In your genealogy research, have you encountered a tree containing a different death date for an individual in your tree that also includes a source? Most of the time when I encounter differing information, I can locate sourcing to support one set of information. However, I don’t remember encountering a difference in information with sourcing for both sets of dates.
That’s my situation with Frederick Wells Doolittle, son of Nancy Phidila Wells and James Augustus Doolittle of Calhoun County, Michigan. In RootsMagic, I have recorded 23 April 1913 as the death date for Frederick Doolittle.
On FamilySearch, there is a death date of 25 August 1929 for Frederick Wells Doolittle.
There is a source for the death date on FamilySearch that indicates the date of death came from a pension file. The link to the source leads to a pension file on Fold 3. This source does support 25 Aug 1929 as the death date for a Fred W Doolittle.
Going back to my RootsMagic file, I have several sources for the 1913 death date for Fred Doolittle. One of those sources is a record on Find a Grave. While the Find a Grave record contains links to other family members it does not include a picture of a tombstone. Thankfully, I have other sources to support the 1913 death date. One of those sources is a Michigan death certificate.
Not only does the death certificate give a 1913 death date, it identifies the parents: James Doolittle and Nancy Wells. Besides the death certificate, I was able to find an obituary for a Fred W. Doolittle in the 25 April 1913 issue of the Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, Michigan).
Based on the death certificate and obituary, I don’t believe the pension record is for the same Fred W. Doolittle.
Since the death certificate and obituary are consistent with the other information I’ve collected on Fred, I believe he died in 1913.
Frederick Wells Doolittle1 was born on 29 Aug 1858 in Clarendon, Calhoun, Michigan, United States.1–4 He lived in Clarendon, Calhoun, Michigan, United States in 1860.5 He lived in Clarendon Township, Calhoun, Michigan, United States on 9 Aug 1870.6 Frederick lived in Clarendon, Calhoun, Michigan, United States in 1880.7 He lived in Girard, Branch, Michigan, United States in 1900.8 He lived in Tekonsha, Calhoun, Michigan, United States in 1910.9 Frederick died on 23 Apr 1913 at the age of 54 in Tekonsha Township, Calhoun, Michigan, United States.1,3–4,10–11 He was buried on 25 Apr 1913 at Riverside Cemetery in Tekonsha, Calhoun, Michigan, United States.4,10–11
Frederick Wells Doolittle and Ida Adella Phelps were married on 29 Sep 1878 in Homer, Calhoun, Michigan, United States.12–13 Ida Adella Phelps was born on 29 Sep 1860 in Tekonsha, Calhoun, Michigan, United States. She lived in Clarendon, Calhoun, Michigan, United States in 1880.7 She lived in Girard Township, Branch, Michigan, United States in 1900.8 Ida lived in Tekonsha, Calhoun, Michigan, United States in 1910.9 She was buried in 1927 in Tekonsha, Calhoun, Michigan, United States. She died on 8 Jan 1927 at the age of 66 in Tekonsha, Calhoun, Michigan, United States.14
ENDNOTES:
1. “Michigan, Death Records, 1897-1929,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online 27 June 2022), Fred Wells Doolittle.
2. 1870 Michigan Federal Census (: U.S. Government, 1870), Calhoun Co., MI (M593-697), page 8, line 27 [Doc, #: WELLS.MI.036].
3. Find a Grave, database and images, Find a Grave (www.findagrave.com : viewed online 16 December 2020), memorial for Nancy Wells Doolitte (1831-1906), Find a Grave Memorial no. #51515334, created by maintained by Find a Grave, citing West Clarendon Cemetery, Clarendon, Calhoun County, Michigan; accompanying photograph by Genealogy BugKate, Nancy Wells Doolittle.
4. Find a Grave, database and images, Find a Grave (www.findagrave.com : viewed online 27 June 2022), memorial for Fred Wells Doolittle (1858-1913), Find a Grave Memorial no. 91032796, created by Dorothy, citing Riverside Cemetery, Tekonsha, Calhoun County, Michigan;, Fred Wells Doolittle.
5. 1860 U.S. Census, Calhoun County Michigan, population schedule, Clarendon, Calhoun County, Michigan, page 206, family 1366, Polly Doolittle; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online 27 June 2022); NARA microfilm publication M653.
6. 1870 U.S. Census, Calhoun County, Michigan, population schedule, Calhoun County, Michigan, page 8 Image 8 of 30, family 67, James Doolittle; digital images, FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org : viewed online 21 May 2022)
7. 1880 U.S. Census, Calhoun County Michigan, Clarendon, Calhoun County, Michigan, enumeration district (ED) ED 48, Page 1, family 3, Fred Doolittle; digital images, (: viewed online 27 June 2022).
8. 1900 U.S. Census, Branch County Michigan, population scheduule, Girard Township, Branch County, Michigan, ED 13, Sheet 6A Image 11 of 26, family 138, Fred Doolittle; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online 27 June 2022)
9. 1910 U.S. Census, Calhoun County Michigan, Tekonsha Township, Calhoun County, Michigan, enumeration district (ED) ED 74, Sheet 1A, family 1, Fred Doolittle; digital images, (: viewed online 27 June 2022).
10. “Michigan, Death Records 1867-1952,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online 27 June 2022), Fred Melle “Wells” Doolittle.
11. “Fred W. Doolittle,” , Jackson Citizen Patriot, (Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, Michigan)), 25 April 1913, page 2; Public Member Story, , submitter, linked to , GenealogyBank, genealogybank.com, posted .
12. Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952, Fred Wells Doolittle, 29 September 1878; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : viewed online 27 June 2022). Original Source: Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952.
13. “Michigan, County Marriages, 1822-1940,” database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online 27 June 2022), Fred Wells Doolittle.
14. “Dies after Long Illness,” Battle Creek Enquirer (Battle Creek, Michigan), 11 January 1927, page 15; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : viewed online 29 June 2022).
The only way to be sure would be to order the pension file. First, I would try to research the Fred who died in 1929 more in records that are more readily available.
I thought of that option — but this is a distant cousin. Thus, I am choosing to save my genealogy funds for records involving ancestor.
I concur…the evidence you have for the 1913 death is far stronger…I came to the two different Fred Doolittles conclusion before reaching the end of your post…