Hi Jack, In attending the Fall conference of the ACGS in Manchester, NH, we had a speaker who talked about researching the vital records of our ancestors. The subject of witnesses at the baptisms, marriages & burials was addressed and she made the point that witnesses at BURIALS are NOT necessarily related to the subject of the records. I am also finding this to be true in my work on transcribing the St. Mary's of Beaverville parish records. The same name appears on every burial record. I would assume that the person worked at the church as a grave digger or in some other capacity. Hope I have been helpful Les ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jack Langlois" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, November 11, 2002 9:56 AM Subject: [ILSTANNE] Witness at death ?? > Bonjour > I have noticed on the Maternity BVM death records 1853-1890 that the names > of certain individuals keep appearing as witnesses. One example was Damase > Benoit. Was this a church practice to provide a witness for support or > whatever reason ?? Must somehow been a custom. > Any ideas?? > a Bientot > Jack Langlois > > > > ==== ILSTANNE Mailing List ==== > You can search or browse the ARCHIVES of any RootsWeb list at: > http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >

Les Thanks for the response. I have found that the burial records of the churches are saying generally that there was a funeral mass for an individual and gives the death date. If so the witness mentioned in the church records would be the witness at the time of death ?? The death records of MBVM as well as St Patricks church in Momence are seperate than the cemetery records generally maintained by the sexton. The Sexton's records shows who was actually buried and the plot. Just because they were buried at MBVM cemetery does not mean that they had a funeral mass was at MBVM. Church. Another example is St.Joseph in Manteno here thay had a mass but internment was at St.George Cem. Seems one needs a score card and a big eraser to discern iinformation. a Bientot Jack Langlois : Re: [ILSTANNE] Witness at death ?? > Hi Jack, > > In attending the Fall conference of the ACGS in Manchester, NH, we had a > speaker who talked about researching the vital records of our ancestors. > The subject of witnesses at the baptisms, marriages & burials was addressed > and she made the point that witnesses at BURIALS are NOT necessarily related > to the subject of the records. I am also finding this to be true in my work > on transcribing the St. Mary's of Beaverville parish records. The same name > appears on every burial record. I would assume that the person worked at > the church as a grave digger or in some other capacity. > > Hope I have been helpful > > Les