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Does anyone have any tips for finding a death record for this particular ancestor of mine?
His name is Robert Wright Oliver. There was a slight typo in the 1880 census where his name is Wright W. Oliver, but that is the only typo I found while searching through census records.
He was a police man (Government Watcher) for the city of Louisville, Ky for most of his life. I just can't seem to find a death record for the fella, but he died young. He was born around the year 1838 and died sometime around 1890. I would think that being a government worker he would have a very documented life, but I was wrong. I couldn't find anything on his father, but his mother, Mary Oliver, was from Pennsylvania. I am just particularly curious about the cause of death for this ancestor as it very possibly could have been crime related. It also might give me a clue as to who his parents are.
His wifes name is Lucinda Shumate, and she collected a pension until she died in the first decade of the 20th century. I couldn't find a death record for her either, but she vanished between the 1900 and 1910 censuses, so I am to assume she died between those years.
Kentucky did not being keeping death certificates on a state-wide basis until 1911. Kentucky did keep county registers earlier, but they kind of came and went -- it may or may not cover the years you need. A large city may have kept death certificates earlier.
He was a Civil War soldier, serving in Company H, 34th Kentucky Infantry. He received a pension, and his wife applied for a widow's pension. There are probably reports of their deaths within his pension file.
According to the holdings of the LDS church, Louisville has city records ... if they died in the city. Here's the entry:
Microfilm of original and typescript at the Jefferson County courthouse in Louisville, Kentucky.
Subjects
* Kentucky, Jefferson, Louisville - Vital records
Film Notes
Note Location Film
Index to volumes 1-5 of Louisville births 1898-1904 FHL US/CAN Film 209687
Index to volumes 6-8 of Louisville births 1905-1910 FHL US/CAN Film 209688
Index to volumes 1-7 of Louisville deaths, A-I, Vol. 1 1866-1891 FHL US/CAN Film 209694
Index to volumes 1-7 of Louisville deaths, I-Z, Vol. 2 1866-1891; errata A-Z FHL US/CAN Film 209695
Index to volumes 8-9 of Louisville deaths 1891-1898 FHL US/CAN Film 209696
Index to volumes 10-11 of Louisville deaths 1898-1899 Index to volumes A-B of Louisville deaths 1899-1900 FHL US/CAN Film 209697
Index to volumes 12-15 of Louisville deaths 1900-1910 FHL US/CAN Film 209698
Index to volumes 14-15 of Louisville deaths 1907-1910 (another filming) FHL US/CAN Film 209699
Births, Vols. 1-2 1898-1901 FHL US/CAN Film 209689
Births, Vols. 3-4 1901-1904 FHL US/CAN Film 209690
Births, Vols. 5-6 1904-1907 FHL US/CAN Film 209691
Births, Vol. 7 1907-1909 FHL US/CAN Film 209692
Births, Vol. 8 1909-1910 FHL US/CAN Film 209693
Deaths, Vols. 1-3 1866-1873 FHL US/CAN Film 209700
Deaths, Vol. 4 1873-1879 FHL US/CAN Film 209701
Deaths, Vol. 5 1879-1883 FHL US/CAN Film 209702
Deaths, Vol. 6 1884-1887 FHL US/CAN Film 209703
Deaths, Vol. 7 1887-1891 FHL US/CAN Film 209704
Deaths, Vol. 8 1891-1894 FHL US/CAN Film 209705
Deaths, Vol. 9 1895-1897 FHL US/CAN Film 209706
Deaths, Vols. 10-11 1898-1902 FHL US/CAN Film 209707
Deaths, Vols. 12-13 1902-1907 FHL US/CAN Film 209708
Deaths, Vols. 14-15 1907-1910 FHL US/CAN Film 209709
I checked several sources on Ancestry.com including Kentucky Death Records 1852-1953 and was unable to find any information. Is it possible he died somewhere other than Kentucky?
There is one family tree on ancestry.com that includes Robert W. Oliver's family. It is a very small tree with only a few people listed.
The owner of that tree has posted in the ancestry.com message board, also.
Unfortunately, Robert's date and place of death are not included.
If you do not have an ancestry.com membership, you might want to use their free 2 week trial. If you make a list of info you are looking for and do systematic searches, you can find a lot in 2 weeks.
Kentucky did not being keeping death certificates on a state-wide basis until 1911. Kentucky did keep county registers earlier, but they kind of came and went -- it may or may not cover the years you need. A large city may have kept death certificates earlier.
He was a Civil War soldier, serving in Company H, 34th Kentucky Infantry. He received a pension, and his wife applied for a widow's pension. There are probably reports of their deaths within his pension file.
According to the holdings of the LDS church, Louisville has city records ... if they died in the city. Here's the entry:
Microfilm of original and typescript at the Jefferson County courthouse in Louisville, Kentucky.
Subjects
* Kentucky, Jefferson, Louisville - Vital records
Film Notes
Note Location Film
Index to volumes 1-5 of Louisville births 1898-1904 FHL US/CAN Film 209687
Index to volumes 6-8 of Louisville births 1905-1910 FHL US/CAN Film 209688
Index to volumes 1-7 of Louisville deaths, A-I, Vol. 1 1866-1891 FHL US/CAN Film 209694
Index to volumes 1-7 of Louisville deaths, I-Z, Vol. 2 1866-1891; errata A-Z FHL US/CAN Film 209695
Index to volumes 8-9 of Louisville deaths 1891-1898 FHL US/CAN Film 209696
Index to volumes 10-11 of Louisville deaths 1898-1899 Index to volumes A-B of Louisville deaths 1899-1900 FHL US/CAN Film 209697
Index to volumes 12-15 of Louisville deaths 1900-1910 FHL US/CAN Film 209698
Index to volumes 14-15 of Louisville deaths 1907-1910 (another filming) FHL US/CAN Film 209699
Births, Vols. 1-2 1898-1901 FHL US/CAN Film 209689
Births, Vols. 3-4 1901-1904 FHL US/CAN Film 209690
Births, Vols. 5-6 1904-1907 FHL US/CAN Film 209691
Births, Vol. 7 1907-1909 FHL US/CAN Film 209692
Births, Vol. 8 1909-1910 FHL US/CAN Film 209693
Deaths, Vols. 1-3 1866-1873 FHL US/CAN Film 209700
Deaths, Vol. 4 1873-1879 FHL US/CAN Film 209701
Deaths, Vol. 5 1879-1883 FHL US/CAN Film 209702
Deaths, Vol. 6 1884-1887 FHL US/CAN Film 209703
Deaths, Vol. 7 1887-1891 FHL US/CAN Film 209704
Deaths, Vol. 8 1891-1894 FHL US/CAN Film 209705
Deaths, Vol. 9 1895-1897 FHL US/CAN Film 209706
Deaths, Vols. 10-11 1898-1902 FHL US/CAN Film 209707
Deaths, Vols. 12-13 1902-1907 FHL US/CAN Film 209708
Deaths, Vols. 14-15 1907-1910 FHL US/CAN Film 209709
Interesting. So if I request this data at the Louisville court house then I might be able to find a record of his death? I will be making a trip to Louisville in the near future and could do that.
There is one family tree on ancestry.com that includes Robert W. Oliver's family. It is a very small tree with only a few people listed.
The owner of that tree has posted in the ancestry.com message board, also.
Unfortunately, Robert's date and place of death are not included.
If you do not have an ancestry.com membership, you might want to use their free 2 week trial. If you make a list of info you are looking for and do systematic searches, you can find a lot in 2 weeks.
I used up my free two week trial getting back to Robert Wright. lol. I actually even paid for a month's subscription to get more work done, but it expired recently. I looked and looked and looked for any lead as to who his parents were or how he died but I couldn't find a thing. I guess my next step will be to contact the Louisville police department, court house, or public library to see if they have any records of the guy.
I'd like to know where the family name originates from. All my relatives just assume his line came from England, but we really have no proof of that ancestry, and Oliver is a name that could have came from a number of countries.
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