My brickwalls for death dates

[shellyesq]

I have a few people for whom I haven't been able to find a date of death.  Perhaps someone can help me find them or narrow it down.

1)  Leroy David Sherwood, also known as Roy
Per his WWI Draft Registration Card, he was born 16 May 1883.
I have him in Bridgeport, CT with his mother and siblings in the 1900 and 1910 Census.
I found a possible marriage record for him on Italiangen.org for 25 Nov 1914 in Brooklyn to his wife Freda Mohr.
He's in Brooklyn as of the WWI Draft Registration.
He appears to be in Scranton, Pennsylvania with his wife & 2 children in 1920.
They are in Harrison, New York in 1930.
I have his wife's obituary from 1973 and he was deceased by then.  In her obituary, it mentions that she lived in Port Chester, NY for more than 25 years.  

2)  Frederick Cowperthwaite, born Keswick England in 1865 and likely immigrated in 1888 (I have a possible passenger list.)
He was in Rye, New York in 1900.  (Strangely transcribed by Ancestry as Iren Coperworth.)
He was in Port Chester, New York in 1910.
I found him in Port Chester city directories in 1918 (in East Port Chester) and 1920 (in Port Chester).
In the 1920 Census, his wife is in Port Chester and listed as married, but Frederick isn't listed.
In the 1928 East Port Chester directory, Frederick's wife and 2 adult sons are listed, but he isn't.
In the 1934-35 East Port Chester directory, his wife is listed as (wid Fred), so he was deceased by then.  I'm not sure if he left the family or when he died.

3)  Frederick Cowperthwaite's wife Margaret (maiden name possibly O'Brien), born Ireland circa 1870, possibly immigrated to Boston 1885-1888.
Frederick & Margaret married about 1892, per census records, but I don't know where.
I have Margaret in the 1937-1938 directory of East Port Chester, but nothing thereafter.  I have her son John's obituary from 1953 and her son Joseph's obituary from 1964 and there's no mention of her in either, so I'm thinking she was deceased by then.  

Any further info would be helpful.

[Miss Kate]

Hi Shellesq,

Both Harrison and Port Chester, NY are located in Westchester County.
You can request a death date look up from:

New York State Vital Records Microfiche Indexes - Free Look Ups

The Onondaga County Public Library (OCPL) 
447 S. Salina Street
Syracuse, NY 13202-2494

The phone number and the email contact are here:

< http://ny-genes.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-york-state-vital-records-microfiche.html >

Further information is here:

< http://ny-genes.blogspot.com/2008/03/vital-records-lookups-update-to-update.html >

You may have to 'guesstimate' when each death occurred or the person may go ahead and look for you.

This database does not include NY City nor the surrounding boroughs of the city. It does include all other areas of NY State.

You also may want to check http://www.findagrave.com
in case their cemetery interments have been placed on this website.

Hope this helps.
K.

[shellyesq]

Thanks, Kate.  Good information!  I may give it a whirl.  I live in Westchester County, and we don't really think of ourselves as Upstate, so interesting that the blog thinks we are.   

[shellyesq]

Just wanted to say that I did contact them about another person whose death date I had a bit more narrowed down & I got an answer with a certificate # within 24 hours.  I'm quite impressed, so thanks again. 

[shellyesq]

Bumping up an old thread, with some updated information - hoping there'll be some tidbit out there to help me!   

1)  I'm still stuck on Leroy Sherwood.  I'm also trying to find a death date for his brother in the hopes of finding an obit.  Here's the brother's info -

Thomas F. Sherwood, b. abt. Jun. 1878 in Easton, Connecticut.  He's in Easton in 1880 with mother Ella and his grandparents.  In 1900, he's in Bridgeport, Connecticut with mom & siblings.  He married Grace London on 7 Aug. 1901 in Bridgeport.  In 1910, 1920, & 1930, he's with Grace & their son in Brooklyn, NY.  There's an entry for a WWI Draft Registration card on Ancestry, but it shows the wrong image.  I reported this a while back to Ancestry and no change has been made.  In the 1938 Bridgeport, CT city directory, there's a Thomas Sherwood living at the same address as Richard W. & Florence Sherwood, who are Thomas' brother & sister-in-law, so I think that might be him.  Beyond that, I haven't found any sign of him. 

2)  Still no answers on Frederick Cowperthwaite, but I did find him in the 1930 Census in Port Chester, NY, listed as married, but with a lodger & no wife there.  I checked with the library that has the NY death index, and they checked 1928-1934 with no sign of him. 

3)  A relative posted a death date for Margaret Cowperthwaite, so I hopefully I may have taken care of that brick wall.  I just have to order the certificate

[Cheryl_US]

Hi!

I take it you didn't find these guys in the WWII DRCs? 

Did Leroy's wife's obit mention place of interment?  If so perhaps the gravestone or the cemetery records might lead you to Leroy.  If her obit did not mention the cemetery, did it mention the funeral home? 

Similarly for Fred...  Perhaps Margaret's DC will prove helpful in tracking down cemetery info.  (Or the records of the sons?)  I don't know if you plan to order from the local municipality or the state, but you do have both options, as you probably know, as deaths were registered with the local clerk and then sent to Albany.  (However, MCs were filed with the county clerk until 1935.)

Sometimes it helps to check separately with both the local clerk and the state.
Port Chester Clerk:
http://www.portchesterny.com/page.cfm?pageID=23

There's also the option to cold-call area cemeteries. 

If Fred really did leave the family, Margaret may have been listed as a widow even if that wasn't true.  I guess it wasn't common, but I mention it because one of my guys was separated from his wife and living in Brooklyn.  She was living in Manhattan and listed as widowed.  They later got back together for a little bit, and I've wondered what the neighbors thought!    OTOH, I have another guy who was deceased several years, then reappears in the directory along with his wife, who was remarried by that time.  Go figure!

Another thing...I'm not sure exactly when the NYS Index switched to soundex.  However, some of the earlier years were not in soundex, making it more difficult to search if the name was spelled incorrectly.  There's a good chance the library could have missed him if this was the case.  Even with soundex, there could be entirely different first letters in the index (wrong interpretation of the handwriting).  The index is available to the public in 9 libraries throughout the state, although it doesn't appear to be in Westchester.  The nearest would be the National Archives in Manhattan.  (It's in NYC, Buffalo, Elmira, Glens Falls, Albany, Patchogue, Rochester, Syracuse, Watertown.)

Wishing You Luck!
Cheryl 

[shellyesq]

Did Leroy's wife's obit mention place of interment?  If so perhaps the gravestone or the cemetery records might lead you to Leroy.  If her obit did not mention the cemetery, did it mention the funeral home? 

No, unfortunately the obit didn't have that information.  I may have to double check the days around the obit being published to see if there's a funeral notice.  It's been a while since I found it, so I can't remember if I did check the days after that.

I haven't had any luck with the WWII draft card for Leroy, so he may have died before that or just was dodging the draft.   

The tree I found shows Margaret dying in 1954 in New York Co., New York (and buried in Valhalla, which has more than one giant cemetery).  I haven't ordered any later certificates from NY City, so I'm wondering how much of a stickler the Dept. of Health is for proving you are a relation.  My husband is her descendant, but doesn't have the same surname and I don't want to have to ask living relatives for their birth certificates.  If anyone has any experience in dealing with the NYC Dept. of Health, please let me know.

[Cheryl_US]

The tree I found shows Margaret dying in 1954 in New York Co., New York (and buried in Valhalla, which has more than one giant cemetery). 

Did ya try calling Kensico, Gate of Heaven, etc. with her name and date?  That's usually enough info from 1954.  These places can typically confirm if someone's there and give the plot number at no charge.  For additional details, ie. interment list, they may charge. 

[Lisa in California]

Adding to what Cheryl suggested...I wrote to several (Canadian) cemetery offices and a couple weren't able to help even tell me where my ancestors were buried.  However, most told me their grave locations and a couple of offices gave me all details, including who was buried in the plot.  I hope you have the same success.  (The records were all from pre-1912.)