Death certificate and grave site for Carl J. Turpin

The latest issue of Family Tree Magazine (August 2010) has an excellent article by George G. Morgan about the analysis of death certificates. I have a three ring binder full of death certificates that I have collected over the years. Mr. Morgan points out in his article that there can be errors. He said that genealogists should treat only the facts relating to the death of that person as primary sources. All other personal information should be looked at as secondary sources and verification of those sources should be made by other means. Boy! Mr. Morgan is right!

A look at my grand great Uncle Carl's death certificate shows his mother as being "Ellmandia Kennelly." I already knew -- from other sources -- that his mother's maiden name is actually "Kennerly." But, I had received my great grandfather's death certificate just the week before -- Ashby who was an older brother to Carl Julian Turpin -- and Ashby's death certificate listed his mother as "Amanda Kennedy." In both cases, their father's name -- Thomas J. Turpin -- was correct. If one had just started researching this line and did not have any additional information, this would be confusing.

In his article, Mr. Morgan points out that the errors could be ones caused by the transcription of the information. Also, the informant for the personal information on the death certificate may not be correct. In both cases, it was the wives of the deceased men who provided the information of their husbands' mother's names. I can only assume that rather than physically filling out the information themselves, the wives spoke the information to someone else who wrote it down, giving his or her own spin on the spelling of names. I cannot imagine a wife not knowing the full name of her mother-in-law.

Information that I found to be correct on Carl Julian Turpin's death certificate was his death date and that he was buried at Fairlawn Mausoleum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma. The picture of the above crypt was taken during an October 2008 visit to Fairlawn Mausoleum in Oklahoma City. It is also interesting to see what Carl J. Turpin's wife, Frances Linton Turpin, gave as his occupation: "capitalist." And it's also interesting to see the cause of death and the name of the funeral home.

Regarding ordering death certificates in general, the states of Nebraska and Oklahoma are wonderfully efficient. One is required to fill out the appropriate form which can be found on line, then along with the form, enclose a photo copy of the requestor's ID, a check and a return self-addressed envelope and in a few weeks, the certificate will be waiting in the mailbox. California takes awhile, and Iowa . . . I haven't even tried it yet. One must sign a statement in front of a Notary Public stating that you are who you say you are, plus fill out a form, plus send a photo ID yada, yada, yada.

The State of Maryland has a system where one can flip through index cards on line to find an ancestor's death certificate. It's a system that needs improvement but one that has come in handy for me. I have ordered several Maryland death certificates this way.

I urge you to take a look at Mr. Morgan's article on death certificates in the August 2010 issue of Family Tree Magazine. He disects it bit by bit. Great article.