A death cert error? Or just an elusive Withey family unit.

Question

I've been working on a brick wall where the chipping away started with a great grandmother's efforts 60 years ago. This involves the parentage (and family) of Julia Withey (1824-1856, New York). Cross-referencing lots of census and other data and thus elimination of improbables, has brought about a probable family group consisting of Julia above, Sylvester Withey, Elias Withey, and John C Withey.

We have post-1850 census data that clearly shows the mother of two in this group being named Mary. We have Julia's husband, four years after her early death, living with one of her probable brothers. The only clue found as to the father of these people, very recently via newly available records, is the death certificate of John C Withey (on his profile) which clearly gives his father as an Elias Withey. The respondent on this death cert is the son. I would not question the son knowing the name of his grandfather.

A Withey family researcher on another platform who has spent several decades on this family contends that John C Withey is the son of a Daniel Withey born in Vermont, conjecture absent any documentation. The view of the now available death cert of John C Withey showing his father as an Elias Withey is that it's an error. Since the respondent is the son, I would be inclined to accept this as fact unless proven otherwise. Has anyone seen parent errors on death certs when immediate family is the respondent?

One of the issues with finding the husband of the mother Mary found in post-1850 census records living with children is that nowhere else is the name of the husband yet found. Searching census records hasn't found the family in 1820 or 1830. If the family unit is correct, in 1820 they won't be found as that year Sylvester was born in a logging camp in NW Pennsylvania which doesn't appear to have been enumerated--though what name might have been given to it by a census taker is unknown as it was far later when it became a town and had a settled name.

Any observations welcome, particularly about the naming of the father on the death cert of John C Withey. All known documentation is found on the involved profiles. With the aid of the Steuben County Historian, all extant records there both paper and digitized have been reviewed.

Answer 1

The short answer, yes it is possible. To investigate further, I would look on the record for who is reporting this information at the time of John C. Withey's death, and then evaluate the reporting source.

Comments

That is discussed above. The respondent (person providing the information) is the son of the deceased.

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It could be, I don't know that, it says M.C. Withey. It doesn't list what the relationship is. If Elias is in question, I would question the identity of M.C.

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M.C. is the son. No other family member with those initials.

Answer 2

Yes, it could be an error on the death certificate. I have a relative,  who was the son of the deceased, give the deceased's grandmother's name instead of the mother. Another relative didn't know his mother's maiden name and a different last name was put on the certificate. However, without other records, it's not going to be easy to prove whether you have that situation or not.

Comments

Since the Certificate can’t be documented to be in error, it should be taken at face value, yes?

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Personally, I wouldn't take it completely at face value since another researcher has a different conclusion. However, I wouldn't totally discount it either since the other researcher could easily be wrong. With an Elias in the county in question I would lean towards it being correct but I wouldn't count out other interpretations, such as Elias being related but not the father.

This is a case where I would document, document, document and have research notes as to why I chose one interpretation over another. Also, I would check every single document (land records, court records, marriages, church records, store records, personal estate records, probate, etc.) in each county in question and all their surrounding counties to find anything else to build the case one way or the other. Researching both the possible fathers might open other interpretations, including that neither one is the father.

Answer 3

I also have found such errors on death certificates, even when the informant is a child or grandchild of the deceased.  Two cases stand out in my mind. In one, the daughter gave her mother's grandmother's maiden name instead of her mother's mother's maiden name. In the other, the grandson of the deceased Joseph said Joseph's father was also named Joseph, rather than the actual James.  In both cases, a Research Note seemed warranted to explain the discrepancy and the reasons for disregarding the death certificate in this instance.

I believe we need to keep in mind that the informants for these documents have probably been under considerable stress at the time, due to the deaths. Also, the informant may not have cared particularly about the details of family history and, so, may have simply been providing a best guess to fill in the blank.