Every document that we discover in our genealogical quest holds information. Even when we discover that the information is relevant to our research goal, we cannot then simply input that information into our database, and move on. Each document must be fully analyzed in order to judge the reliability of each individual piece of information. One of the first tasks is to identify the source of the information.
Not all documents identify the informant explicitly, but some do. The death certificate pictured here, for example, like many death certificates, names multiple informants.
On the right, under the date of death, the certificate is signed by the attending physician—in this case, William H. Gibbons. He signed the certificate on 14 April 1922, the day after Oliver Hawkins’s death. However, he also stated that he had attended Oliver in his last illness, through 11 April 1922. It is unlikely that this physician was an eyewitness to the death itself, which occurred on 13 April 1922. For this reason, the date of death must be considered secondary information. Secondary information can be defined as any information being reported by someone who was not a direct eyewitness or participant in the event in question.
The other informant is named in the left column, under the date of birth and parents’ names. While the parents’ names and places of birth are all reportedly “Unknown,” Oliver’s date of birth is given as 7 April 1843. The informant is identified as “Mary Swan,” of Croom Station, Maryland.
Who is Mary Swan?
In the 1920 U. S. Census, the household of Roland Swann in Prince George’s County, Maryland, contains his wife Mary, his father-in-law Oliver Hawkins, and a young lodger Ollie Armstrong. It seems almost indisputable that these residents are the “Oliver Hawkins” and “Mary Swan” of the death certificate in question. It seems likely that Mary Swann is Oliver Hawkins’s daughter, but one should confirm this identification.
The 1900 U. S. Census household of Oliver Hawkins contains a daughter named Mary L. Hawkins, age 17 years. In 1920, Mary Swann was reportedly age 38 years. This corroborates the identification of Mary L. (Hawkins) Swann as the daughter of Oliver Hawkins.
So, now that we have identified the informant on the death certificate, what can we conclude?
Mary Swan, the informant, could not have possibly witnessed her own father’s birth. Therefore this information is also secondary information. This does not necessarily equate to less reliable, for the memories of even reliable eyewitnesses can be faulty at times, especially times of grief such as the death of one’s father.
As opposed to the information provided by this specific death certificate, information provided by a direct eyewitness or participant in the event being reported, is considered primary information. The determination of whether a specific piece of information is primary or secondary, by identifying the source, is just one of several considerations bearing on the reliability of this information.
SOURCES:
- Maryland Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Oliver Hawkins death certificate no. 4472 (1922); Maryland State Archives microfilm SR 3076.
- 1920 U. S. Census, Prince George’s County, Maryland, population schedule, 3rd Election District, Marlboro, outside town limits, stamped page 165, sheet 15A, dwelling 276, family 288, Roland Swann household; digital images, Ancestry.com(http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Nov 2010); citing NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 674.
- 1900 U. S. Census, Prince George’s County, Maryland, population schedule, Nottingham District, enumeration district 94, supervisor’s district 3, stamped page 96, sheet 12A, dwelling 172, family 172, Oliver Hawkins household; digital images, Ancestry.com(http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 Nov 2010); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 626.
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