“We all make mistakes. This week, consider writing about a mistake that an ancestor made or that you’ve made in your research. (Like the time I looked for ages in the wrong county because I misread a family Bible record. Oops.)” this weeks prompt for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks by Amy Johnson Crow.
I make mistakes all the time, honestly. I’m human, not perfect. I try to fix them right away but sometimes I don’t notice immediately. Here is my latest mistake, maybe this will prevent you from making the same mistake.
Death certificates for some states are very easy to acquire but in others you need to sign away your first born child and mortgage your house to pay for it. Ok, maybe a slightly exagerated version of getting death records but the rules are different state by state. My husband happens to have ancestry in a state with stricter privacy laws.
I was trying to find a list of states that have restrictions like North Dakota and haven’t been able to find it. I’ve been told there are a few others but I haven’t come across them yet. As a direct descendant of the people I was researching we were entitled to the full certificate. The problem is you have to check the right box in order to get the full certificate. We must not have been paying close enough attention when requesting the lastest certificates. We ordered others and did it correctly but not this time.
This is what you get in North Dakota if you are not a direct descendant. The cause of death, notes, doctor etc are all blanked out. I’m not very clear why this is necessary for someone who died in 1939. I was looking for reasons behind this and found an entire paper entitled “Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy.” I think it’s a little over the top but I like to dig for all the details so maybe my perspective is a little skewed.
I did get her husband’s name, parents names, the name of the informant, burial place and undertaker, as well as essential dates and address. You really can get a lot of information from a death certificate. Now we need to decide if it is worth paying the fee again to get the details of the cause of death. Some states make the certificates freely available online.
Now you know, if you see a death certificate online with the death details blanked out it is more than likely from North Dakota. Hopefully if you are a direct descendant of someone from North Dakota you will read the form carefully, check the correct box, provide what they need for verification and get the full certificate. That’s my latest oops! I’m sure it won’t be my last and it definitely wasn’t my first. Maybe this post will keep you from making the same mistake in your research.
My Tree in the Forest 