Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Tuesday's Tip ~ View Next Page (for Inquest Results)

In July, I shared the Pennsylvania death certificate for a great uncle of my husband, William Siegel.

In a recent "conversation" with the FindAGrave.com volunteer who took a photo of his gravestone, when he asked if I had the death certificate, I replied that yes, I did, but it didn't show the cause of death, and the family story was that he was hit by a car on his way to synagogue. He replied and let me know that, yes, this was the cause of death and all I had to do was click on the next image arrow at the website.

So, today's tip is to remember to View the Next Page in a series of images, especially if you have a question about the initial image you have located.

Here is the original death certificate that I shared in July.


When I clicked on the right arrow at the bottom of the image (in Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1944, at Ancestry.com), I get the following image:


The following are the details of the inquest on the second death certificate (handwritten (or stamped) items in blue):

Name: William Siegal
Residence: 1610 N. 52nd St, Philadelphia
17. I hereby certify that an inquest was held upon the body of the above named deceased on the APR 19, 1941 day of ____ 193__; that the jury rendered a verdict giving the cause of death as follows: Fracture of femur, Pulmonary embolism
Other contributory causes of importance: struck by auto

23. If death was due to external causes (violence), fill in also the following:
Accident, suicide, or homicide? accid[ent]  Date of injury: 3/12, 1941
Where did injury occur? Phila.
Specify whether injury occurred in industry, in home, or in public place:
bet 1707-09 N. 52nd St
Manner of injury: Fract[ure]
Nature of injury: auto

So it looks like he was hit by a car just down the street from where he lived on March 12, 1941. This was a Wednesday and the 13th of Adar in the Jewish calendar. The joyous Jewish holiday of Purim (the 14th of Adar) started at sundown that day. It must not have been very joyous for the Siegel family for their 73-year-old (or 75-year-old) father to break his leg, and then have him die two weeks later.

8 comments:

  1. Thank you Elizabeth for this timely tip! Sometimes I get so caught up in the excitement of finding a document that I forget to click "next" or even "previous." Glad you wrote about this, and sorry about poor Mr. Siegel.

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    1. Marian, I agree with your description about the excitement of finding a document. With this one and one other, I was puzzled as to how I would ultimately find the cause of death and it was there all the time!

      Thanks for reading and commenting.

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  2. Poor William Siegal )-:

    Because of your timely discovery on the layout of the death certificates for Penna., I am redoing my searches on them tonight. Thanks for the tip !

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  3. Elizabeth,

    I want to let you know that your blog post is listed in today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2014/10/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-october-24.html

    Have a great weekend!

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    1. Jana, thanks for the mention! I hope this is helpful for others exploring these death certificates.

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  4. Hi Elizabeth, thanks for sharing this. The poor man! I can imagine that this was NOT a very happy holiday for his family...

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    1. Karen, I'm glad you enjoyed this. I agree, not a happy holiday for the family.

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