If you can’t find where your relative died, is it possible that she died in a state hospital several counties away? During the late 19th and early 20th century, it was not uncommon to institutionalize family members that relatives could no longer care for. They may have died in a state institution several counties away in a place where you have not thought to look for a death certificate.
And, if the family was of very limited means, the person of interest may have been buried in an unmarked grave on the facility’s grounds.
3 Responses
MY GRANDMOTHER DIED IN 1912 IN MARYLAND OF TUBERCULOSIS. I CAN’T FIND WHERE SHE WAS BURIED. SHE WAS LIVING IN BALTIMORE IN 1911 WHEN SHE GAVE BIRTH TO MY FATHER, (VINCENT T. ABELL JR.) hER NAME WAS ELIZABETH ELEANOR ABELL. ANY INFO WOULD BE APPRECIATED. THANKS WAYNE ABELL
From copies of death certificates, I recorded names of patients buried in the my state hospital cemetery from 1 Nov 1912 (when the state began keeping death certificates) thru March 1935 when the hospital moved to a new location. This was certainly an eye-opening experience. Many patients died from diseases than are easily prevented or cured today. Pellagra, a dietary deficiency disease, was the cause of death for many patients whose diet on the farm was cornbread and molasses. In a time when there were no nursing homes, it appeared that the asylum was the last resort for many families. Many of these records were not available to the public until recent times. I might add, however, that hospital patients were named in all the U. S. census years.
Women were sometimes committed when they went through menopause.