My third-great-grandmother Matilda Taylor's parents are a mystery. Matilda was born in Saratoga County, New York in November of 1802, quite possibly at Half Moon. If she'd been born a few hundred miles east of that spot I probably wouldn't be wondering about this. The New England states kept wonderful vital records. New York? Not so much. At the moment I'm leaning toward John B. Taylor and his wife Rebecca as Matilda's parents, but I have no definite proof. I know John B. lived in Half Moon where Matilda's husband Thomas Vincent was born, and I know a gentleman named John B. Taylor was a witness for Jeremiah Vincent, probably a relative of Thomas', when he applied for his Revolutionary War pension; he's also in the right age group. That's about it, except for Matilda naming her firstborn son John Taylor Vincent. That's a pretty good clue though diminished a bit by the fact that Matilda's husband Thomas also had a father named John.
After searching high and low for the names of the Taylors in cemetery listings, wills, obituaries, etc.... I finally had to admit I was down to my last option, the New York Department of Health with whom I have a love/hate relationship...(mostly hate). Matilda died in 1890 so there was a good chance she had a death certificate. Compliance with the law requiring the reporting of deaths was sporadic at best in the late 1880's and 90's, but upon checking the newly online indexes, I discovered Matilda did indeed have a certificate. Rather than send to Albany for the certificate and wait a year or so for their diligent (ha) employees to mail it to me, I wrote directly to Monroe County, where Matilda died. In a little over a week an envelope from Westfall Road arrived in my mailbox. I excitedly ripped it open and beheld...NOT the names of my 4th great-grands, just a long line of "Not Known", over and over. Marital Status-- Not Known, Residence-- Not Known, Undertaker-- Not Known, Father's Name and Birthplace-- Not Known, Mother's Name and Birthplace-- ditto.
I don't know if the very early death forms didn't ask for that sort of information or if it just wasn't filled in. Now I wondered if the state certificate might hold more information? After poking around the net, I found this at a FamilySearch wiki, "Starting in June 1880, New York required that village, town, and city registrars record deaths. Copies of these deaths were then filed with the State Department of Health." That seems to indicate New York has only a copy of Monroe County's record.
It wasn't a complete loss however, the certificate did say that Matilda passed away from apoplexy, (a stroke), and that she is buried in Beaver Dams, New York with her second husband Rockwell Rood. Which I sort of expected, she couldn't have been buried in the cemetery in Brockport where her oldest son, with whom she lived in her later years, was buried since it didn't exist when Matilda died and it was doubtful this son from her second marriage would have buried her next to Thomas Vincent in Victory, New York. No, she rests next to Rockwell and their youngest son Alonzo who died in 1880, in the community where they spent their married years. Which I suppose is fitting.
