In article <kn4pcuou01cbjo92546u7s9mgdufin12sd@4ax.com>, jelbrech@nycap.rr.com wrote: > rscanlon@naisp.net (Ray Scanlon) wrote: > > >I have a couple of ancestors who "died at sea" - one in 1853 on a voyage > >from Massachusetts to Califonia, the other in Union service during the > >Civil War. Granted, these were not risk-free endeavors, but has anyone > >heard the term "died at sea" used to mean suicide? Also, where did deaths > >at sea get recorded (I haven't found a Massachusetts record for my first > >case above)? Thanks. > > Curious why you suspect suicides? There's no definite evidence. Two deaths at sea seemed maybe a little more than coincidence; of course, I could say the same thing about two suicides. Then there's the laconic great uncle who now and again drops a pearl like "There was talk of a suicide in the family" (with no other details, naturally). I found this Civil War death at sea a day ago, and it seemed possible it could have been a suicide (unlike, say, typhoid fever), especially if I were ignorant of an obsolete usage of "died at sea." > I've never heard 'died at sea' to mean anything other than 'died at > sea'. It could be from several causes . .. violence by other > humans- [pirates or enemies], accidents, illness, washed overboard . > . . > > Both mens[?] deaths were most likely recorded in the Captains log. > The sailor/soldier would also be recorded in his unit's records as > well as his own service record. Union Army records are fairly > complete, but I'm not sure of Navy/Marine records. [if you don't know > th branch of service, don't assume Navy--- the Navy delivered both > soldiers and Marines to battles.] Right, two men. Up 'til now captain's logs haven't been part of my experience but I had hoped that report might have made it back to the hometown for the death on the way to California. The other, Civil War death, clearly requires a look at his service record. > Before I sent this, I gave my 'quick and dirty test of terms' to the > two terms, 'died at sea' and suicide. > > I went to UMich's MOA site- > http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/moa_adv.html , selected 1850-1865 & > used 'suicide' as a search term. . . I got 827 matches. > > Using 'died at sea' as a term, I only got 12. > > So I'd say suicide was a pretty common term in that era & probably > would have been used to describe a death if that was what it was. Thanks for your efforts, and also the link - another good tool I was unaware of. Tonight I start to read the 907,750 pages there, and next weekend I'll have a go at the 267 monograph volumes <g>. > Jim