The three death certificates shown below, for the same person, are not 100% correct. The first one, has my 2nd great-grandmother's name totally wrong. She is listed as Fanny McGleason Pool and it should be Frances "Fanny" M. Gleason Poole (4 errors in the name). Since I liked the colorful green record, I made a quick call to Brookline, Massachusetts to get a corrected copy.
Corrected copy below.
Corrected copy, but the last name is still wrong.
There is no listing for the maiden name of mother, although it was clearly on the original record.
Name of cemetery isn't listed, although it was clearly on the original record.
Original state Death Record, obtained several years later was also filled with errors.
Name should be Frances M. Gleason
Husband's name should be spelled as William F. Poole
Maiden name of mother is incorrect, should be Fanny Belden Hubbard (error of informant)
Informant's name should be spelled as William F. Poole (son)
(Clearly the informant didn't proof this, as he would have noticed his name spelled wrong.)
Lesson learned: get a copy of the original, but don't assume it is correct.
Note: See Reflections From the Fence Blog article called "Reality Check - Why Death Certificates Tend To Have Errors"


6 comments:
Hi Barbara, how do you distinguish between an original and a "certified?" - is that what you would call the pretty green one? copy when you order them?
Hi Ginger, first, the original doesn't need the word certified on it. When I ordered a copy from the town, I asked for certified and they usually have a seal like the ones above or an embossed seal. Thanks for writing.
Terrific examples of errors on death certificates! Great post!
Thanks Carol, and perfect timing to follow your wonderful post!
Wow, did you see Martin Holleck's blog post today. They are not on the same topic, really, but they both complement each other so well. Marriage records vs. death records. Now I really know why death records are not considered primary source material!
Thanks Heather for your wonderful comment.
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