Death records are the hardest things to find particularly in the 19th century. My great-grandfather Burt Hale Pinkham 1881-1950 was born in Dover, N.H. Using his ancestry you can see the diversity in sources I've used for death records.
2. George Hale Pinkham d. 12 Nov 1888, Concord, N.H. [his Civil War pension file]
3. Olive Ann Hurd d. 13 May 1934, Winchester, Mass. [Mass. State Death Certificate]
4. Luther Hale Pinkham d. 27 Oct 1873, Milton, N.H. [N.H. State Death Certificate]
5. Mary Chamberlain Wallis d. 22 Jan 1866, New Durham, N.H. [A Genealogy of Runnels and Reynolds Families in America; with Records and Brief Memorials of the Earliest Ancestors, so far as known, Rev. Moses Thurston Runnels (Boston, 1873)] There is no other record to corroborate this secondary source. However, all other dates in this family section can be verified. The date of publication coincides with the lifetime of Luther Hale Pinkham, her husband. The author was also a Free-Will Baptist minister as was this family.
6. Benjamin Wingate Hurd d. 12 Mar 1904, Quindaro Township, Kan. [Civil War pension file]
7. Abiah Russell Learned d. 5 Jan 1926, Corinna, Me. [Maine State Death Certificate]
8. Jonathan Pinkham d. 1843, New Durham, N.H. [alive in 1840 census. New Durham tax records show him in 1841 and 1842 but thereafter. His wife is widow in the 1850 census.]
9. Alice Runnels d. 3 June 1855, New Durham, N.H. [Record of the Baptisms, Marriages and Funerals from the Note Books of Rev. David Leighton Edgerly 1818-1891 of New Durham, NH copied by Edwin L. Edgerly (typescript at NEHGS)]
10. Joseph Wallis d. after 1840 census
11. Rebecca York d. after 1840 census
12. Frederick Heard d. 31 Aug 1846, Great Falls, N.H. [Exeter News-Letter, 31 Aug. 1846 (Vol. XVI, No. 20)]
13. Nancy Ann Hayes, d. after 1860 census
14. Amos Learned, d. after 1855 Mass. State census and before the 1860 census
15. Polly B. Dudley, d. after 1850 census and before the 1855 Mass. state census
This last group shows that only 2 of the 8 (25%) have a primary source for their death. None of the 8 have gravestones or probate records.
16. Thomas Pinkham d. 11 Nov 1820, New Durham, N.H. [American Revolution Pension Papers]
17. Bridget Berry d. 8 Feb 1847, Chelsea, Mass. [Vital Records of Chelsea, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (NEHGS, Boston, 1916), p. 519]
18. Ebenezer Runnels, d. 13 Sept 1851, New Durham, N.H. [N.H. State Death Certificate]
19. Betsey Stanton, d. Oct. 1836 [Runnels Genealogy, cited above #5]
20. Nathaniel Wallis, d. after 1830 census
21. Deborah (---), d. after 1830 census
22. Benjamin York, IV, d. 6 Jun 1845, Landoff, N.H. [Death Notices From Free Will Baptist Publications 1811-1851 by David C. Young and Robert L. Taylor (Heritage Books, 1985), p. 374-5]
23. Rebecca Coffin, d. 16 Jan 1842, Holderness, N.H. [same source as husband]
24. Jonathan Heard, d. after 1820 census and likely before 1823
25. Sarah Yeaton, d. after 1823 when she released her dower rights as a widow
26. Moses Hayes, Jr. d. 30 Jul 1838, Barrington, N.H. [Journal of Enoch Hayes Place 1810-1865 transcribed by William E. Wentworth (NEHGS, Boston, 1998, in 2 vols.) 2:1740]
27. Anna Coffin, d. May 1812, Rochester, N.H. [same source as husband]
28. Benjamin Learned, d. 5 Sep 1818, Dublin, N.H. [gravestone]
29. Margaret Swan, d. 16 Jan 1818, Dublin, N.H. [gravestone]
30. Josiah Dudley, d. after 1820 census
31. Elizabeth Denison, d. after 1820 census
This group was easier with only 6 of the 16 (37.5%) missing death records. In this group, three have gravestones (two noted and Bridget Berry Pinkham). However, none have probate records again.
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