I knew I was tempting fate. Did that stop me? Of course not. It was so simple the first time, surely the second time would prove just as simple, right?
I know where I went wrong. I didn’t find this record in any index before sending away for it. I was hoping a scribbled date on the back of a cemetery deed was enough. I assumed he died in Brooklyn since he lived there for over 30 years. That’s where assuming things get you! I’ll just file this one in my paper records right next to the one from Chicago. That one let me know they didn’t have a record of his birth in Cook County for Robert. They checked 1870-1872 and found nothing. These are the breaks, I’ll keep looking! If he didn’t die in Brooklyn, he must have died in New Jersey. I’ll have to check directories and other things to see if there is any record of him in Caldwell between 1920 and 1925.
You are certainly right as I’ve had my share of these. A bit of a disappointment but we move on. It’s what we do!
Pennsylvania is worse…they have no index…You have to come up with the name and death date first.
My cousin sent for the Death Certificate of our Great Grandfather, they told her he was not there. I sent her my copy that I had gotten from my dad. They too kept the money.