Year of Death Questionable in Spite of Multiple Records

In what year did Emma Dunn, wife of Andrew J Newcomb (1851-1929), die?

She was born around 1855, likely in Matawan, Monmouth County, New Jersey, to Ezra A Dunn (1821-1898) and Hermoine Dunlop (1827-1900).

She died in East Orange, Essex County, New Jersey, according to the resources that provide a location.  All resources have the same month and day- January 31.

The year differs.

Below are the offerings.

1.  Gravestone: 1890

Entry on Find A Grave and photo by CindyS.

2.  Online death indexes for New Jersey

Of note- New Jersey indexes for deaths prior to 1901 do not run on a calendar year.  Deaths for the years of concern here (1888, 1889, or 1890) were compiled from July 1 of one year through June 30 of the following year.  So the entry at Family Search for a death from January through June of 1888 would have been in 1889.  Entries for January through June are off by one year.

     a.  Family Search: 1888

     b.  New Jersey State Archives Index: 1889

3.  Death certificate:  January 31, 1889.

Cause of death was pneumonia.

4.  Deaths listed in newspaper, The Red Bank Register: 1890.

So which one is correct?

The indexes are not actually records; rather, they are guides to help find the record, which I did- the death certificate.  The death certificate is a primary source.  It was created at the time of the event.  This certificate has the year 1889.  I included the indexes to demonstrate that this certificate with a date of death of January 31, 1889 was filed with the other death certificates for July 1, 1888 through June 30, 1889.  Certificates for the time period are not filed alphabetically, but by fiscal year.

The gravestone is a derivative source.  We don't know when the stone was carved.  It is possible for gravestones to have the wrong dates, especially if created years after a person died.  Emma's stone may have not been carved when she died.  Her infant daughter, Viva, died shortly before Emma in 1888.  Viva's information is carved below Emma's entry and there is no room on the stone for anyone else.  This indicates that the stone was not created for Viva, but for Emma, evidencing a time lag.  But it is a vote for 1890.

The death listing is another matter.  While not a primary source, a newspaper would contain contemporaneous information.  The news of Emma's death may have taken a few days to reach the Red Bank newspaper from East Orange, but it should not have taken a year.  This is another vote for 1890.

We go back to the death certificate.  A habit that people have every January is that they write the prior year instead of the new year.  The year on the death certificate is a scribble.  If Emma actually died in 1890, and the writer put 1889 on the death certificate, how did it get filed with the prior year's certificates?  There is no "received date" on the certificate.  Were the certificates not organized and logged until later?