James Jakes Death Notice(1941)

 

I'd written a blog post about finding my great grandfather's death notice in the Tennessean back in 2017(see post) Today I found a death notice in the Shelbyville paper.  The Tennessean had gotten several of the daughters names wrong.  Cora Gibson was printed as Mrs. Coy Gibson and Lula Gibson was shown as Mrs. Luke Gibson.  They also spelled my grandmother's married name as Cook instead of Cooke.  The Shelbyville paper got the names correct except for my Grandmother's married name.  They put Gibson instead of Cooke.  I think it's worth noting that this happens more than we realize.  I've even seen people who have been dead for almost 20 years listed as survivors in their sibling's death notice.  I've made a note on the image of the death notice below.  You should be able to identify these errors as you are researching because you will have multiple sources and you will need to evaluate the sources and the information contained in them.

Source:  "James Jakes, 84, Retired Farmer Dies in Nashville" The Bedford Co Times, 19 Aug 1941, p. 1, col. 2; digital images, Familysearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-B3T3-QZR9?i=706&cat=483088 : accessed 8 Jun 2022).

Luranie Jane Cook Williams Death Record

Against all odds, I found the death certificate of Luranie Jane Cook Williams, sister of my Great Grandfather, William Green Cook. I'd never actually seen the copy of the certificate though I'd visited where she is buried and seen her stone.  My clues were from the Index although the index listed Puruline as her Mother's name and lists the burial place as Rees.  It's actually Rover on the certificate with the actual cemetery name not included. I was not expecting her to be in Davidson Co.TN. Neither the Tennessee, Deaths, and Burials Index, 1874-1955 or the Index of the TN Death Records 1908-1958 was in agreement on all the information I had but they were both close enough that I knew I needed to check the original record

The incorrectly transcribed items are noted with an arrow and the corrections are shown in RED.  Her gravestone lists the year of death as 1923 which added to my confusion.



Luranie's brother, Gideon Cook is the informant for the information on her death certificate. He was a Civil War Veteran, a Veterinarian, and known as "Dock" Cook. I believe that Gideon's family must have always referred to W.C. Cook as Clifford Cook because he is listed as C Cook here and on Gideon's Death Cert as Clifford Cook.

Her husband George W. Williams would die 6 months later(July 1924) Luranie & George are buried in the Simpson Cemetery in Rover, TN. Luranie has always been hard to find because her name is never spelled the same consistently. Even the Cook researchers never spell it the same. How do we ever find the documents we need. Persistence!

August 1941--Shelbyville Man Dies in Local Hospital

I found this article using Newspapers.com.  It is the closest thing to an obituary that I have been able to find for my paternal Grandmother's dad, James M Jakes.  He was living with my Grandparents in Old Hickory(Davidson Co. Tennessee) in the 1940 US Federal Census. I do have a copy of his death certificate which shows that he is buried in Willow Mount Cemetery in Bedford Co TN.  For whatever reason, his death year was never placed on his gravestone.   I should also note that there are several errors in the survivor listing.  Two Sons:  Will and Euless Jakes Four Daughters Mrs. Tom Bell, Mrs. Cora Gibson, Mrs. Lula Gibson, and Mrs. Tom Cooke.

Source: 
"Shelbyville Man Dies In Local Hospital"
The Tennessean, 15 Aug 1941, p. 15, col. 6 & 7; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 16 Sep 2017).

1940 US Federal Census Findings

My shocker from the 1940 US Federal census.

Finding my Dad's maternal Grandfather, James Jakes. alive and living with my Grandparents in 1940. When I first began researching over 20 yrs ago I found a Date of death on microfiche for a James Jakes in the area in which he had lived and I incorrectly ASSumed it was him. The date was within 2 yrs of his wife's death and it seemed logical to me(the whole dying of a broken heart bit after losing a spouse). I knew where he was buried however his tombstone did not have a year of death. So I never really gave much thought to researching any more on him other than his children and his ancestors. After finding that he was still alive in 1940 I was able to search FamilySearch's online death records for TN and come up with the correct Death Cert and the correct date of death which happened the following yr. It also gave his birthdate. Prior to that I only had the yr from the tombstone and a month from census records which is off by one from what his Death Cert listed. The certificate also told his place of death-- Davidson Co. Hospital(TN). and gave M as his middle initial...something I'd never seen. Makes me wonder if it is Morrow which was his mother's Maiden name. The informant on the death cert. listed his father as James Jakes...which is probably an error. I have several records showing his father was George Jakes although I don't rule out the possibility that George's middle name might have been James.

Now I'm off in search of his 1930 census entry and also going to find out who Martha Gibson, the informant on his death certificate is. Two Gibson brothers married two of James Jakes' daughters and his Aunt Ann Jakes married a Gibson. Lots of possibilities.


I love learning :-)

Search for your family in the 1940 Census Records

1940 US Federal Census at FamilySearch


1940 US Federal Census at National Archives And Records Administration

Sat. Night Gen. Fun Post--George Jakes

Following the instructions for Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun
I took my father's age and divided it by 4 which rounded to 20. Randy's instructions were to write about the the person who was #20 in my Ahnentafel.

#20
George Jakes (great great grandfather).

He was born in Franklin County Virginia in the year 1820 to James Jakes & Nancy Harger. He moved with his parents to the middle Tennessee area and married Catherine Morrow around 1845. His younger brother, James Jakes, was also his brother-in-law since James married Catherine's sister, Margaret Caroline Morrow. George & Catherine lived in the same general area pretty much all their adult life--Dist 1 of Bedford Co. TN & Dist 24 of Rutherford Co. TN. I have not been able to find a death date for George or Catherine. However, since I can't find them after the 1880 census I've narrowed their death date down a little to between 1880 and 1900. George like many men in the Tennessee area in that time period was a farmer.