What Sort of Error Is That?

The 1883 death certificate for my ancestor has the printed county name crossed out and the correct county written in its place. One might be tempted to jump to the incorrect conclusion as to why the county name was changed.

While I was not around in 1883, my suspicion is that the doctor observed deaths in both counties and only had a stack of Adams County death certificates. The Rampley farm was a few miles from the Hancock-Adams County line and he likely had patients in both counties. That’s probably the reason for the write over on the certificate’s location.

Elizabeth’s husband, James, died a year later. His certificate has the same write over. Sometimes an “error” isn’t really an error at all–and not that big of a deal.