Clues on Death Records for My Genealogy Brick Wall

Death records can provide many clues to breaking through genealogy brick walls. After validating his death date, I can piece together small details that lead me to discover my brick wall's parents.

Three Records for John Townley

I found three death records on the research plan for my brick wall ancestor, John Townley.

Hamilton County, Ohio Death Register
Find a Grave memorial page
Spring Grove Cemetery interment record (not available online)
Cincinnati Post Probate Notice (available via GenealogyBank)

I also found probate records and land records following his death, but I’ll discuss those records in future posts. Stay tuned.

Evaluating John Townley's Death Register

When I began working on John's case in 2010, I only had access to the death record index. Since I couldn't recreate the index then, I'll show you what you may find when you access records today.

On FamilySearch, you can see that I added this source in 2013. Back then, I only had access to this information. What can I see in the image below?

Screen show of death register index for John Townley — Index found on FamilySearch

Notice the entry provides:

Name
Death date
Death place
Residence at time of death
Age at death
Birth year
Birthplace
Burial place
Father’s name

This record helps validate the information available on handwritten family group sheets created in the 1970s.

The index provides a potential name for John’s father as Effingham. We can infer that Effingham Townley likely lived in New Jersey around 1801.

Notice all the words I’m using to indicate that I have clues rather than proof? Proof comes later.

We do not know the informant's identity in these registers. As such, we can't be certain that the name Effingham is accurate. So, we're going to keep this as a clue.

Watch this research plan development process in action in this video.

How Do I Know This Death Record Identifies My Ancestor?

Since the death record is light on relationship details, how do I know it identifies my ancestor?

Remember how I highlighted my direct ancestor, Richard Townley, in my genealogy research plan? (If not, read My Genealogy Research Brick Wall: The John Townley Case Study.)

On the digital image, I noticed a familiar residence. The address 82 Van Horne appears in Richard Townley's research.

This was the golden ticket that confirmed this document belonged to my ancestor. Now, I just need more proof of the biographical information.

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Evaluating John Townley's Find A Grave Page

On Find a Grave, I found a memorial page for John Townley. While this profile has a lot of information, I need to focus on my research questions.

Who are John’s parents?
Can I validate John's death?

Find a Grave memorial page for John Townley

The gravestone does provide evidence of John's death date and his relationship with his wife, Evaline.

This entry also identifies the father's name as Effingham, but I can not validate the source of this information. Since I already have that clue from a death register, I will ignore it from Find A Grave.

SCORE!

We must also consider the overlooked clues next to the word "Plot."

In the video linked above, I walked through the process of using additional clues on Find A Grave to discover other individuals buried in Section 100, Lot 60. They include the following:

Genealogy Research plan updated with gravestone information

Notice I have identified eight of the fifteen persons buried in this plot. It's time to turn to cemetery records to finish completing this chart. However, before I do, I must update my research plan!

Evaluating John Townley's Interment Record

On Find a Grave, I found a memorial page for John Townley. While this profile has a lot of information, I need to focus on my research questions.

On this internment record, I noticed many intriguing details:

Details correlating with the death register
The final residence as Van Horne
he informant's identity is Richard Townley, who is John's son.

Once again, John's father's name is Effingham. This time, I know the informant's name. Richard Townley might know his father's name as Effingham Townley. While Richard could be misinformed, the strength of the clue has become more reliable.

Beyond the cemetery internment record, I used the Spring Grove cemetery website to further identify the people buried in Section 100, Lot 60. To view those details, open the PDF file below, as the table is too large to fit in this blog post.

View the Updated Research Plan

Record My Findings About My Genealogy Brick Wall

After searching for each document, it's time to follow the genealogy research principle of updating our research plans.

Eventually, I will write a soundly reasoned and coherent conclusion after analyzing and correlating the evidence while resolving any conflicting information.

For now, I can move on to the next record identified in my research plan. Stay tuned.