John Johnson died USA 1884

[janec123]

Hello ,

Hopefully someone maybe able to help , my great great grandmothers first husband died in the Usa in 1884 , he was from Scotland and was in the merchant navy , as they were still married i am assuming he died whilst on a trip , he was born in 1853 , i have no idea where to start , i dont know which state he died in , any help would be appreciated ,thank you

[shellyesq]

A few questions/ideas:

Do you know if he was buried in the US or back in Scotland?

Have you tried looking for a passenger list that might narrow down the time of year?  It might be hard to find him considering the common name, but some possibilities might be found.  There are links to passenger lists for various ports here - https://www.germanroots.com/onlinelists.html

Do you know what John's parents' names were?  Some states/cities had them on the death certificate. 

What was your great-great-grandmother's name?  That may show up on a death certificate, death notice, or obituary.

It's worth noting that some states didn't require death registration until after 1884, so there may not be an actual death certificate.