1870 Death of Frances Adelaide McAlpin

Last week I shared the obituary of my third great-grandfather, Joseph Rose (1809-1877). His oldest child, a daughter and my second great-grandmother, pre-deceased him by seven years.

Over a year and a half ago, I wrote about Frances Adelaide (Rose) McAlpin in response to a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge. See Ancestral Name Roulette. I noted that Frances McAlpin had ten children and I shared her brief death notice.

New York Times, November 29, 1870

She was just a few months past her 41st birthday and I wondered what she died of. I recently obtained her death certificate.

Manhattan, New York deaths. FHL Microfilm 1324554, certificate no. 75063

There was an inquest into the death of Frances Adelaide McAlpin, aged 41 years, 3 months, on the day of her death, November 28, 1870. She was found dead at 9 West 29th Street in Manhattan (at the family's home). The death must have been sudden and unexpected which triggered an inquest, which determined that she died of Cerebral Apoplexy, or what is now known as a Stroke.

The "memorandum concerning the deceased" indicates that she was married, white, and a housekeeper. Her father's birth place was New York and her mother's birth place was Connecticut and that the place of death was 9 West 29th Street. Aaron B. Rollins was the city coroner at the time.

(Interestingly, the certificate does not indicate the name of her husband, David Hunter McAlpin.)

The box near the lower right notes "Time till Death" and it looks like "instant" is written there. I can't imagine what it must have been like for the family to have their 41-year-old wife and mother suddenly die, leaving eight children ranging in age from 17 months old to 22 years old. (My great-grandmother, her only daughter and also named Frances Adelaide McAlpin, was ten and a half years old.)

She was buried in Greenwood Cemetery on November 30, 1870. At the bottom of this form, it looks like "On Family..." I would guess that the very bottom says "Plot". See her Find A Grave Memorial where you can see that it is a good-sized family plot. Two children pre-deceased her and at least one is buried there.

I descend from Frances Adelaide Rose and David Hunter McAlpin as follows:

Frances Adelaide (Rose) McAlpin

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Frances Adelaide McAlpin

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Charles McAlpin Pyle

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Charles McAlpin Pyle, Jr.

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Me