Friday, December 31, 2010

Capt. David W McClurken (1839 - 1916)

David W McClurken was a Civil War soldier who served in the 10th Regiment of the Missouri Infantry. He was promoted to the rank of Captain and he was wounded in action. A biography has been created and is available at this link. His headstone can be viewed at this link.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Thomas Patrick Ryan Death Certificate

Thomas Patrick Ryan was born on November 6, 1873 in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1918, he was single, living in Chicago, Illinois and working as a salesman for a company located in Decatur, Illinois. The 1930 Census found him living in a hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was age 56, still single and working as a neon sign salesman. I recently ordered and received a copy of a death certificate for a Thomas Patrick Ryan. Unfortunately, this Thomas was born in 1863, so it was the wrong Thomas. I had previously received another death certificate for a different Thomas Patrick Ryan. That one was born in 1890, so again the wrong person. Unfortunately, Thomas Ryan is a fairly common name. The Missouri Archives has death certificates available for 68 Thomas Ryan's who died between 1910 and 1959. All of these were examined, for free, and none were for the right person. The Arkansas Death Index on Ancestry.com also did not provide a match. The Illinois Database lists 34 more possible Thomas Ryan's and 4 Thomas P Ryan's who died between 1931 and 1948. 32 of these 38 were in Cook County. Since the date and the state, where Thomas died, are unknown, the details of his death may never be discovered.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Charles Peter Jacobsen's Death Certificate

I recently obtained the death certificate for Charles Peter Jacobsen (1860 - 1917). I had hoped to find his birthdate and other details of his birth location and that of his parents. Although the decedent was listed as the informant, this certificate has numerous errors and missing information. Errors include: spelling of the last name as Jacobson (should be Jacobsen), birth year as 1862 (other documents indicate 1860), and his marital status as widower (he was married). His birthplace is indicated only as Illinois and no information is provided about his parents. However, some good information was discovered: middle name was Peter, occupation as watchman, place of death as Oak Forest Infirmary, and residence as 2309 N. Keeler Avenue. For further information, see the Death Certificate and for family linkages, see his Find A Grave Memorial.

Friday, December 10, 2010

William Eggebrecht's Death Certificate

I recently obtained the death certificate for William Eggebrecht (1861 - 1923). Since he was the older brother of Robert, I had hoped to find detailed information about William's place of birth and that of their parents. Unfortunately, the informant, his employer, only provided Germany as the birthplace for William and both of his parents. One new item of information, that was obtained, was his place of burial: Concordia Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois. From the cemetery, I found out that William and his wife, Augusta, are buried in the plot of his employer, William Mielahn. While I did not find the information that I sought, I did find out the burial information. I hope to visit the cemetery in the near future. The death certificate is available at this link.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Clara McClurken Kemps' Death Certificate

I recently ordered and received some death certificates from the Illinois Department of Public Health. One was for Clara Amanda McClurken Kemps (1849 - 1936). Previous attempts to acquire this had been unsuccessful. This time I located it in their database with the last name misspelled Kerups and an incorrect year of 1935. Most of the information was previously known and some was incorrect (parents birthplaces should have been South Carolina). A curiosity was the cause of death - cerebral hemorrhage. One of her sons, Luther James Kemps, had also died of a cerebral hemorrhage just six months earlier. It was nice to finally acquire this document as an additional source for the various dates and facts of her birth and death. This document has been included as a reference file for her biography an is also available at this link.