Death Record Detail...
Name: Robert J. Chenoweth
Sex: Male
Death Date: 19 Nov 1865
Death Place: Calhoun Co., West Virginia
Age at Death: 6y 8m 2d
Birth Place: Calhoun County, W V.
Marital Status: S
Cause: diptheria
Mother: E.J. Chenoweth
Mother's Birth Place:
Father: R.J. Chenoweth
Robert J (born 1859) does not appear on the 1860 census, while Mary Matilda (born about 1859) does. There are two possible explanations:
- Mary Matilda and Robert were twins and Robert was accidentally missed from the 1860 census. Both died before 1870 census, but we only have the death record of Robert.
- Mary Matilda was not a twin, and was the child who died in 1865. The creator of the death register accidentally copied her father's name instead of hers (and then indicated the gender was male).
The handwritten death register posted at West Virginia Vital Records online is clearly a register copied from earlier records (the deaths are listed in alphabetical order within year, not date order). This gives 2 opportunities for error - in the original death record and in copying it to the register. Given that:
- Robert was not listed in the 1860 census
- Mary Matilda apparently died before the 1870 census
- transcription errors are not uncommon
it is not unreasonable to suggest that the death register entry is actually for Mary Matilda, not a Robert J, who did not exist in this family.
On the other hand, Mary's mother indicated in the 1900 census that she had 18 children, 11 living. Without Robert J, one child is missing. This could have been a child born between her last two known children, who died at or shortly after birth. Other family trees include a Laurel, triplet of Jemima and Mary Jane, but it is not clear where this information comes from, as the birth register only lists Jemima and Mary Jane, and indicates that they were twins.
