Alexander Bell's 1922 Ohio Death Certificate

Alexander Bell is my great-great-grandmother Lydia (Bell) Thompson's older brother.  Their parents were Jacob and Lydia (Fithen) Bell.

This is a transcription of this death certificate.  Words in all uppercase are the responses.

State of Ohio, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificate of Death
1  Place of Death
County COLUMBIANA, Registration District No. 227, File No. [blank]
Township HANOVER  Primary Registration District No. 4338  Registered No. 36842
or Village KENSINGTON
2  Full Name  ALEXANDER BELL
Residence [blank]
Personal and Statistical Particulars
3  Sex  MALE
4  Color or Race  WHITE
5  Single....  MARRIED
6   Date of Birth  MARCH 6th 1848
7  Age  74 years, 4 months, 2 days
8  Occupation of Deceased  FARMER   General nature of industry  FARMING
9  Birthplace  OHIO
10  Name of Father  JACOB BELL
11  Birthplace of Father  OHIO
12  Maiden Name of Mother  LYDIA FITHIAN [sic]
13  Birthplace of Mother  OHIO
14  Informant  MARY C BEALL   Address  KENSINGTON
15  Filed  7/10, 1927  J. N. Sinclair, Registrar
Medical Certificate of Death
16  Date of Death  July 8th 1922
17  I hereby certify that I attended deceased from JULY 1ST, 1922 to JULY 8, 1922, that I last saw hIM alive on JULY 7, 1922 and that the death occurred, on the date stated above, at 1:20 AM.
The Cause of Death was as follows:  ARTERISCLEROSIS [sic], duration 2 yrs.
Contributory MITRAL HEART INSUFFICIENCY (duration) 1 yrs.
18  Where was disease contracted if not at place of death?  [check mark]
Did an operation precede death?  NO
Was there an autopsy?  NO
What test confirmed diagnosis?  [indecipherable]
Signed  Dr. C. C. [indecipherable]
JULY 8, 1922   (Address) E. ROCHESTER
19  Place of Burial  GROVE HILL CEMETERY, HANOVERTON
Date of Burial  JULY 10, 1922
20  Undertaker, License No. 26190  WM C. MAPLE   Address  KENSINGTON O.

This certificate is from FamilySearch's collection of Ohio death certificates.  This certificate can be viewed and downloaded here (with a free FamilySearch account).

Observations

• The 1900 U.S. Census names Alexander's wife as Mary C. Beall who is probably the informant for the information on this certificate.   I notice that Mary spelled her name "Beall" unless that's how she pronounced it and the registrar wrote it as it sounded.  On the other hand, this may not be Alexander's wife at all, something I'll never know for sure since a relationship was not stated.
  
• I am always amazed when the occupation of men in their 70s is listed as farmer.  People probably didn't retire in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  I suppose a farmer kept working until his health prevented it or until he died.  Sturdy people, those farmers of that time.
• Edited to add:  I asked my daughter (who is a nurse) about the inconsistency of the doctor certifying the death at 1:30 a.m. on July 8 when the last time he saw Alexander alive was on July 7.  How would he know the time of death of he wasn't there?  My daughter said that the time of death is not necessarily the exact time a patient dies but the time the doctor arrives to certify the death.  If the doctor is at the patient's bedside when he dies, the time would be more accurate.  Interesting information to me.   
  

–Nancy.

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