Thursday, June 28, 2018

Documents for Identified Drowned Man

I found an interesting death record in the New Jersey Archives for the year 1924.

Drowning was not an uncommon event in years past. Currently in the United States an average of ten people drown every day. During my document gatherings, I see lots of death certificates and burial records for unidentified people who drowned.

Andrew Liscano's identity was discovered two weeks after his body was found on May 26th, requiring the death certificate to be amended from "unidentified male adult." He had been missing since May 18th. He was 18 years old.

This death record illustrates:
-Your person of interest may have drowned and be listed as unidentified in death records, newspapers, and burial records.
-Check nearby states, especially if your person of interest lived near a waterway.

Andrew Liscano lived in New York City, but his body washed ashore the Hudson River in New Jersey. The location on the first death certificate was given as the foot of 17th Street in Hoboken. This street no longer exists. (If anyone could explain what happened to 17th Street, that would be great.) The reissued certificate names Tietzen and Lang Dry Dock as the more specific location.


(West Hoboken is now part of Union City)


Death record for unidentified man found drowned on May 26, 1924 in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Burial was at Hudson County Cemetery, Laurel Hill (Potter's Field).


Reissued amended death certificate for Andrew Liscano, identified by his sister, Rachel Lagaras.
This amended record provides a lot more information.
Looks like he was reinterred at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, New Jersey.


Undertaker Earl F Bosworth issued a letter explaining why and how the death certificate should be amended.
This funeral home is still in operation today in Hoboken.
This letter provides the name and address of deceased's sister and another person, Agnes Em.



Here is the funeral director, Earl F Bosworth, listed in the Hoboken City Directory in 1925.
(Available at Ancestry.com)


No comments:

Post a Comment