birth record it states that there were 6 children previously born to the mother, Bertha, and only 1 of them was still living.  Family lore tells that one child died on the ship on the way to the United States.

 

Will I ever find proof of birth for the other children?

All of the information on these birth records has been sourced and cited into my Legacy database.  As well as adding an image of the document to the record for both Henry Fink and Meta Frida Doller. 

More questions have been raised by looking at these documents.  But, we have also added further evidence to facts we already knew.

 

I was going to write about the two death records I received along with these birth returns, but I’m going to save that for another day.

Please share the experiences you’ve had, both good or bad, when you've sent for records. 

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

VITAL RECORDS–HOW TO REQUEST THEM AND KEEP TRACK OF THOSE REQUESTS

Let’s take a look at how I go about requesting vital records and my process for recording what I’ve requested.

I was looking for two birth records and two death records.  I believed these to be located in the City of Buffalo, New York.  This was based on information from direct descendants, census records and cemetery information.

I began by using a search engine (I use Google) and finding a site for the City of Buffalo, Vital Records.  

(Click on any image to enlarge it)



As you can see they tell you exactly what years they have available for all the records.  

I knew I wanted birth records for 1893 and 1895 and death records for 1935 and 1950.  Looks like I’m in luck according to their website.

Next, I downloaded the application.  It looks like I will be able to submit all four record requests on this one page.  Here is my filled out form, redacted to exclude my personal information.

NOTE:  I always indicate my method of payment (in this case they wanted a money order) and the date that I mail my requests.  I scan & save a copy digitally in Evernote.  I used to save paper copies, but now do it all digitally.  Another thing I have always done is keep track of the records I send for on an Excel spreadsheet.  Mine dates back to 2000.




Here is a screenshot of my Excel spreadsheet for my records requests.  This sheet has 131 entries on it.  You can see that I can keep track of the cost and whether or not the record was received.  I highlight in green if I did receive it and use red font if I don’t. 

The title of the columns are:

• Date Requested  
• Name/s   
• Type of record   
• Requested from 
• Date Rec’d 
• Questions/Problems or not rec’d  
• Cost   
• Notes

TIP: Sometimes the city, county or state will want you to include a self addressed, stamped envelope.  In the case of the City of Buffalo, they did want one.  I always put an extra stamp on the return envelope and my own return address label.  If the record is large it could exceed the 1 oz. limit for a single stamp.  With my own return address label on it,  even if there is postage due, it will come to me.  

The cost of these records vary greatly from state to state.  I’ve paid as little as $5 for a Florida death record and as much as $36 recently for a death certificate from Michigan.  It’s a whole lot cheaper if we can find what we want online.  I will always exhaust an online search first.  However, we all know there are millions of records not currently online and millions that may never be.  I also take into consideration that sending for a record is much less expensive than flying or driving to a courthouse to get it. 

Your other option is to find the microfilm that would have these records on it and order it from your local Family History Center.  

So what have I paid over the years?  Since 2000 I have spent $2,107.  That’s $150.50 per year.  

More records are online now than back in 2000.  Let’s just look at the most recent 5 year span.  

2010 = $42
2011 = $125
2012 = $146
2013 = $32.65
2014 = 95 (so far this year)

This cost certainly varies from year to year, depending on what I’m looking for.

Now, we wait.  How long?  I have no idea.  I have waited days, weeks, months for a reply.  Sometimes the reply is “no record found.”  Always disappointing.  And other times it’s like opening a Christmas present.  You get exactly what you asked for.

I’ll tell you about the records I received from this request in my next post.  

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
Church Records - How they can help you with your research
SURPRISE - A birth record where it wasn't supposed to be

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

 Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION