Using restitution lists from the 1692 Salem witch trials to rebuild Dorcas Hoar’s family

After the Salem witch trials were over and the victims were released from prison, some families petitioned the government for restitution and reversal of attainder. These records are useful for rebuilding families.

A Bittersweet Homecoming

When Dorcas Hoar was accused of witchcraft in April 1692, she was a recent widow in her late 50s, no doubt struggling financially to survive in her humble abode in Beverly. After many months of imprisonment, she came home to find what little she had was confiscated, even her bed. In 1696, her husband’s estate was probated, showing William’s assets, including five acres and the remainder of an old house, were worth less than his debts, so everything went to his creditors. Without a reversal of attainder, Dorcas probably was not entitled to her widow’s third since legally she was still guilty of witchcraft, a capital crime.

Settling Debts

On 13 September 1710, John and Annis King petitioned for restitution on behalf of Dorcas Hoar. Besides providing acknowledgment of a wrongful imprisonment (and, in some cases, death), this act allowed some victims and their families to receive money for associated costs. In the case of Dorcas Hoar, her family was paid for jail costs, travel expenses, and items taken from her home, including two cows, an ox, a mare, bedding, curtains, and household stuff. We know Dorcas was dead by this date because the full amount of £21 17s was split between her heirs.

By the time the heirs received the money, there were some changes in the family, as shown in the following chart.

13 Sept. 1710 list	19 Feb. 1711/2 receipts
Wm. Hoar 3 children	William Hoar Dec’d left 3 daughters
Mary Birtt	Mary Burt widow
Eliz Reed	Elizabeth Read wife of Christopher Read
Annis Kinge	Annis King wife of John King
Joanna Green	Johanna Green wife of widow
Tabath Slue 3 children	Tabitha Slue dec’d left two children her Leonard & R[a]chel

Using the two lists gives us extra details, providing more information to create a basic genealogy.

The Family of Dorcas (Galley) Hoar

Dorcas Galley, daughter of John Galley (b. abt. 1605, d. 1683) and Florence (d. 1686), was born about 1635 in what is now Beverly, Massachusetts. She married, about 1655, fisherman William Hoar (b. abt. 1628, d. winter 1691/2). They had at least eight children, though no birth dates are recorded in the Beverly vital records:

1. Mary Hoar married in Beverly (1) on June 30 1671 Samuel Harris (probate 1682). In 1710, she was called “Birtt” and in 1712 “Mary Burt widow,” suggesting her husband may have died within those 17 months, however no death or probate records were found. It's possible she married in Marblehead (2) 4 Sept. 1684 as Mary Harris and John Bush, “both inhabitants at Basriner” [Bass River, a.k.a. Beverly]. A “___ Burt, widow,” died before May 1732 in Beverly. She had at least one child, Daniel Harris, born 31 March 1672 in Beverly.

2. Elizabeth Hoar married in Beverly (1) on 13 Nov. 1676 Jonas Johnson and (2) Christopher Read in 1682. Six Read children were recorded in Beverly. Christopher Read was the sexton in Beverly from 1715 to 1727. He may have died in 1727, since Elizabeth was his widow when she died between September 1736 and June 1737.

3. Tabitha (“Tabbie”) Hoar married Leonard Slue/Slew about 1677 as her wedding is mentioned in the 1678 court case. She was baptized as an adult a week after her sister-in-law Sarah (Ross) Hoar, on 22 Dec. 1695, in Beverly. In 1700, Leonard Slue had land in Purpooduck (Cape Elizabeth), Maine. On August 10, 1703, 26 people in Purpooduck were killed by Indians, including Leonard Slue, his wife, and three children. (However, “__ Slue” appears on a 1710/1711 list of persons still being held captive.) Three children were living in 1710, but only two in 1712. (1) Mary Slue married Joshua Beans in Salem on 23 June 1701 and died before he married, second, Mary Fuller on 7 June 1704. (2) Leonard Slue married Abigail Johnson in Beverly on 23 Nov. 1703. He was the sexton in Beverly from 1727 to 1737 and died in 1744. (3) Rachel Slue died unmarried in Beverly in 1734.

4. William Hoar Jr. was born about 1661. He married 3 June 1685 in Beverly Sarah Ross. His wife was baptized and admitted into full communion with the Beverly Church on 15 Dec. 1695 and their four daughters were baptized 2 Feb. 1695/6. William and one of his daughters died before the September 1710 list. Children: (1) Mary married in Marblehead on 18 Nov. 1708 Moses Pitman Jr. (children born 1711-1723); (2) Rebecca Hoar married in Marblehead 22 Dec. 1712 Benjamin Carder; (3) Abigail Hoar married John Grover on 8 Dec. 1715 in Beverly; leaving (4) daughter Sarah Hoar the one who died by September 1710. William's widow, Sarah (Ross) Hoar married James Taylor Sr. in Beverly on 21 June 1720.

5. Annis (“Nancy”) Hoar married in Salem on 10 Sept. 1688 John King (1661-1718) and had at least six children. She was still living in 1731.

6. Samuel Hoar was in court in July 1678 with his father for “neglecting the public ordinances.” No further record; he died before September 1710 list.

7. Simon Hoar was in court February 1678/9 with sisters Elizabeth Johnson and Annis Hoar, for “abusing Mr. Hale’s cattle,” probably in retribution for the burglary ring charges of 1678. No further record; he died before September 1710 list.

8. Joanna Hoar married in Salem (1) on 25 April 1694 Moses Parnell (b. 1670) and (2) on 27 Oct. 1699 to Benjamin Green (b. 1678). Joanna was widowed by 12 Feb. 1712. No children recorded.

See also: Dorcas Hoar really was a witch

Sources:

Bernard Rosenthal et al, Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt

Robert Charles Anderson, Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634-1635 (AmericanAncestors.org)

Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 (AmericanAncestors.org)

Torrey's New England Marriages to 1700 (AmericanAncestors.org)

Essex County MA: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881 (AmericanAncestors.org)

“'Where Thieves Break Through and Steal': John Hale versus Dorcas Hoar 1672-1692” by Barbara Ritter Dailey in Essex Institute Historical Collections, Vol. 128, (1992). 

Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts

Sidney Perley, History of Salem, Massachusetts

George Walter Chamberlain, Descendants of Michael Webber of Falmouth, Maine and of Gloucester, Massachusetts 

Freemen and Massachusetts town meetings

Massachusetts Bay Colony seal

In many Massachusetts towns, our ancestors attended town meetings just like we do today. Each town was self-governed, in that the citizens elected the officials, decided tax matters, and determined how to protect and improve the community, through the building of roads, structures, and public buildings.

In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, only freemen—landowning inhabitants of the town who were members of the Puritan church—could participate and vote in town meetings. That’s why you’ll find lists of freemen in colonial town records, much like registered voter lists. If your ancestor was listed as a freeman, you know he was a full-fledged member of the Puritan church who had a certain amount of property.

If your ancestor held a town position such as tything man (tax collector), watchman, “clarkes for ye markitt,” or fence viewer, he had to be a freeman. Some men held the positions repeatedly, which could help you determine if a name’s-the-same man is yours or what his occupation was. For instance, William Gibson the Scotsman (1638?-1702) was a cordwainer or shoemaker. He’s listed in Boston town records as a sealer of leather in 1665 and 1671. He also may have served as sealer of leather in 1678, 1685, and 1686, but since another William Gibson became a freeman in 1678, it’s unclear who is referenced without knowing the second William's occupation. At the April 1702 meeting, John Jepson received a month’s pay as a watchman. The following month, the town records say he lost the note for payment as watchman. On 13 March 1709/10, Benjamin Gibson was chosen constable of Boston, and he refused the position.

In 1684, the first Massachusetts Charter was revoked by King Charles II of England. In 1691/2, a new charter by joint rulers William and Mary came into effect, creating the new Province of Massachusetts Bay and including Plymouth Colony, the Province of Maine, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. (Wars and witcheries happened in the interim, causing all sorts of political and judicial anxieties.) The new charter increased the number of eligible voters by removing the religious qualification and replacing it with a property requirement instead. The rule of the freeman was over.

See also:

The Freemen of Massachusetts Bay 1630-1636

List of Freemen, Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1630 to 1691

Historical perspective: Putting your ancestors' lives in context

Oftentimes, as genealogists we tend to focus on births, marriages, and deaths. But to see the bigger picture, we need to consider what was happening in the community and the world around them to put our ancestors’ lives in context.

One way to do this is to create a timeline of family events and match it with historic events. That way, you can determine what outside factors may have influenced your ancestors’ lives, from wars, pirates, strikes, politics, religious revivals, and murders to fires, weather, flu epidemics, famines, and other major catastrophes.

For instance, my ancestors, a husband and a wife in their late 30s, died in 1721. From reviewing historic events of the time period, I finally figured out that they may have died in the smallpox epidemic that was ravaging Boston. After all, a few months prior to their deaths, they sent their children to live with relatives in Essex county, Massachusetts.

Other relatives lived in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1892 when Lizzie Borden was accused of murdering her father and stepmother. Did they know the Bordens? Maybe not. But how closely did they follow that sensational news? At the time, one of my relatives was a five-year-old boy, and he grew up to be a policeman. I sometimes wonder if the murders influenced his chosen career and how much inside information he knew from working at the police station.

Below, I’ve included some Massachusetts events randomly collected from the MassMoments web site. Hopefully, a few of them will make you consider how an event may have affected your ancestors’ lives. What did they live through? How may that event have influenced their lives?

Learning about the times they lived in may give you a new perspective into your ancestors’ lives. It may even give your family history research new clues to follow.

1620: Pilgrims and strangers land in Plymouth
1630: Puritans arrive in Boston
1636: Harvard College founded
1658: Quakers outlawed in Plymouth
1659: Christmas celebrations outlawed
1675: King Philip’s War begins
1690: first newspaper published in the Colonies
1692: Salem witch trials
1717: pirate ship the Whydah sinks off Cape Cod
1721: smallpox epidemic in Boston
1733: Boston masons organize first Grand Lodge in America
1746: Abenaki raid on Deerfield
1760: Great Fire of 1760, Boston
1765: Stamp Act protests
1770: Boston Massacre
1775: American Revolution begins in Lexington
1797: USS Constitution launched
1806: first African-American meeting house opened
1812: War of 1812 begins
1820: Maine becomes own state, apart from Massachusetts
1821: Massachusetts General Hospital admits first patient
1837: Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary opens
1844: Millerites await end of the world on October 22
1848: Boston’s first municipal water system completed
1850: first national women’s rights convention held in Worcester
1860: Lynn shoeworkers strike
1861: Massachusetts volunteers join in the Civil War
1872: Great Fire of Boston
1888: blizzard of 1888
1892: Andrew and Abby Borden murdered in Fall River
1897: Boston opens the nation’s first subway system
1903: Marconi relays first transcontinental radio message from Wellfleet
1912: Bread and Roses strike in Lawrence
1919: Great Molasses Flood in Boston
1926: construction of Quabbin Reservoir begins; towns of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott disappear
1927: execution of Sacco & Vanzetti
1938: hurricane ravages New England
1962: Boston Strangler killings
1978: Blizzard of 1978
2004: Red Sox win World Series

Portrait of a witch, 1692

"We all rose in the air on broomsticks,"
illustration by F.A. Carter,
in The Witch of Salem by John R. Musick (1893)

Generally, we think of witches as old hags, widows who lived on the outskirts of their community, often bad mannered and physically offensive. Some were known for healing powers, such as an herbalist or midwife, or one who brewed noxious remedies to inflict pain and suffering on others.

Yes, there were widows accused as witches in 1692, but so were young mothers and little girls. Men and boys were not exempt either. It’s difficult to create a profile of a witch because the accused ran the gamut from beggar to rich merchant, law-breaker to minister—and everything in between.

In the 17th century, many people believed in witches and witchcraft. Their ancestors lived through witch-hunts in the old country, where thousands of witches were burned at the stake. They learned from church sermons that the Devil was using witches to undermine the Puritan church. And they heard rumors of witches wreaking havoc in New England.

Accusations went flying. The accused lived in Salem Village (now Danvers), Salem Town, throughout Essex county, and even in Maine. Some were very well known in the neighborhood, others weren’t known or even recognized by their accusers.

Since not all the Salem court documents still exist, it’s difficult to even account for how many people were accused; about 150 were imprisoned, 19 hanged, one crushed to death, and at least five died in prison.

To learn more, check out the Salem Witch Trials: Documentary Archive and Transcription Project (University of Virginia) or the Famous American Trials: Salem Witchcraft Trials 1692 (by the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law). Both sites include 17th-century court records and historic maps.

Finding cemetery inscriptions and photographs online

Down the street from my house, there was an old cemetery that my sister and I visited—when we dared. We didn’t expect ghosts to rise up or bones to rattle, but it was a disconcerting place. After all, in the first row, there were granite markers for young children who had died, apparently from a contagious disease that nearly wiped out the entire family. We rarely saw anyone else visit the graves or leave flowers. It was a forgotten place, until John Fipphen published Cemetery Inscriptions, Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.

Some cemeteries were visited by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) or Works Progress Administration (WPA), by family or cemetery associations like Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries Inc. Staten Island (FACSI), or by individuals like Fipphen—and their transcriptions may be available in microfilm, book, manuscript, or database format. To help you find such listings, check out books like David Allen Lambert's A Guide to Massachusetts Cemeteries and Janice Kohl Sarapin's Old Burial Grounds of New Jersey. 

However, it's the Internet, which attracts volunteers from all over the world, that has become an essential place to look for transcriptions, gravestone photos, and much more. My favorite site is Find a Grave, which I’ve watched grow exponentially over the years. Below, I’ve listed some national, New England, and local cemetery web sites. Also try search engines such as Google for cemetery listings. You may find currently operating cemeteries have databases online, such as the Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor, Maine. Some old cemeteries have been transcribed and posted online too, such as the Hampton, New Hampshire, cemetery database. Or you may find an old book, like Ogden Codman's Gravestone inscriptions and records of tomb burials in the Granary Burying Ground, Boston, Mass., which has the benefit of being published before some vagaries of time and weather erased tombstone details.

No luck finding transcriptions? Search for the cemetery name and location online to find out who owns or maintains it. I've had success contacting cemeteries, funeral homes, churches and religious societies, local libraries, and historical societies for manuscript transcriptions and burial records. For abandoned or town-owned graveyards, contact the town's cemetery division or department of public works.

Don't know where your ancestors are buried? Check if the death certificate or obituary mentions your ancestor's final resting place.  

National/International

Find a Grave

Interment.net Cemetery Records Online

Political Graveyard

USGenWeb Tombstone Transcription Project (see also USGenWeb state and county sites) 

Cemetery Junction

The Association for Gravestone Studies

The Gravestone Project

The Association of Graveyard Rabbits

Grave Addiction

JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry

Tombstones & Monumental Inscriptions - links by Guy Etchells

Military

U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs Nationwide Gravesite Locator

American Battle Monuments Commission

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System - National Park Service

Patriot & Grave Index - National Society Sons of the American Revolution

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

New England

Farber Gravestone Collection

A Very Grave Matter

New England Cemetery Association

Connecticut

Connecticut Gravestone Network 

New Hampshire

New Hampshire OldGraveyard Association

New Hampshire Cemetery Association

Maine

Maine Old Cemetery Association (MOCA)

Maine Cemetery Association

Massachusetts

Historic Burying Grounds Initiative (HBGI)

17th, 18th, & 19th Century Cape Cod Gravestones

Massachusetts Cemetery Association

Rhode Island

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Commission

Vermont

Vermont Cemetery Association

Free genealogy records online

There are lots of wonderful genealogy web sites available, but here are some that provide records for free.

New England

• Dunham-Wilcox-Trott-Kirk (don't let the name fool you; the web site is named in honor of her grandparents, but includes vital records, probate, cemetery records and more)
• Ray’s Place
• A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England before 1692 by James Savage

Connecticut

• Connecticut USGenWeb
• Connecticut American Local History Network & American History and Genealogy Project
• Colonial Connecticut Records 1636-1776

Maine

• Maine USGenWeb
• Maine American History and Genealogy Project
• Maine American Local History Network

Massachusetts

• Massachusetts USGenWeb
• Massachusetts American History and Genealogy Project
• Massachusetts American Local History Network
• Early Massachusetts Vital Records Project
• Mayflower and Early Families
• Plymouth Colony Archive Project

New Hampshire 

• New Hampshire USGenWeb
• New Hampshire American History and Genealogy Project
• New Hampshire American Local History Network

Rhode Island

• Rhode Island USGenWeb
• Rhode Island American History and Genealogy Project
• Rhode Island American Local History Network

Vermont

• Vermont USGenWeb
• Vermont American History and Genealogy Project

National

• USGenWeb
• American History and Genealogy Project
• American Local History Network
• FamilySearch

New England historical and genealogical societies

New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston

What are the statewide historical and genealogical societies in New England?

• American Antiquarian Society
• New England Historic Genealogical Society
• Connecticut Historical Society
• Connecticut Society of Genealogists
• Maine Genealogical Society
• Maine Historical Society
• Massachusetts Historical Society
• Boston Historical Society
• Massachusetts Society of Genealogists
• New Hampshire Historical Society
• New Hampshire Society of Genealogists
• Rhode Island Genealogical Society
• Rhode Island Historical Society
• Genealogical Society of Vermont
• Vermont Historical Society

Many New England counties, cities, and towns have their own historical and/or genealogical societies as well. 

Maine Genealogy site grows from one man's obsession

Five years ago, Christopher Dunham created the Maine Genealogy site to share some of the genealogy resources he had collected—and he’s been adding content ever since.

On the home page, you’ll find a search box for Maine people, with records for marriages, divorces, deaths, court records, cemetery records, passenger lists, enlistment records, pension records, obituaries, and death notices. The search box for Maine Places brings up matches in the Maine Resource Guide, the Legal History Database, and the USGS Feature Names. The site also includes a reference section for books, places, maps, and a census guide. Clicking on a book title within the book search leads you to the referenced tome in Google Books.

“Some of the databases—such as an index of Maine divorces from 1892 to 1903—are the product of days spent at the Maine State Archives, and can be found nowhere else on the web,” Dunham says. “In the past year, I've added a database of almost 23,000 burials in Maine's veterans' cemeteries and an obituary database that is updated daily, and is nearing 50,000 entries.”

Using Ning to create a social network, last summer Dunham “replaced an older genealogy forum with the Maine Genealogy Network, which allows visitors to post queries, upload family photographs and videos, and blog about their research. I'm hoping that it attracts researchers to the site willing to share their resources and expertise, and turn one man's obsession into a collaborative effort.”

Check out the site and help it grow!

Massachusetts Archives offers searchable indexes online

The Massachusetts Archives at 220 Morrissey Blvd. in Boston, holds the “official records created by Massachusetts state government.” You’ll find Massachusetts vital records 1841-1915, pre-1841 vital records, and indexes to 1916-1971 vital records; passenger lists; census schedules; military records; judicial records, including probate, naturalizations, name changes, and divorces; witch-hunt records and Lizzie Borden (1860-1927) trial documents; papers on Maine, Plymouth Colony records, and the Massachusetts Archives Collection 1630-1799, also known as the Felt Collection.

The Mass. Archives also provides online indexes to several collections that are worth checking, whether you visit the Archives in person or not.

Massachusetts Archives Collection Database (1629-1799)

Index to Passenger Manifests 1848-1891

Index to Vital Records 1841-1910 (the index often includes maiden names on later records)

Other Resources

FamilySearch has published Massachusetts birth, christening, marriage, death, and burial records online. The New England Historic Genealogical Society also offers the Massachusetts vital records (birth, marriage, death) online as part of its membership benefits.

If You Visit the Archives

If you visit the Massachusetts Archives, check out the Commonwealth Museum located in the same building as well as the John F. Kennedy Library & Museum, located across the parking lot.

New England vital records

Where do I find birth, marriage, and death records?

Connecticut

The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records lists most recorded birth, marriage, and death records to 1850. All 55 volumes, which cover 137 towns, were published by Genealogical Publishing Co. Although some volumes are out of print, this series is available at many libraries with New England genealogy collections. The Ricker Compilation of Vital Records of Early Connecticut by Jacquelyn Ladd Ricker is a CD-ROM version, based on the Barbour Collection but including a few more resources. It is alphabetical by surname instead of town.

If you do not have access to the Barbour Collection or the Ricker Compilation, you can contact the Connecticut State Library and request its Genealogical Index Search Service. This service also covers the Bible and Family Records Index, the Hale Collection of Newspaper Marriage and Death Notices 1750-1865, the Hale Collection of Connecticut Cemetery Inscriptions, and the Church Records Index, among others.

The State Vital Records Office in the Connecticut Department of Public Health maintains a statewide registry of all births, marriages, and deaths since July 1, 1897. If you know the town where the event occurred, however, contact the town directly.

Maine

In 1892, Maine started its statewide registration of births, marriages, and deaths. Records from 1892 to 1922 can be ordered from the Maine State Archives. If you visit the Maine State Archives research room in person, you can view records from 1922 to 1955 on microfilm as well.

Check the Maine searchable Marriage Index 1892-1967 and 1976-2009 online.

Check the Maine searchable Death Index 1960-2009 online.

For records from 1923 to the present, contact the Maine Vital Records office.

Massachusetts

At the turn of the 20th century, the Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 series was published. Covering most towns and cities in the Commonwealth, this collection is available at many libraries with New England genealogy collections. It’s also available online to members of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

In 1841, Massachusetts started statewide registration of births, marriages, and deaths. The Massachusetts Archives holds microfilmed copies of the 1841 to 1915 vital records. You can view an index to the 1841-1910 records online.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society offers its members online access to the statewide vital records from 1841 to 1915. Unlike the Mass. Archives search above, these are scanned copies of the actual records.

The Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records maintains birth, marriage, and death records from 1916 to the present.

New Hampshire

The New Hampshire State Library has the Sargent Name Index on microfilm that serves as an index to early town records from 1640 to the 1840s. You may find birth and marriage dates listed. Annual town reports often list vital events for the preceding year.

The NH State Archives has some marriage records.

If you know the location of the birth, marriage, or death, you can contact the town or city clerks directly. Or contact the NH Vital Records office.

Rhode Island

The Vital Records of Rhode Island 1636-1850 was compiled by James N. Arnold, starting in 1891. It contains 22 volumes.

From 1879 to 1945, the city of Providence published the Alphabetical Index of the Births, Marriages, and Deaths Recorded in Providence, Rhode Island. It contains 25 volumes.

These collections are available at many libraries with New England genealogy collections. The New England Historic Genealogical Society offers its members online access to both databases.

Birth and marriage records 100 years or older and death records 50 years or older may be obtained from the Rhode Island State Archives.

If you know the location of the birth, marriage, or death, you can contact the town or city clerks directly. Or contact the Rhode Island Department of Health.

Vermont

In 1857, Vermont started statewide registration of births, marriages, and deaths. The Vermont State Archives and Records Administration has all vital records, except those recorded in the last five years. For records created in the last five years, contact the Vital Records office of the Vermont Department of Health.

More Resources

Many vital records have been posted online by FamilySearch or are available on microfilm that can be accessed through a local Family History Center.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society has many vital records available online and in its library in Boston. The society is especially strong in New England and New York records, but also has materials from the United States, Canada, Europe, and around the globe.

You can use credit cards to purchase vital records online using the VitalChek service. This company charges a fee on top of the regular charges, but you may be able to expedite some orders.

Important Tips

Remember, not all births, marriages, and deaths were recorded. Some were recorded and later lost.

Because of privacy issues, some vital records are not always accessible (depending on age of record and/or relationship of person requesting the record).

Sometimes it's easier and quicker to obtain records from town and city clerks rather than statewide vital records offices.

If you need the dates in order to find vital records:

Find church records that contain baptism, marriage, and burial dates. 

 
Look for town, city, or county books that may contain births, marriages, and deaths. See, for example, the History of the Town of Wolfeborough, New Hampshire by Benjamin Franklin Parker (1901).

Search for cemetery inscriptions and grave photographs online for dates, such as at Find a Grave.

Check the Social Security Death Index for birth and death dates. The Index covers most people who died from the 1950s to the present.

If you cannot obtain a death certificate, try to get an obituary. Obituaries sometimes list birth date, birth place, and/or age; parents, siblings, spouse, children, and/or grandchildren; residence; occupation; and other useful information.