The other day, as I was going through death certificates collected over the years, I noticed I've never paid much attention to the causes of these deaths. Of course I've always looked at the entry, but my main interest was the identification of the father and mother, birth and death location, and other people listed. I thought it would be interesting to review these causes of death and see if any patterns developed.
My mother (Mary J. Zaring; 1920-1971) and father (Louie Agazio; 1921-1972) both died when I was a young teenager. My mother's stated cause of death was a sub-arachnoid brain hemorrhage caused by a ruptured cerebral artery. Looking up this condition, I discovered it's considered a stroke where uncontrolled high blood pressure sometimes causes a bulging artery to burst, and that it sometimes has a genetic component - a useful piece of information for me personally. My father's death certificate lists the cause of death as complications of gastric ulcers. This really means the cause was unknown because the coroner never did an autopsy to determine the specific cause of death. My guess is he probably died of a stroke or heart attack. I do remember our family doctor being angry because he wanted to know the specific cause of death.
My paternal grandfather (Antonio Agazio; 1884-1949) died of prostate cancer. There is something else written as a contributory factor, but I can't tell what it says. This cause of death is sad because he was only 65, and even in the 1940s, if this cancer was caught early a cure was possible. I would guess that my grandfather rarely saw a doctor, and by the time he did, this slow growing cancer was too far along and nothing could be done.
My maternal grandfather's (Franklin E. Zaring; 1899-1964) death certificate says the cause of death was "pneumonia, lobar, right upper and lower lobes." It also lists "emphysema, pulmonary, severe" as a condition he had. I never met this man, but have learned he was both a heavy smoker and drinker. He was also a man of many vices caused by his excessive drinking, and I think he was lucky to live as long as he did.
My maternal great grandmother (Jennie W. Cone; 1869-1934) died of a cerebral hemorrhage with a contributory cause of hypertension (she was Franklin Zaring's mother). This is interesting because the cause of death appears the same as her granddaughter (my mother). I wonder if this is an indication of the genetic component I wrote about earlier?
It's hard to read what my maternal great grandfather (William E. Zaring; 1859-1929) died from. He was Jennie Cone's husband. The death certificate shows the contributing cause as "general septicemia", but the actual cause is hard to read. The only word I can read in the cause is "epithelioma" which is a benign or malignant skin tumor, and septicemia refers to a fast moving bacterial infection. Putting this together it appears my great grandfather probably died of skin cancer with other infections - probably very painful.
My second great grandfather (Sidney Cone; 1847-1931) apparently died of "bad lungs" and the contributing cause was senility. This is Jennie Cone's father. The only thing I know about Sidney Cone's health is from his Civil War pension application. During the battle of Shiloh he suffered from sun stroke and spent a lot of time after the war trying to get a pension. He was successful, and eventually received $10 per month (later it was boosted to $15). I wonder if the "senility" comment on the death certificate may have indicated Alzheimer disease?
My maternal great grandfather (John T. Hartford; 1868-1916) died of cancer of the larynx. He was only 48 when he died, but spent most of his adult life working in the Colorado gold and silver mines.
My maternal second great grandfather (Thomas Hartford; 1826-1911) died of acute gastritis (infection of the gastrointestinal tract). The contributing cause was chronic nephritis indicating he also had kidney disease.
Thomas Hartford's two brothers (James Hartford; 1828-1907 and Dennis Hartford; 1822-1908) both died of the same medical problem as indicated on their death certificates - old age.
I guess I can't draw too many conclusions based on causes of death for ancestors whose certificates I have. The one I can draw is the fact my mother and her grandmother both died of cerebral brain hemorrhages - a potential genetic trait.
