There is
much to be found through death. A death certificate is a gateway to generations
of family history. For this investigation, we look at the death certificate of
Mr. Leopold Rudolph Fink. By looking at his certificate, I was able to uncover
details about his life and his family, both older and younger. I chose to
research this death certificate because there is no reason that someone should
truly die after death. This report is a way of bringing someone back to life,
even if it is just for four pages. Hopefully I will be able to find information
about the generations before his time, as well as information regarding his
children and distant ancestors today.
From the death
certificate alone I was given his date of birth and death; the names of his
parents and his wife; his place of residence, cause of death, and career.
Leopold Fink was born on February 22, 1852 in La Grange, Texas. His parents
were Casper and Louise Ehliers Fink, both born in Germany. He was married to
Fannie Lenora Thompson on October 30, 1877 and they had their first child,
Helen, on January 13, 1881. They had one more child named Leland on
July 15, 1884. Throughout his
life, Leopold worked as a postmaster in New Ulm, Austin, Texas. He died on
April 22, 1918 of cerebral softening.
I began to
research outside of the certificate and started like any good researcher would,
with a Google search. It brought me to ‘findagrave.com’ where I was able to see
his actual tombstone in La Grange, Texas. On his tombstone was a “Woodmen of
the World” inscription. I found this interesting and decided to dig further
into that. Woodmen of the Word is an organization that was started by Joseph
Cullen Root in 1890. His organization sought to clear any financial burden of
their clients. Many times, when their members died, they would alleviate the
financial debt that they left behind for their families. This action would call
for an inscription on the tombstone, signifying membership.
I then went
to fold3.com which is a branch off of Ancestry.com but it is mostly dedicated
to death certificates. I was able to find the death certificate of both of his
children and his wife.
Fannie was born in Austin, Texas
in 1958. On her death certificate, it states that there is no record of her
mother’s maiden name or place of birth. To find more information about her, I
went to Ancestry.com and found actual record of her mother. Her name is Mary
Ann Thompson, she was born in Grantham, England and immigrated to Texas before
Fannie was born.
The name of
her father is also unknown besides a record of his last name “Thompson” and his
place of birth which is England. I am unable to distinguish her cause of death,
but she is buried in Palestine, Texas.
I looked at
his daughter, Helen, next. Helen was born in Bastrop, Texas in 1881. She worked
as a homemaker for the majority of her life and was married to a man named Tom
Horn. She died in Anderson county, Texas and was buried in Palestine, Texas.
Leland, his
son, was born in Bastrop as well. He was married to a woman named Vera Blanche
Russ, and together they had 3 children. Because Leland was a man living in the
United States, he was forced to register for both World Wars, he was never
officially drafted though. He died in 1964 of a coronary occlusion in Harris
county, Texas.
Leopold was
alive throughout the duration of the civil war. The pony express began in 1960,
when he was 8 years old. He served as a postmaster for the majority of his
life. He mostly grew up during the time of serious change in America, the
Sherman anti-trust act was passed and the Panic of 1893 occurred. Fink was
still able to support his wife and kids through one of America’s first deep
economic depressions.
Being able to
look beyond the death certificate to find more hasbeen incredibly interesting.
It is remarkable to think that a postmaster married to a housekeeper was able
to sustain a home and a family despite living in the midst of a 6-year long
nationwide economic crisis. Researching Leopold Fink has opened my eyes to how
people were able to live through the Civil war and the Panic of 1963. It amazes
me how we are able to find generations of information among just one record of
a person. It is so important to continue research so we can unlock even more
information about the past.
