Would Jump of Happiness if We Could Find a Photo of Him -- The Words from a Swedish Researcher

A few weeks ago, I received a message from Christer, a gentlemen from Sweden who was researching Mr. Paulson, a family member, in Lowell, MA, where I live. The writer found me by seeing my post, Doing Genealogy in Lowell, Massachusetts? Here is Help. I don't have ancestors or family from this city, but since I had just written the post about Lowell research, I wanted to be put to the test with my knowledge. We corresponded several times, and he told me all that he knew about Mr. Paulson, proving to me, he is an accomplished researcher.

Below are a few things he wrote:
"I've found .... - him in the census' 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940. - his lodge membership card. (mason lodge) - his social security number: 004-07-3168 - out he died in Feb 1978, in Lowell - his WW1 and WW2 registration cards - I have also found him in several city directories. I would really love to find out if he had any children! And of course if you can find an obituary, maybe that will give me some more information!? Somewhere, I don't remember where and can't find my notes about it, I saw he were politically active. Maybe that's could be a way to go.... And most of all I would jump of happiness if I could find a photo of him or his relatives. I guess it is to ask for too much but as we say here in Sweden - Frågan är fri! (The question is free of charge!)"

Christer sounds just like all of us, it doesn't matter where a researcher lives, we get excited, and know we too "would jump of happiness if we could find a photo of him". Actually, he now knows more then he ever expected to. All it takes is locating somebody in the same town/city as the person you are researching and is willing to help out. 

During several days, I took photos of where his Famagust Paulson lived in 1940, found the exact death date from the Social Security Death Index (he had just the month and year), got a certified death certificate an obituary and went to the cemetery for tombstone photos. In other words, almost a complete package.

Getting a vital record from a city or town hall, is always easier for you and the clerk if you provide the correct date. Your wait won't be too long, and the clerk isn't frustrated by not being able to find it. Lowell record books are huge and heavy, and I'm quite sure they don't want to carry one back to the safe to get the "correct" one. At the city hall I quickly got a copy of his death certificate with all lines filled in, including the father's name, which was unknown to Christer.

I have gotten many certified copies of records for various people, including my husband and his family. I'd wait and wait, and listen to the old typewriter make it's noise, and once in a while, a report would have to be retyped. But not today! I noticed immediately, that the clerk was typing on a computer! I asked a few questions and discovered that no longer will a record have to be typed twice or more times, for once the original is saved it will be used for anybody looking for that particular individual. If you need 10 death certificates for a person, you won't have to wait for each be typed. Lowell had entered the modern age for researchers needing these records. I doubt if they will be online though. (If you look at the death record below, you'll see it has a Date of Record of February 21, 1978, a few days after the death.)

The city library is next door, and that is where the newspapers are kept. The four seats for the microfilm readers were empty, and I found the roll I needed. Famagust's death was February 17th, but the obituary was printed the following day and, it's far larger than I expected, plus there was a photo, very good news for Christer!

In addition, I went to the Lowell Cemetery and found the burial site for Famagust and his wife. Photo shown below.

Obituary was transcribed, see below.

Obituary taken from The Sun, Lowell, MA

February 18, 178

Famagust, S. Paulson

dies at 93

"Famagust S.Paulson, of 117 High Street, died Friday morning, at a local nursing home, after a brief illness, aged 93 years.

He was born in Denmark, the son of the late Franz and Bernhardina (Bengston) Poilsen but had come to this country at the age of eight years, having lived in Provincetown and Springfield, before establishing his residence in Lowell, 40 years ago. For a period of twenty years, he had been a salesman for the former Brockelman's Market, having retired in 1950. Prior to that, he had been a chauffeur in the Washington, D. C. area, for many years, having left there in 1930. Very active in local politics, he was a member of the Republican party and was widely known for his work on various campaigns. He had been a delegate to the conventions of both Senator Brooke and former President Nixon.

He is survived by his wife, the former Evelyn Hill; his step-son, William Carter of Naples, Florida; his sister, Mrs. Florence Larson, of Fairhaven; two brothers, Bernard Paulson, of Fairhaven and Frederick Poulsen, of Chino, California.

He was a member of the First United Baptist Church of Lowell. Active in Masonry, he held membership in William North Lodge, A.F. and A.M. of Lowell; as well as Mt. Horeb, Royal Arch Chapter and Aleppo Temple, Order of the Mystic Shrine, of Boston. He was also a member of the Father Norton Friendship Club."

Lowell Cemetery, Lowell, Massachusetts

Catalpa Avenue in the Range ER1

 PAULSON

Famagust S.

1884   ---   1978

Pray For Us

Evelyn L.

His Wife

1894   ---   1982
(His wife's dates are August 12, 1894, she died July 20, 1982 in Tewksbury.)

This area, called the Range, is the prettiest section in the

Lowell Cemetery.

Two Death Certificates For Same Person -- Why?

There is nothing unusual about the death certificates (below)  for my great-grandparents. They were obtained in 1999 and you can see that the state loved red stamps. If you look closely, you can see that they died in Illinois and were buried in Washington, D.C.

The third certificate is for my great-grandmother, recently found on the internet, is from the District of Columbia. Her information was "furnished by transit permit." If you ever have a "transit permit" certificate of death, you will see there is very little information provided, so try and obtain the original certificate from where that person died.

The saddest thing is, I haven't a clue where I found her second certificate on the internet. And, I can't even locate my great-grandfather's "transit permit" (his record of death, does state transit permit), although I saw a shorter one and copied to my computer, somewhere. Lesson learned to myself...pay more attention and keep better records, even after all these years, I mess up.

Click to enlarge.

Follow Friday -- How can 3 Death Records be wrong?

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"