Thursday, July 29, 2021

Vital Records Can Be Wrong...Especially Death Certificates

Family Historian and Genealogists put a lot of faith into Vital records. But, every Genealogists I know  ensure that an exhaustive search has been made and if possible the data they find is not limited to one single document. Multiple sources are searched to ensure the data, when presented, is accurate. 

Case in point is Georgia Death Certificate #28075 for Frederick Francis Rivers. This single document contains multiple errors. On line 16a the informant looks to be L. E. Rivers. I have no knowledge who L. E. Rivers is!   

The Georgia Death Certificate shows Frederick middle name to be Frederick Francis Rivers. A majority of documents show his middle name to be Franklin. The Rivers family community accepts the fact the Frederick was named Frederick Franklin a long standing name within the Rivers family. However, the Delayed Birth certificate for his daughter, Mary Louise, b. 8 July 1898, shows her Father name to be Fredrick Francis Rivers.

Mr. F. F. Rivers and Mary Eugenia “Jennie” Bennett were married on 18 December 1894 at the Brides Mother’s home in Ansonville, NC by a Baptist Minister named John P. Boyd.

The parents of Frederick Franklin Rivers ARE NOT C. Lemuel Rivers and Mary Elizabeth Davis.

The parents of Frederick Franklin Rivers ARE Calvin Rivers and Louise Gatewood. We can see Frederick AKA Freddy as a 13 year old teenager in the Calvin and Lou Rivers household in 1880 Chesterfield County, South Carolina.

The ONLY C. Lemuel or Lemuel C. Rivers is Lemuel Clyde Rivers who married Mary Eva Tucker plus he was born in 1908 about 43 years AFTER Frederick Franklin Rivers. 

It's important to ensure that a reasonably exhaustive search has been made and that each fact has a complete, accurate source citation.  

Frederick Franklin Rivers is my 2nd Cousin 4X removed.


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1. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed  3 March 2012); Memorial page for Frederick Franklin Rivers; (24 April 1866–October 1940); Find a Grave memorial # 73723442, Citing Louisville City Cemetery; Louisville, Jefferson County, Georgia, USA.

2. 1880 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) 5, page 323, dwelling 230, family 230, Household of Calvin Rivers; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed July 2011); citing National Archive  Microfilm T9, Roll 1225.

3. 1900 U. S. Census, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, population schedule, Cole Hill, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, enumeration district (ED) #19, Page: 64B; Line 93, Dwelling 125, Family 126, Household of Frederick F. RIVERS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : viewed 6 August 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm T623_Roll: 1523.

4. 1920  U. S. Census, Louisville, Jefferson County, Georgia, population schedule, Louisville, Jefferson County, Georgia, enumeration district (ED) #47, Page: 138, Line 64, Dwelling 165, Family 165, Household of  F. F. RIVERS; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 6 August 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm Series: T625, Roll: 260.

5. State of Georgia, death no. 28075 (4 November 1940), F. F. Rivers; Georgia Health Department, Office of Vital Records,, Atlanta, Georgia.

6. "North Carolina, Marriages Record, 1741-2011," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : Viewed 3 March 2020), Marriage: F. F. RIVERS and Mary Bennett, Marriage Date: 18 Dec 1894.

7. 1880 U. S. Census, Anson County, North Carolina, population schedule, Lanesboro, Anson County, North Carolina, enumeration district (ED) #4, Page 388A; Line 39, Dwelling 83, Family 83, Household of  Mary BENNETT; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : viewed 6 August 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm T9, Roll 0951.

8. State of Georgia, death no. 6057, (8 March 1948), Mary E. Rivers.

9. Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database and digital images, (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 6 August 2011); Memorial page for Mary Eugenia Bennett Rivers; (1869–1948); Find a Grave memorial # 73723481, Citing Louisville City Cemetery; Louisville, Jefferson County, Georgia, USA.


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