Finding a death/burial in Pennsylvania 1900-1906

[Hazel17]

Edward and Hannah Slater are in South Fork, Cambria, Pennsylvania in 1900. They are not on the 1901 census of England. In March 1906 Edward Slater has returned to England and has re-married as a widower. I cannot find them returning on any passenger lists. I cannot find a death for Hannah in England so I am assuming Hannah dies in Pennsylvania. Hannah is born approx 1862.

I have been googling for burials in the South Fork area and have come across a few transcripts of cemeteries but no burials for Hannah. Is there an index anywhere I look through to try and find a death for Hannah. I think if I find a death I can write to the courthouse in the relevant town and request a copy of the death certificate but I doubt the courthouse in Cambria would appreciate me asking them to search for a death in a 6 year time span that may or may not have happened there. I have never searched for U.S bmd info before.

Can anyone help me find Hannah's death or point me in the right direction.

[shellyesq]

Here is the information on ordering death certificates from Pennsylvania:  http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/genealogy_requests/14125 

If the event occurred before 1906, you would need to contact the relevant county:  http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/birth_certificates/14121/birth_and_death_events_prior_to_1906/608673

johnnyboy is our resident Pennsylvania expert, so hopefully he will chime in with his advice.

[Hazel17]

I'm going to assume the death was before 1906 as it's a bit tight for Edward to bury his 1st wife, travel back to England with children in tow and meet a second wife and get married at the beginning of March 1906! Although stranger things have happenned...

I have those links you gave me - thank you for the official info. It looks like I will have to write to Cambria courthouse.

If there is a Pennsylavania expert out there please do chime in - all suggestions welcome!!

[johnnyboy]

Ding dong...

Hi Hazel and Shelly: If you haven't seen the Cambria County, Pennsylvania page on the USGenWeb Project's website, it's worth a visit: http://www.camgenpa.com/.

I checked a few indexes on the Cambria County page, but couldn't find an reference to Hannah Slater's death. I've included links so that you can check yourself.

There is a burial index for Cambria County. Click on Cemeteries link on the left of Cambria County's Genweb page. I did not find an entry for Hannah Slater, unfortunately. Same goes for a will.

Click on Courthouse Rec'ds on the menu, then click on Wills. That will take you to an Index of wills in Cambria County. Click 1899-1907. You can verify that there was no will for Hannah Slater.

If it exists, a death record for Hannah Slater before 1906 is likely to be held by Cambria County's Register of Wills in (the county seat is Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, incidentally). Records back then were kept in large ledger books (like the ones that Mr. Micawber and Bob Cratchit wrote in). To inquire by mail about a death record for Hannah Slater, write to:

Patty Sharabaugh
Register of Wills
200 South Center Street
Ebensburg, PA  15931

Better yet, I would also suggest that you e-mail one or the other of the two coordinators (Lynne or Diane) of the Cambria County USGenWeb page. If they live in the county, they might be able to better help you or even do a look up for you. Their full names and e-mail addresses are in the second paragraph of the Cambria County Genweb page.

Finally, given the fact that I haven't anything on Hannah Slater in the Cambria County records, have you thought of searching once again for her death in England?

Hope this helps.

Regards
John 

[Hazel17]

Thank you for that brilliant reply John.

I have checked again for a death for Hannah in the U.K but there is nothing of the right age let alone the right area. There are Hannah Slater deaths but none seem to even remotely tally even considering that she wasn't too sure of her exact age. Of course, she could have died on the voyage back to the U.K - I haven't found the family on an passenger list on the way there or back.  They are not the easiest family to research. 

They had a daughter born in Bridgeville, Allegheny in 1888 so they could have moved to another part of Pennsylvania or even the U.S before Hannah died - I am only assuming Cambria from where they were for the census. They were a mining family and I haven't found any wills for any of them and they were quite poor I think so the lack of a will does not surprise me.

Since I lasted posted I have found out that Hannah's date of birth is more likely to be late 1863/early 1864. Also, Edward's second marriage was by banns, the first being called in February 1906. Also, his Son from his second marriage was born before the marriage in Dec 1905 so if the child is his (and being technically illegitimate I am not 100% sure the child was his) then Edward was back in England in the spring of 1905 which closes the window of opportunity for Hannah's death. 2 of Edward's children definitely came back to England too and had contact with their father so I don't think he up and left Hannah and married bigamously.


(On a side note if that child is his she would have been 18 when the child was conceived and he would have 48....  )

I will e-mail one of the co-ordinators as you suggest and see what their response is.

[coombs]

Hi Hazel

I am in the same boat as you, well almost. I have a direct rellie who died 1906-1910 in Pennsylvania and Johnnyboy is helping me find his death. You may know that civil registration began in PA on 1 January 1906.

She may have died on the voyage back but I wouldn't know how to go about finding a record of a death at sea in transit on the voyage from America to UK. And passenger lists leaving America were kept from 1908 onwards so not much luck on that side I am afraid.

Ben

[Hazel17]

Fortunately this is my husband's tree that I am researching for my mother in law but I do know that the GRO keeps a register of deaths at sea and I have put up a thread on the census and resource board to ask if anyone knows where it can be found. I have read an article about it on FindMyPast and I think you can search them there but I am no longer a subscriber - I do have an ancestry sub but I can't see it on there. I suspect though that she died in Pennsylvania and that her death was the catalyst for the family returning to Derbyshire. I ama lmost certain she died before 1906 - even if the child born in 1905 isn't Edward's it's still very tight for her to die at the start of 1906 and banns being read for Edward in Feb 1906!! I don't know how long the voyage took in those days.

[coombs]

In 1906 a voyage on a steamship took about 10 days. In 1886 when my ancestor emigrated to America it took him 13 days.

[Hazel17]

Thanks for that info Coombs