Wednesday, March 19, 2014

William Barker Engle's Death Certificate

Yesterday I introduced you to William Barker Engle. He and his brother, Charles, were bachelors all of their lives. And they lived in the same house together for about 20 years at 1308 Marengo Avenue in South Pasadena, California. Charles passed away in their home in 1946. William passed away four years later in 1950. But, he did not pass away at his home. How do I know this? Because of the valuable document I'm sharing with you today. It's William's death certificate.

William Barker Engle Death Cert

But, before I share the information contained in this document, I want to make the point that the information contained in this document is only as accurate as the person providing the information for it. For instance, who was the informant? Were they a close family member? Or was it someone unfamiliar with William's family history?

With that in mind, let's see what information we can glean from William's death certificate.

  1. Full Name: William Barker Engle
  2. Date of Death: June 1, 1950 at 4:30 AM
  3. Sex: Male
  4. Color or Race: Caucasian
  5. Married, Never Married, Widowed, Divorced: Never Married
  6. Date of Birth: September 23, 1867
  7. Age: 82
  8. Usual Occupation: Agent, Life Ins
  9. Kind of Business or Industry: Life Insurance
  10. Birthplace: (Unknown) Ohio
  11. Citizen of What Country: USA
  12. Name of Father & Birthplace: Richard Engle, Plymouth, Ohio
  13. Maiden Name of Mother & Birthplace: Sarah Amanda Watreman (should be Waterman, probably a typo), Coolville, Ohio
  14. Name of Spouse: None
  15. Was Deceased Ever in U.S. Armed Forces: No
  16. Social Security Number: None
  17. Informant: Mrs. Ella Gray (Sister)
  18. Place of Death
    1. City or Town: Rural Puente
    2. Length of Stay (In This Place): 4 Months
    3. County: Los Angeles
    4. Full Name and Address of Hospital Or Institution: El Encanto Rest Home, 15400 East Valley Blvd.
  19. Usual Residence
    1. Street Address: 1308 Marengo Ave.
    2. City or Town: South Pasadena
    3. County: Los Angeles
    4. State: Calif.
  20. Cause of Death
    1. Disease or Condition Directly Leading to Death: Cerebral Arteriosclerosis prior to 11/28/49
    2. Other Significant Conditions: General Arteriosclerosis prior to 11/28/? (Having a difficult time deciphering the year.)
  21. Autopsy: NO
  22. Burial Date: June 6, 1950
  23. Cemetery: Mountain View Cemetery, Altadena

The informant for William's death was his sister, Ella Eliza (Engle) Gray.

It's interesting that only four years after Charles Engle's death, the California death certificate form had changed. William's death certificate was different from his brother Charles' death certificate.

Also interesting to note is that William's occupation was listed as a life insurance agent at the time of his death. In the 1940 census, he was listed as a real estate salesman. But, he had been a life insurance agent for many years before that.

William passed away at El Encanto Rest Home in Puente, California. And he was there for four months before he died. In the 1940 census, William and his brother Charles had two lodgers living with them. I wonder if William had lodgers living with him after his brother Charles passed away in 1946. And if he did, I wonder if these lodgers stayed at his home after William went to live at the rest home. Also, what happened to this home after his death? Did it stay in the family or was it sold?

I checked on Zillow.com and according to this website, the Engle's home at 1308 Marengo Avenue in South Pasadena was built in 1910 and was last remodeled in 1912. The last time it was sold was in 1979. Unfortunately, it didn't show sales data prior to 1979. It would have been very interesting to see when William's mother, Sarah, bought the house. I know she and her sons, Charles and William, were living there by 1920, because 1308 Marengo Avenue was their address in the 1920 census.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

4 comments:

  1. Great idea to check Zillow.com for the house info! Thanks for sharing that!
    Every time I see one of your posts about you Engle family I do a double take. I have an Ergle line and I get all excited...looks a lot alike! Lol!

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    1. Hi Cheri,

      Haha! Ya, I can see why you'd do a double take for sure. Those last names really are similar. =)

      And regarding Zillow.com, isn't it amazing what we can find online? I'm grateful that we can "travel" to different parts of the country, or even the world, while we sit at our computers in our comfy slippers at home. Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. That's an incredible amount of information on the death certificate! The ones I see have so much less information. But you make a good point---always be careful in relying on death certificates. I have seen so many errors on the ones I've reviewed.

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    1. Hi Amy,

      Yes, William's death certificate really does have a great deal of information contained in it. And it really is amazing what can be found in a death certificate. For instance, if I hadn't known William had a sister, I would have been able to discover this fact because she was the informant in this document. Also, it's awesome because she is listed with her married name. So much valuable information is contained in this one document. Thank you for stopping by!

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