Content of the Record:
On October 19, 1921, my Great-Great Grandmother Catharine Burke Beaver died in the Essex County Hospital in Cedar Grove, NJ which is near Newark. Her address given was 144 S. Orange St. in Newark. She was a female, white, widow born in Ireland in 1853 and was 68 years old. No occupation was given. Her father was John Burke and her mother Bridget Ryan, both born in Ireland. The informant was the hospital.
She died of a cerebral hemorrhage with contributing focal or diffuse brain disease of 6 years duration. She was buried or removed at or by ?"CHP" on Oct. 22.
Comments, Conclusions, and Speculation:
This was the second to the last formal record I was able to find. Because I had not been able to find Kate in the 1920 census, I assumed she had died closer to 1910. I was ordering death certificates my mail which was expensive, time-consuming, and which limited the number of years I could ask for at a time. In 2008 when I finally visited the State Archives in Trenton in person, I was able to assemble many family documents in a single day, including this one. This is the only document available to us that gives the names of Kate's parents. It did not seem unusual to me at the time that the informant was a hospital record department.
I do not remember as I write this how I was able to interpret the place or means of burial. I do not recall that I knew what it meant at the time. It did not point me to a cemetery. In retrospect I suspect the initials may mean something as earthy as "County Heath Department." However, on the same day I found the death certificate of Kate's daughter, Edith Margaret. It was more specific about where Edith was buried: Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in East Orange, NJ. The wonderful surprise was that when I called that cemetery, they told me that Edith was buried in the same grave as her mother. I will tell that story on another page.
Additionally, with the information on the death certificate, I was finally able to identify Kate in the 1920 census.