The curious case of the missing death registration


My great-great grandfather, Thomas Miller, census records show was born between 1836-1839 in Ireland. The only information I have on his parents is from interviews a relative did of elderly family members. He talked to them before 1973. The interviewees said the father of Thomas was Jacob Miller. That’s all I know about his parents.

Census records from 1861 to 1911 show that Thomas Miller lived in Kinloss Township, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada. Family stories said he married Catherine Young. My first hope of finding the parents of Thomas Miller was to look for a marriage record. The marriage record I found stated that Thomas Miller, aged 21 (born 1834), married Catherine Young, age 18 (born 1837), on March 6, 1855 in Goderich Township, Huron County, Ontario. There were no parents’ names listed. Heavy sigh! The witnesses were no help – neither were a Miller. I was hoping to at least find a sibling. I will check to see if either of the witnesses married someone with a surname of Miller

Thomas might have been living with his parents in the 1851 census, but it is missing, most likely destroyed, for Goderich Township. I have a marriage record and census records for Thomas none of which list his parents’ names.  

My next step was to find death records that might list his parents. A tombstone on the Billion Graves website from a Kinloss Township Cemetery says that Thomas Miller whose wife was Catherine Young, died on May 3, 1920. I was excited by his death date. In Ontario, Canada, 1920 death registrations included the parents’ names.

I searched the online indexes for the death registration on Thomas Miller but found nothing. I tried alternative spelling for his surname and even tried searching under his death date. None of them registrations looked like him. There was one that came close – a death registration for Thomas Miller who died in Kinloss Township and who was born in Ireland about 1837. This Thomas died on October 25, 1920. It wasn’t the right death date. I really wanted this to be my ancestor because the death registration listed his parents – James Miller and Rose Mary Moore.

Well, maybe the death date on the tombstone was incorrect. The next resource to search were newspapers. By looking at newspapers, I found two death notifications. On of them was in the May 6, 1920 edition of the Lucknow Sentinel and one in the May 4, 1920 London Free Press. My Thomas Miller died in 1920. The London Free Press said he died on Monday, May 3 in the home of his daughter, Mrs. Munro of White Oak, Ontario (now part of London, Ontario). This was his daughter.

The Lucknow Sentinel says,

“Thomas Miller who for some years lived north of town and near South Kinloss church died at London on Monday of this week at the age of 84 years. The remains were brought here for internment in Kinloss Cemetery. The funeral was held this afternoon from the home of his son Jacob Miller of the second con[cession].”

I’m curious as to why there is no death registration for Thomas Miller. Did the record get lost because he died in White Oak and was buried in Kinloss? His death was near the end of the Spanish Flu Epidemic in Canada. Did the pandemic create so many deaths that the registrars couldn’t keep up with the paperwork?

Thomas Miller (left) with Neil Munro

I continue to hope that someday, somewhere, I’ll find a death registration for Thomas Miller and that it will list his parents’ names.

Sources

University of Western, Ontario District Marriages Ontario, Huron District Returns of Marriages, Baptisms, & Burials to the Clerk of Peace 1841-1869, LDS Microfilm Reel 0886646; citing University of Western Ontario; London, Middlesex, Canada

 Library and Archives Canada, 1861 Census of Canada West, Thomas Miller Household; Kinloss, Bruce, Ontario;  page 5; Microfilm Reel C1011, viewed 13 November 2014; www.ancestry.com; [database online]; Provo, Utah; citing Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

 Library and Archives Canada, 1871 Canada Census; Thomas Miller Household; Kinloss, Bruce South, Ontario;  District 27; Subdistrict B-1; page 61, family 217; Microfilm Reel C-9934, viewed 13 November 2014; www.ancestry.com; [database online]; Provo, Utah; citing Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Library and Archives Canada, 1881 Canada Census; Thomas Miller Household; Kinloss, Bruce West, Ontario;  District 176; Subdistrict B-1; page 27, family 128; Microfilm Reel C-13274, viewed 13 November 2014; www.ancestry.com; [database online]; Provo, Utah; citing Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario

 Library and Archives Canada, 1891 Canada Census; Thomas Miller Household; Kinloss, Bruce West, Ontario;  District 53; page 5-6, family 29; Microfilm Reel T-6329, viewed 13 November 2014; www.ancestry.com; [database online]; Provo, Utah; citing Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario

 Library and Archives Canada, 1901 Canada Census; Thomas Miller Household; Kinloss, Bruce West, Ontario; District 50; Subdistrict E-2; page 5, family 47; Microfilm Reel T-6462, viewed 13 November 2014; www.ancestry.com; [database online]; Provo, Utah; citing Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario

 Library and Archives Canada, 1911 Canada Census; Thomas Miller Household; Kinloss, Bruce West, Ontario; District 50; Subdistrict E-2; page 5, family 47; Microfilm Reel T-6462, viewed 13 November 2014; www.ancestry.com; [database online]; Provo, Utah; citing Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario.

Archives of Ontario; Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1948 [database on-line], MS935; Reel: 322; Ancestry.com, Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010 citing Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

 Obituary; Miller, Thomas; Lucknow Sentinel 1919-1920; Thursday, May 6, 1920; Microfilm Reel  NJ.FM.1274; Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.

 Obituary; Miller, Thomas; London Free Press May – June 1920, Tuesday, May 4, 1920; Microfilm Reel  NJ.FM.2235; Library & Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.

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