Do you ever encounter records that seem to be the same person but contain conflicting data? Well, that just happened to me when I found an obituary for Mrs. Carrie Woolford in the 16 July 1931 issue of the Journal Gazette of Maltoon, Illinois.
Death of Former Arcola resident
“Death of Former Arcola Resident,” Journal Gazette (Mattoon, Illinois), 16 July 1931, page 1; digital image, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : viewed online 12 July 2021).
Special to the Journal-Gazette
Arcola, Ill., July 16. – Mrs. Carrie Woolford, widow of Jacob P. Woolford, and former Arcola resident, died Monday in San Antonio, Tex., at the home of a son, Samuel Woolford, with whom she had been making her home for about 13 years.
The body has been shipped to Arcola for burial here Friday.
Mrs. Woolford spent the early part of her life in Arcola and in the Galton neighborhood. She married Jacob Woolford, Dec. 24, 1879, three sons being born to the union, all of whom are living. They are Ross Woolford of Rupert, Ida., Alfred Woolford, Terre Haute, Ind., and Samuel Woolford of San Antonio. Mr. Woolford died in 1918.
Mr. and Mrs. Woolford lived in Galton for a number of years. Mr. Woolford engaging in the grain and general merchandising business. Later, they moved to Terre Haute, where they remained until Mr. Woolford’s death. Following Mr. Woolford’s death, Mrs. Woolford moved to San Antonio to make her home with her son.
Everything in the above obituary fits what I already knew about the family — EXCEPT — the location of her death. I had her death recorded as having happened in Idaho and not Texas. Thanks to Ancestry, I even have a copy of the Idaho death certificate.
So, are these records for two different people OR for the same person? I believe they are for the same person.
- The informant on the death certificate is Ross Woolford. The obituary includes a son named Ross.
- The obituary indicates that Ross Woolford lived in Rupert, Idaho. The death certificate indicates that Caroline Woolford died in Rupert, Idaho.
- The death certificate lists William Kelso as the father of Caroline Woolford which agrees with the information I have on the family.
- The obituary was found in a newspaper in the region where Caroline Kelso Woolford grew up and not in a newspaper where any of her children lived. So far, I haven’t located an obituary in Idaho, Texas or Indiana.
- Caroline Woolford’s Find a Grave site states that she died in Idaho.
Until I find records to indicate that these records are for two different individual, I am concluding that the obituary is for Caroline Kelso Woolford, daughter of William and Caroline Kelso and mother of Ross, Alfred and Samuel. If I didn’t already have a lot of documented facts for this family, I would have had to reject the obituary.
So, the lessons I’ve learned by analyzing these records include:
- Conflicting records do not necessarily indicate two separate individual
- Having researched the entire family helped with the analysis of the conflicting records