Joseph Ford - possibly to Massachusetts

[DianaCanada]

Within my family there is the story that my great-great grandfather either deserted his family in England or left with the intention of sending for them and never did. The story is that he went to the US. Interestingly, when my great-grandmother married, she listed her father as deceased, with no name. England census records and the BMD reveal no suitable Joseph Ford (born Halifax, Yorkshire, 1824) after 1854 - the latter when he signed great-grandmother's birth registration. His wife and children appear in the 1861 in Huddersfield, she listed as a widow. The children are with an uncle in 1871, mother's death or remarriage not obvious in the records I have looked at. Passenger lists do not reveal a Joseph of the right age.

I have found a Joseph H. Ford, b. England, age 55, married (no wife in sight) in the 1880 census for Boston. This fits for age, though I have not found a middle initial for him earlier (his maternal grandfather was Joseph Hall).

The missing 1890 census doesn't help and by 1900 this Joseph H. Ford seems to have disappeared, has probably died.

Is it possible to get a death certificate from Boston with such a wide possibility-range? Would it show parents or exact birthplace?

Thanks for any help.

Diana.

[Leander]

Good morning, Diana.

I looked through death records for all Joseph Fords in Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910. None of them matched your Joseph, in either age or place of birth.

And, yes, death records show the names and birthplaces of the parents. I have, on rare occasion, come across a death record where the parents were listed as "unknown". Usually this happens when a person is new to the area and/or unaccompanied by a relative with knowledge of such information; sometimes people die and those around him/her don't know that person's family history and cannot attest to the names of the decedent's parents. But that is rare.

[DianaCanada]

I have since found a death record in FamilySearch for the Joseph H. Ford who lived in Massachusetts - it appears he died in New Hampshire, everything matches for the man living in Boston in 1880. Unfortunately the information given does not match "my" Joseph - parents and birthplaces are different (Somerset rather than Yorkshire) and as I mentioned, my Joseph had no middle name. So...my search for Joseph goes on.