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  • Lost in America

    I have posted this question before along with another related one. However, the pressing one is ALICE LOUISA DAVIS.


    She arrived in USA in 1894, married in 1896, had 2 children. i child died in 1904 and her
    husband was killed in 1908. Alice is covered on all census and Passenger Lists. However, on the 1930 Fed.Census the only entry I found matching all Alice's details was as a Patient in Islip Psychiatric Hospital, Suffolk, NY. The trail then goes cold because you cannot access Islip Records for all sorts of reasons. There was a slight chink under the "Freedom of Information Act" so I wrote a letter to Pilgrim Hospital who have the records but to date heard nothing!!.

    Therefore, I have no way of knowing whether she died in Islip or was discharged and returned home. Because I do not know the date of her death I cannot apply for a search, although it has occured to me that a search by the Department of Health would probably be cheaper than engaging the services of a professional on the spot. I am assuming that a death in Islip would still have to be notified to NY Vital Records?

    So, there is my predicament which I thought I would run by you good people in case there is another avenue of search I have overlooked.

    dreeny22

  • #2
    Originally posted by dreen22 View Post
    I have posted this question before along with another related one. However, the pressing one is ALICE LOUISA DAVIS.


    She arrived in USA in 1894, married in 1896, had 2 children. i child died in 1904 and her
    husband was killed in 1908. Alice is covered on all census and Passenger Lists. However, on the 1930 Fed.Census the only entry I found matching all Alice's details was as a Patient in Islip Psychiatric Hospital, Suffolk, NY. The trail then goes cold because you cannot access Islip Records for all sorts of reasons. There was a slight chink under the "Freedom of Information Act" so I wrote a letter to Pilgrim Hospital who have the records but to date heard nothing!!.

    Therefore, I have no way of knowing whether she died in Islip or was discharged and returned home. Because I do not know the date of her death I cannot apply for a search, although it has occured to me that a search by the Department of Health would probably be cheaper than engaging the services of a professional on the spot. I am assuming that a death in Islip would still have to be notified to NY Vital Records?

    So, there is my predicament which I thought I would run by you good people in case there is another avenue of search I have overlooked.

    dreeny22
    I made this posting way back in May but to date have not been able to get any information on Alice L.Davis. With pressure I did finally receive a reply from Pilgrim Psychiatric Hospital who hold the records of Islip Hospital, but they made it clear I would get no information from them. In their letter the final words were "we neither deny or admit that the patient was in Islip". They have their rules which they must abide by (I guess) but I can see no harm in their just giving me her date of death without revealing any other details if it has to be that way.

    During this year a couple of people have made tentative searches but eventually it transpired they were mostly using online sources which I myself have exhausted. I did try RAOGK but that has now shut down due to luck of funds and resources.

    So, I return to FTF and six months on thought I would try here again just in case there is someone new who may have some idea or suggestions, apart from going direct to Vital Records, as to what I might try in my quest to find my Gt.Aunt Alice. Going via Vital records in New York, or New Jersey where she lived originally, could prove a costly business without a date for her demise.

    So again, any help would be greatly appreciated ... Thank-you.

    dreeny22

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    • #3
      You've probably done all this but I'll say it anyway.

      Is it worth checking for Alice's siblings and their descendants to see if they know anything about her life before she died.

      Also any family from the child that survived.

      Perhaps you could post on the Research Requests board for someone who lives in NY to go and look for a death between 1908 and Alice's 100th year.

      In terms of the hospital can you find out if they have their own cemetery and if so where the records are? You could also search for other cemeteries local to the hospital to see if any records are available for searching.

      Other than this I'm not sure what else you could do.

      Margaret

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      • #4
        And, remember - 1940 census comes out next year.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by PhotoFamily View Post
          And, remember - 1940 census comes out next year.
          Yes, of course, that is a comforting sort, it tends to slip from my mind. Thanks for the reminder.

          dreen22

          Comment


          • #6
            Lost in America

            I have tried via her son's family but the US records are not the easiest to work with.

            A younger brother lived in New York and he too disappeared in 1930. However, during this year, with the aid of someone on the Forum, I had a wonderful breakthrough
            this year and traced him through to his final years in Canada. I knew he had lived in Canada from time to time with his wife's family and did search for Alice there, but
            no luck. Also this year I traced an older brother in another country but searches there for Alice also proved fruitless.

            The hospital had a cemetery within their grounds, but like the hospital itself I understand it is now neglected and, of course, any records that were kept
            are firmly under lock and key with Pilgrim. However, your suggestion of cemeteries nearby might be worth a try, thanks for that.

            Alice was born in England but lived the greater part of her young life in Germany before emigrating to the US. Therefore it has crossed my mind that perhaps she
            returned there. However, by 1930 her parents would have died, although there were two younger sisters. Germany, however, as you may know, is even harder to
            search for information and I have never been able to find any information on the family there so do not know what happened to her parents and sisters.

            Thank-you for your interest.

            dreeny22

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