Re: William Petticrew, d. 3 Mar 1935, Philadelphia PA., death certificate.
-
In reply to:
Re: William Petticrew, d. 3 Mar 1935, Philadelphia PA., death certificate.
Tim Gruber 4/04/13
Dear Tim,
My granfather, William Robert Petticrew, married Frances Hart in St. Louis in 1902, and they had three sons.In the 1920s William abandoned his family in Cleveland, OH.My uncle thought his father might have died in Pittsburgh in 1933, but did not know for sure.I never found William in the 1930 census anywhere.
No William Petticrew appeared in the Pennsylvania death index for 1924-1934.When I found that there was a William who died in Philadelphia in 1935, I sent for the death certificate.The death cert indicates that no one claimed his body, so the state Anatomical Board removed it and likely sent it to a medical school.That the hospital was the informant on the cert, and that no family member gave personal information for him tells me William was alone.And possibly indigent, since P.G.H. was a public hospital that served all regardless of ablility to pay.This comports with my expectation that my grandfather probably wandered rootless after leaving his family.
In my initial post, I asked for help getting the records from the Philadelphia City Archives, because I thought the P.G.H. admission records of 12-12-1934, for this William Petticrew, might contain additional information about him that would help me determine if this William of the death cert was indeed my grandfather.I have spent a lot of time looking for any trace of my grandfather, and this William seems the likeliest candidate, as my grandfather's age at 12-12-1934 would have been 54.Still, it would be nice to have more substantial proof.
I doubt that the William Petticrew of the death cert would have had any published notice of his death.In any case, I have not found any obit.
Thanks for your interest.
Bev
More Replies:
-
Re: William Petticrew, d. 3 Mar 1935, Philadelphia PA., death certificate.
Tim Gruber 4/05/13
-
Correction: William Petticrew, died 9 Mar 1935, Philadelphia PA.
B. Kline 4/06/13
-
Correction: William Petticrew, died 9 Mar 1935, Philadelphia PA.