Source Documents are Sometimes Wrong

Huldah Davis was born September 16, 1866 to Thomas Franklin Davis and Rose Caroline Massey. She married James Thomas Previtte on December 25, 1890.

Huldah died on October 3, 1928 in Anson County, North Carolina. her NC Death certificate is shown below.



There are numerous errors on this death certificate that would lead a genealogist down the proverbial “rabbit trail of endless searches”.

The informant on this death certificate is the husband of the deceased yet he gave her reported birth date  as October 1, 1890. You would think that he would remember that they were married in 1890 and his bride was of age to be married.

The next major discrepancy on this death certificate is the parents of the deceased which was reported as Jim and Hulday Davis. Again, Thomas Franklin and Rosa Caroline were alive and most likely at the wedding of their daughter. Surely, James Thomas Previtte, the husband and informant, knew his wife parents. 

The only explanation I can offer for such glaring discrepancies is that James Thomas was under a  mountain of distress over the loss of his wife and companion.

Tombstone at Zoar United Methodist Church Cemetery

Photo courtesy of Julious Burr

Mistakes can be made and often are in times of stress. This is why we, as genealogists, seek more than one source document for each event in the lives of our ancestors.










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1. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, digital image, (http://www.findagrave.com : Accessed on 2 June 2012); Headstone for Huldah Davis Previtte; (16 September 1866–3 October 1928); Records of the Zoar United Methodist Church Cemetery; Brocks Mill, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA.
2. 1900 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Court House, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 21, Page: 107, Line 42, Dwelling 426, Family 433, Household of James T. PRIVETT; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : viewed 6 June 2012); citing National Archives Microfilm T623_1523.
3. 1910 U. S. Census, Anson County, North Carolina, population schedule, , ; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed ); citing National Archives Microfilm T624, Roll 1096.
4. 1920 US Census, Anson County, North Carolina, population schedule, Morven, Anson County, North Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 12, Page 178b/12B; Line 71, Dwelling NL, Family 160, Household of James T. PREVITT; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 6 June 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm T625, Roll 1283.
5. State of North Carolina, death no. 24 (3 October 1928), Mrs Hulday Privett; https://www.ancestry.com, Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina.
6. James C. Pigg, Chesterfield County Cemetery Survey; Chesterfield County Genealogical Services, 1995, page 839. Tombstone of Huldah Previtte; 16 September 1866–3 October 1928, Zoar United Methodist Church Cemetery, Chesterfield County, South Carolina.
7. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database, "Record, Huldah Davis Previtte (16 September 1866–3 October 1928), Memorial # 48050522.
8. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database, "Record, James Thomas Previtte (6 October 1867–9 January 1929), Memorial # 48050099.
9. State of North Carolina, death no. 65, (9 January 1929), J T Previtt.
10. James C. Pigg, Chesterfield County Cemetery Survey, Chesterfield County Genealogical Services, 1995. Tombstone of James Thomas Previtte.
11. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database, "Record, James Thomas Previtte (6 October 1867–9 January 1929), Memorial # 48050099.