Life’s stories told through death

 

By Regina Villiers.  Originally published November 27, 1996 in The Suburban Life, added November 14, 2016.

Dan McDonald, who was Madeira’s longest-serving mayor, for 18 years, has been a big help with these columns.  He frequently gives me ideas and lends me papers and materials from his personal collection.

A few months ago, he brought me a couple of books of death certificates and said if I browsed through them, I might find a story.

At first, the topic seemed too morbid to me, but as I leafed through them and took notes, I noticed interesting things emerging.

There were names I’d heard of, but I knew absolutely nothing about the people behind those names.  Here, in those books, I could find bare-bones information, at least, to make a name seem like a person.

Each page was divided down the middle in two parts.  The right-hand side listed the medical information- cause of death, a bit of medical history, the signature of the attending physician and where the person was buried or cremated.

On the left side, personal information and statistics could be found name date of birth, occupation, names and birthplaces of both parents.

For instance, I found out about Jeanette Muchmore many things I did not already know.  I knew only that she was Cleo Hosbrook’s  “Aunt Nettie,” and that she had worked as the Madeira postmaster when her father became too old and too ill to continue in that position.

From the certificate, I learned that her full name was Eliza (for her mother) Jeanette.  She was born in 1866 and died at the age of 60 years, one month, and 15 days, from Addison’s Disease.  Her occupation was listed as “Post office.”  Her father, Joseph Muchmore was born at India, Ohio, and her mother, Eliza Muchmore’s place of birth was not listed.  Her place of burial is Spring Grove Cemetery.

This augmented my information about Nettie Muchmore considerably, and I began to see how these books could help historians, genealogists, or even writers of columns.

I also picked up interesting little tidbits of information.

One tidbit delighted my heart, and I felt a bond with her.  Her date of birth was blank, and her age was listed as “somewhere around 50.”  Obviously, here was a woman who never told her age.  Good for her.

There were also “signs of the times” in these books.  The dates in them ran from January 1906 to December 1933.  Under the heading of race, I found only two listed:  “white” and “colored.”

Another sign of the times was that not many women worked outside the home.  They weren’t even listed as “homemakers,” or “housewives.”  Under occupation, it would say “At Home.”

The most frequent cause of death was pneumonia.  Myocarditis and endocarditis were also frequently listed.  Pernicious anemia showed up in the deaths of children.

Dr. William Knight signed many of the certificates.  Finally, on Oct. 13, 1925, his certificate also appeared in the books.. He died at the age of 74 from cancer of the tongue.

Some of the information seemed to me, was extraneous and invaded privacy.  Early in this century, a woman died of breast cancer.  Then it went into a description of the process of having both of her breasts removed.

I was also able to get information about some of the early settlers of Madeira and origins, since it listed places of birth of parents.

I felt a kinship with my Irish ancestry, as I discovered that several early settlers came to Madeira from Ireland.  This surprised me.

For instance, Timothy Dunn, born Oct. 10, 1841, and died at age 78, had both parents born in Ireland.  His occupation was listed as “real estate agent.”

One page provided a link to the West Indies.  Vincent A. Dean, whose occupation was “railroad porter,” had a father whose birthplace was West Indies.  Under information about his mother, it said “Mother unknown.”

I found many prominent names in Madeira that I have either researched or that I am in the process of researching.

One of these families I have been working on for a series is the DeMar family.  I found information about James T. DeMar.  He died in 1914 at the age of 79 years, 10 months, and five days.  He was a lawyer and is buried at Spring Grove Cemetery.  But the interesting fact was that his father, James, the founding father DeMar in this area, and his other, Jane Rawlins, both came here from Maryland, where they were born.

These books could be most valuable to anyone doing family history or genealogy, and they add a link to history.

So, Mayor McDonald came through again and provided information for a story.  Stories of death are actually only chapters in the stories of people’s lives.