Death of my great, great grandfather John Prike born 1819, in Alaska, U.S.A.

[diana2646]

Hi, I don''t know it will be possible for anyone to help me with this.  My great great grandfather John Prike, was born in 1819 in Botesdale, Suffolk, England.  The last trace of him I can find, is on the 1881 census for England, where he is age 62 and living in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England, with his wife Margaret Prike (nee Youngs).  She is age 49 at this time.

There are two family trees on Ancestry, which suggest that he died in Alaska, U.S.A.  No date given.  I have tried contacting the two people who own these trees but have had no reply to my query.  Also, I cannot find a death for John in England which fits in with his correct age.

I know is it a bit of a needle in a haystack, but I wondered if there are any data bases for Alaska deaths which I could search.  I wouldn't want anyone to go to the time and trouble of searching themselves, I am happy to do it, and as I don't have a date of death, it might be a long job!

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

Diana

[diana2646]

Sorry, I forgot to add that the place of death given on the two trees is:

Y Matanuska Susitna, Alaska, U.S.A.

[Christine53]

familysearch has vital records for Alaska , but I can't see anything for John Prike . Have you ruled out this record ? :

John Prike
born about 1815
died 4 Q 1887
Caistor
Lincolnshire
7a
393

It does seem rather unlikely that a 62+ year old labourer would pop up in Alaska . This might be one of those cases where ancestry autofills a field and the tree owner doesn't notice - this is then copied by others . 

[diana2646]

Hi Christine,  thanks for replying to me and also for searching on family search.

I know what you mean re his going off to Alaska at his time of life.  It does sound a bit unlikely!

I did see that death record, although from his age on the censuses, I had him born around 1819, so the age on that death record was about four years out.  I do know that sometimes people got a bit muddled in those days as to how old they were.

Quite often I have seen trees on Ancestry, where everyone has exactly the same details and when I have messaged people, they have said that they just copied it from another tree!!  I like to check for myself before I put pen to paper, just to make sure and have sometimes found mistakes.

I think I should invest in that death cert that you mentioned and then I will know for sure if it is him.

Thanks for your help,

Diana