Bertha Meinzen Henderson - Death Certificate

Bertha Meinzen Henderson is the last of the adult children of Henry and Elizabeth (Armitage) Meinzen who died prematurely. Elizabeth bore 15 children; only 6 were alive at the time of her death. Bertha is my grandfather's sister.

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STATE OF OHIO - BUREAU OF VITAL STATISTICS - CERTIFICATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH.
County of Jefferson.... File No. 32528....
City of Steubenville, (No. 1422 Oregon St....)
2 FULL NAME Mrs. Bertha Henderson
PERSONAL AND STATISTICAL PARTICULARS
3 SEX F
4 COLOR OR RACE W
5 SINGLE MARRIED... Married
6 DATE OF BIRTH Oct 5, 1888
7 AGE 29 yrs. 7 mos. 9 ds.
8 OCCUPATION Housewife
9 BIRTHPLACE Ohio
10 NAME OF FATHER Henry Meinzen
11 BIRTHPLACE OF FATHER Germany
12 MAIDEN NAME OF MOTHER Elizabeth Armitage
13 BIRTHPLACE OF MOTHER Germany
14 THE ABOVE IS TRUE TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE (Informant) Wm Henderson (Address) 1422 Oregon Ave
15 Filed 5/17, 1918 Chas I Beans Dep Registrar

MEDICAL CERTIFICATE OF DEATH
16 DATE OF DEATH May 14, 1918
17 I HEREBY CERTIFY, That I attended deceased from May 12, 1918, to May 14, 1918, that I last saw her alive on May 14, 1918, and that death occurred on the date stated above a 9 Pm.
The CAUSE OF DEATH was as follows: Facial Erysipelas [barely legible] (Duration) 1 ds. Contributory Carbuncle
(Signed) Edward J. C. Sander, M. D.
May 17, 1918 (Address) Steubenville Ohio
18 LENGTH OF RESIDENCE (For Hospitals....) [blank]
19 PLACE OF BURIAL OR REMOVAL [not legible] DATE OF BURIAL May 19 1918
20 UNDERTAKER [not legible] ADDRESS Steubenville O

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Notes and Comments
There may have been an obituary for Bertha but I have been unable to locate any Steubenville newspapers published at the time of her death. I keep hoping one will surface.

The certificate inaccurately gives Bertha's mother's place of birth as Germany. She was born in England.

Though the location of birth is not legible on the certificate, Bertha was buried in Union Cemetery, Steubenville, Ohio.

Erysipelas is a skin infection caused by strep. It can be treated with antibiotics which were unavailable during Bertha's lifetime. A carbuncle is a skin infection that involves a group of hair follicles. In our times it is difficult to understand how quickly an infection like this could lead to death.

Bertha left her husband, William Henderson, and a son, William O. Henderson, who was about 9 years old at the time of his mother's death.