No death certificate in New Jersey

[Ilya Zeldes ilyaz33@hotmail.com]

X-No-archive: yes
For almost 40 years, Louis Shulman lived and owned a business at Ferry Street
in Newark, NJ.

On April 4, 1940, in the 1940 US Census, he was listed as Head of Household at
this address.

Then, on or about May 25, 1940, he was buried in the Grove Street Cemetery,
Newark, NJ.

I have all these event documented.

Recently, I've paid $26.00 and asked New Jersey State Office of Vital Statistics
and Registry to provide me with a copy of the Louis Shulman's death certificate.
All I got was a brief statement: "This certifies that the original records and
all appropriate indexes in the NJ State Offices of Vital Statistics and Registry,
have been searched and there is NO RECORD on file for the death of Louis Shulman".

May someone please suggest or explain it to me, how a long time resident of
Newark, NJ, died and interned in Newark cemetery, have no record of death at the
NJ State Office of Vital Statistics? Where could I find the death certificate for
this person?

Please respond privately.

Ilya Zeldes
Fort Myers, FL
ily...@hotmail.com
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[Judi Langer-Surnamer Caplan Judith27@aol.com]

X-No-archive: yes
Dear Ilya,

As the saying goes, there are always two possibilities

(1) If Louis Shulman died in New Jersey, and no NJ death record was found,
it is always possible there is some human error in the recording and
indexing system there
. I once was able to find a US Citizenship Record at the National
Archives NE in Manhattan only because someone in the family went up into
their attic and found the original certificate that listed the court, date,
liber and page. NARA could then locate and retrieve the correct naturalization
file which wasn't listed in its index system.

(2) New Jersey is close to NY and other states, and possibly the Louis
Shulman died outside of NJ while visiting or on business, so the death record
would have then been filed in the state where he might have died.
When I couldn't find a death certificate for someone who lived and worked
in Manhattan in the late 19th century, it finally turned out that he died
while arriving on a ship in NJ, and his death was at the NJ Archives.

I wish you much success with your genealogical quest.
Happy New Year ~ Shanah Tovah ~ 5778
Judi Langer-Surnamer Caplan

From: Ilya Zeldes <ily...@hotmail.com>
> For almost 40 years, Louis Shulman lived and owned a business at Ferry Street
> in Newark, NJ.
>
> On April 4, 1940, in the 1940 US Census, he was listed as Head of Household at
> this address.
>
> Then, on or about May 25, 1940, he was buried in the Grove Street Cemetery,
> Newark, NJ.
>
> I have all these event documented.
>
> Recently, I've paid $26.00 and asked New Jersey State Office of Vital
> Statistics and Registry to provide me with a copy of the Louis Shulman's death
> certificate.
> All I got was a brief statement: "This certifies that the original records
> and all appropriate indexes in the NJ State Offices of Vital Statistics and
> Registry, have been searched and there is NO RECORD on file for the death of
> Louis Shulman".
>
> May someone please suggest or explain it to me, how a long time resident of
> Newark, NJ, died and interned in Newark cemetery, have no record of death at
> the NJ State Office of Vital Statistics? Where could I find the death
> certificate for this person?

[Allan Jordan aejordan@aol.com]

X-No-archive: yes
Ilya Zeldes wrote:
"...May someone please suggest or explain it to me, how a long time resident of

Newark, NJ, died and interned in Newark cemetery, have no record of death at the
NJ State Office of Vital Statistics? Where could I find the death certificate for

this person?..."

A few possible answers to a missing death certificate.

The person might not have died in their home state. They might have gone to a
specialized hospital or institution. For example TB patients were often sent
away to places with "better air" or a cancer patient from northern New Jersey
might have gone to New York City for treatment. Or it is possible the person
was simply traveling away from home when they died.

Second there's an error on the certificate significant enough to make it appear
different that what you are looking for and the person doing the search simply
skipped over it.

A filing error making it more difficult to find in the records.

I don't think it is possible that it simply went unreported because a death
certificate or burial permit was required by the funeral home and cemetery to
proceed with the burial.

In this particular instance, and similar situation, you can try contacting the
local authorities to see if they have the record. I don't know that you will
have much success with Newark but you could try, I have had better luck with
small town and town clerks who get far fewer requests. One that I recently
called explained local geography to me and the location of the various
hospitals and which towns they were in as a means of doing further checking.

You could repeat the search at the state archives trying to look a little
further or possibly doing the search yourself or with a private researcher (vs
the archives employee). Different eyes sometimes see different things.

You could try checking the local newspaper for a death notice to see if it
gives any more details.

You could try to check for a probate file in hopes that the death certificate
or something about the death is noted there. Even if there is not a death
certificate sometimes you find information as to where and when the person
passed in the probate file. Sometimes you can find the bills for the burial or
the headstone.

Allan Jordan