The prompt TOMBSTONE immediately had me think of the movie.
Which is a sign of good advertising because I had never seen the movie.
With nothing pressing to do during the pandemic lockdown that was rectified this week.
Clearly we are desperate for outings as shown in the careful planning of our movie date. Or maybe it was an excuse for more snacks which we definitely didn't need during this time of inactivity.
The first thing I learned from the movie is that Tombstone is a town in Arizona where the GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL happened. I wonder how it was that I didn't know any of this before this week.
The second thing I learned is that I still really love historical stories.
The Third thing I learned is that the movie has nothing to do with this Bramble Bush.
I was pondering who to write about for the prompt, tombstone, when I remembered a strange comment on a death registration that I found a few months ago.
I began researching my husband's third great grandfather, Henry Decator.
Abraham Henry Richard (Henry) Decator
BIRTH 1795 • New York, USA
DEATH 29 FEB 1880 • Brantford, Brant, Ontario, Canada
Noting Henry's death date I checked that 1880 was a leap year - it was.
X3 great grandpa's death registration had two things I found intriguing.
1. He died of old age, duration: 5 months. He was 85 years old. He must have been old for longer than 5 months. When exactly does the time of old age begin?
2. The comments section stated "An indigent old man ignorant of the law". I have never noticed a comment in the comments section before. I scanned the records before and after Henry's death to see if leaving comments was a common practice for that area. I found one where it was noted the deceased had been pregnant at the time of her death.
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| Snipped from Ancestry (Ontario, Canada, Deaths, Brant) |
The comment recorded by Registrar R.M Willson seems oddly out of place within the records. I wondered what Abraham (known as Henry) did in death that showed he was ignorant of the law. What law exactly did he violate in dying.
In an ideal world I could neatly wrap this up with a photo of great great great Grandpa's grave, but I can find no record of where he's buried.
Since the death registration noted he was indigent it's possible he is in a pauper's grave without a marker at all.
I began digging to see if I could find any records.
I noticed that wife Margaret died 11 years later in Michigan, and wondered if they were separated at the time of his death.
Marguerite (Margaret) Ryan (X3 great grandmother)
BIRTH 19 MAR 1817 • Ontario, Canada
DEATH 24 APR 1901 • Standish, Arenac, Michigan, USA
The 1871 census records Abraham with wife Margaret and their 2 youngest children: Margaret & Alexander.
The 1881 census has wife Margaret as a widow living with their youngest son, 17 year old Alexander. They both claim Methodist on the census. Henry's death registration records no religious affiliation.
10 years later, the 1891 census still shows widowed Margaret living with her son Alexander who remains unmarried. Margaret is a Seamstress, and Alexander a Farm Labourer.
Margaret is found in Michigan residing with her daughter Mary Honey in the 1900 census. Margaret's year of arrival is not listed. Mary's is recorded as 1880 (the year her father died).
Margaret is recorded as having had 7 children with 6 still alive in 1900. I have only recorded 5 children for Margaret and Abraham.
I now had more questions, and still no answers
The move to Michigan made sense after I found the record of Alexander's marriage to Isabella (Bella) Reid on December 23rd 1891 not too long after the 1891 census was taken. Their first child was born in 1894, and by the 1901 census they have three boys.
I'm guessing that Margaret moved to Michigan to live with her daughter whose children were all grown.
At the time of writing I still don't know: where X3 great grandfather Henry Decator is buried, who took care of his affairs at the time he died, and what exactly he did that was ignorant of the law.
Another session chasing down the rabbit hole!
This is why I search -
Cause ...
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***
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I have that often... more questions than answers.
ReplyDeleteThe things you don't know until you do :)
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