Newspaper Death Notice 1901 for James McDole

The 1901 death of James McDole in Ulster County, New York was reported in the Ellenville newspaper. Only a few details of his life were included and some were rather vague, like he was married for about 50 years, served in Union Army for about 3 years. No mention of his birth in Ireland, but his age and Baptist minister were listed.

Survivors were noted as his wife Abigail and eight children, but only 7 of them were named: George, James, John, Mary, Ellsworth, Lydia and Thomas.  Poor Anna, the second youngest and wife of Morris Hornbeck, was omitted. 

At times a death notice can be a great help in identifying all the children and especially can identify or verify daughters who changed their names through marriage.  If I had not already had the information on Anna and Morris, this news item would not have helped me.

By the way, I was lucky that in his case that the NY TownClerk’s register of Men Who Served in the Civil War listed his birth date and place (Londonderry) and both of his parents. It’s the compilation of data gleaned from all sources that can give us the full picture of our ancestors.