This is the first time I have seen this information captured
on a death certificate … and it’s for their father!
Rufus Metcalf Watson was born in New York in
1835 where he lived with his wife and children until some time following her
death in 1882. In the 1900 census he
showed up in North Dakota and then died in Chippewa County Minnesota in 1909.
I examined his death certificate looking for some record of
how long had been in Minnesota, but instead found a notation that he married at
age 32 and that of his 6 children, 2 were living.
In this case I already knew
about his children – but such information could be very revealing!