Accuracy of death certificates

[plumpyone]

I have just received a copy of a death certificate for a woman who I thought was a sister of my grandfather - Mary Ann Fulton Rodeffer who died in Philadelphia in 1924 - all the details fit with what I already know through family stories except the mother listed on the cert, Anna McDowell, is a totally different person to what I expected (I expected Mary Donaldson)

Is it possible that when the death was registered, Mary Ann's husband didn't know the name of his wife's mother and just put something down to fill the space - has anyone come across this happening before?

Any advice much appreciated

[avm228]

The family information on these certificates is only as good as the informant's knowledge. It is certainly possible for mistakes to be made and I myself have several examples of errors on death certificates.  Errors become more likely where the informant never knew the named parent.

However, I wouldn't simply write it off as an error without further investigation.

[Milliepede]

I agree don't write it off as a mistake before further investigation into the new name   

I wouldn't expect her husband to simply make up a name on something so important.

[*Sandra*]

I agree don't write it off as a mistake before further investigation into the new name   

I wouldn't expect her husband to simply make up a name on something so important.

The date of the month of Mary Ann's birth was also " ? "

Sandra

[barryd]

A death certificate is information given by someone who is trying hard to give correct information but may have not really known the deceased's backround that well. On an American death certificate what is normally correct is when, where, why, the person died as that has just happened but having to give the deceased person's parentage is not so easy. Most of the time informants leave the space blank. As Milliepede/Sandra state I do not think the husband willfully falsified the mother's name. You would have to prove in your own research who was the real mother. Was there a stepmother situation? In an ideal world both husband and wife are born in the same village and get married. Everyone knows each other. This does not seem to be so with the two very different last names in your family.

[Periwhinkle]

Yes well said from everyone.  Perhaps reevaluate where Mary Donaldson came from?  Who told you this or where did you see it?  Was that perhaps where the mistake was made?  Obviously Anna McDowell was someone that Mary Ann spoke of as being her mother, or similar, or I don't believe her husband would have listed this name.  Perhaps yes, she was a step sister instead of biological sister to your grandfather, or even cousin.  Death certificates can be some of the most misleading documents in our field and always seem to necessitate further investigation than we expect.  I would be interested to know the outcome of what you find.

[Galium]

Do you know whether Mary Ann came from Ireland with family, or alone? Perhaps there was no one else for her husband to ask after she had died. I notice that he was unable to give a full date of birth, and the year he gives (1886) is inconsistent with her age as given in the 1920 census (38).
Have you found a passenger list for her arrival in the USA (1905 according to the 1920 census), and have you found her in Ireland with her family in 1901? (In case you don't know, this is free to search here:  http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/   )