Lewis's Death Record Finally Rises



Going from an index to an original source often takes a little detective work and a lot of patience. And sometimes, it takes learning the right combination of search terms for the record to finally float to the surface.

That's the case for Ludwig Puescker son of Karl Puesecker who was a traveling companion to my 3rd great-grandmother Caroline Mack Geiszler Billman. I had tracked Ludwig, who became Louis in many records in Franklin County, Ohio, until the 1880 US Census. Then, I discovered a death date of 14 May 1905  in the Ohio Deaths and Burials, 1854-1997 death index collection on FamilySearch.  The index was derived from many sources, but I needed something more than a small clue to determine where his record was hiding.


I turned once again to the Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001 index image collection. Searching for Puesecker and the death year and death county returned no results. Searching for Louis who died in 1905 in Franklin County, Ohio had too many results to sift through. So, I finally attempted Louis P* died in Franklin County, Ohio in 1905 and I finally found a hit that looked plausible. Lewis Pusicker with the May 1905 death date.


"Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6VT-NBM : accessed 3 April 2016), Lewis Pusicker, 14 May 1905; citing Death, Columbus, Franklin, Ohio, United States, source ID 1905 v 3 fn 102, County courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 2,032,442.
 Sadly, this record is not overflowing with information but it's providing further clues for research.

First, little in the way of vital information is included because the informant is the State Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Now, that informant is unknown, but there could be asylum records for Lewis.

I'm recognizing cirrhosis of the liver and esophageal hemorrhaging for contributing causes of death. But notice that he was in the care of the doctor from 10 Aug 1889 to 14 May 1905.  That's a long time to be in a hospital in those days, so I'm really thinking he was a long term patient of an asylum. But, I could be wrong. It would certainly explain why I'm having trouble finding him in the 1900 US Census. I'll have to try the Pusicker spelling of the last name.

Anyway, if at first you don't succeed in finding a record for your relative, keep trying different search terms. If they are supposed to be in a record collection, they just may finally rise to the surface. But when they do, I hope yours don't have more questions than answers.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Mother's Day Lura Long

Image
When I think of mothers on my family tree, Lura Smith tops the list of those I look forward to meeting in the afterlife. She is the adopted mother of my Grannie,  Louise Eleanor Long .  Grannie adored Lura. Lura was married to Harry Howard Long (1883-1937). The couple married in Columbus, Ohio on Jun 19, 1907. They were unable to have children and finally adopted their first child in 1916. In May 1920, a baby girl was born in Columbus, Ohio to an unwed mother. The mother died of preeclampsia. This baby girl would become my grandmother. Upon her mother's death, Baby Anderson became a ward of the State of Ohio Welfare Department. She had a caseworker, Ethel Huffman Ackerman, who wanted to place Baby Anderson in the home of Harry Long. The caseworker was a friend and classmate (at Ohio State) of Harry's sister Elizabeth Long. As Elizabeth retells the story, Ethel received Baby Anderson's birth mother's history and felt that Harry and Lura were just the parent...
Read more

Mystery Monday: Which Karlsberger married Charles Stahl?

Image
Genealogy is kind of addicting. Sometimes, I get rather lost in the branches. As such, I run into mysteries that I can't seem to solve from the top down. I figured the genealogy community is awesome and may have ways to help me solve a mystery. Otherwise, perhaps a Karlsberger from Franklin County, Ohio might stumble upon my blog and help me solve this problem. My potential 3rd great-grand uncle George Paul Karlsberger was born on 10 August 1825 in Bavaria. Another researcher suggested his connection to my 3rd great-grandmother Anna Magaretha Karlsberger who married Christian or Christopher Hoppe. Margaretha was born 29 February 1824. There are no definitive records linking George and Margaretha. And Margaretha's parents were not recorded, though parents for George were suggested. As you can see, I am about to head down a twig on the tree that might be gnarled, or legitimate. George Karlsberger had six children born in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio to his wife Maria Elizabeth...
Read more

One Name Place Study: George Townsend of Columbus Ohio

Image
It's once again time to investigate the Townsends of Franklin County , Ohio in an effort to find relatives of William James Townsend who was born around 1842 in Franklin County, Ohio. The next individual listed 1880 US Census is George A Townsend. George indicates in this census that he was born around 1840 in New York. His parents are also listed as from New York and he says he was a merchant. Other household members are Louisa Townsend born around 1840 in New York (parents also from New York).  They have a son Charles W Townsend, who is about 11 in their home. Charles was apparently born in New York as well. At quick glance, this does not appear as close a relation as I would like to see. William was born in Ohio and several records place his parents from Maryland. George and William are around the same age so the different birth places would rule out the possibility of being brothers. Could they be distant relatives? I continued to research George and found him in the 7...
Read more