Does any one know where I might find a death certificate or?

Question

some way to confirm that my ancestor died working on the Brooklyn Bridge? This information was told to me by an aunt. I've looked at some sites on the Brooklyn Bridge and one had a list of known people who died working on the bridge but they didn't think they had all the names.

His name was either Thomas William Kelly or William Thomas Kelly. I don't know which is correct but his wife used both Thomas and William but not both together. The only other information I have is a marriage certificate from the church where they married. This church later had a fire and a lot of records were lost. I can only estimate his dob. I'm sure he came from Ireland. My mother thought Co. Tipperary but I don't know where she got this. Common surnames with common first names are hard to identify without more information. All of my parents generation are now deceased.

Answer 1

http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/bbridg...

Here is a cool site, relating to the actual construction of the bridge, and a page devoted to names of persons who died while working.  There is a catch to your comment.. he MIGHT have died during construction on the bridge.. or he might have been working (well after the construction part) on something else, when he died. It might be another bridge.

My approach would be to "firm up" your surrounding information.  You have documentation of when he married. You should have records of the children.. especially WHEN they were born/ died. If he had a child born in 1882, then he did not die before the 1880 census (1860, so forth), and the couple should be in those records. You also need to find children in records past 1880 when they will be giving the place of birth for both parents. Do they actually say dad was born in Ireland?  

The info you have is what I call "soft" info.. you may not have all the possible documentation. This is needed to estimate his date of death, as well as where his widow and children were (hint.. possible guardian appointed? )

The more supporting DOCUMENTATION you have, the better your chances.  One of those is some record that he actually immigrated from Ireland.. instead of maybe being of Irish descent. I see lots of that.

Answer 2

Have you done any research on genealogy site?  Maybe ancestry.com?

Trying to find a Kelly in New York is a daunting task.  Maybe there is someone else looking for your Kelly.

Good luck.

Answer 3

You didn't say when the church fire occurred.

In our Diocese, baptismal, first communion, confirmation, marriage and death registers are sent to the Chancery office to be microfilmed.

Answer 4

try the county's registar recorder, this is the place wher many of these important files are kept.