This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Stacey, Moore, Tate, Brookshire Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/ZKB.2ACE/408.2.1.1.1 Message Board Post: Dan, You are right, Matilda's death certificate would probably show the name of her mother. I don't currently have access to my old notes, but somewhere I do have her obit and I believe she died in 1953 or thereabouts. BUT -- if her grandson (my former father-in-law) thought she was the daughter of Sarah Brookshire, no doubt the rest of the family thought so too and that is the name that will show on the certificate. It may be that John Stacey did have an earlier wife who was the biological mother of Matilda, but that that information was not passed on. If he remarried when Matilda was very young, she may always have thought that Sarah was her mother. There is a classic example of incorrect parentage on a death certificate that concerns my own maternal grandfather. He died in 1973 near the home of his youngest daughter, my aunt. She gave the info for the death certificate. Unfortunately, she was not a genealogist and in her grief, she gave Grandpa's father's name as James. It was Henry. Grandpa's brother, two years older, was named James, and so was their grandfather. In 1980 I became aware of the mistake, and wrote to the Department of Vital Statistics to see about correcting it. They wrote back that no corrections could be made more than 3 months after the death, because copies had already been sent out. ??? Who would want a copy except family members who were trying to trace the line back? Now, there is still a possibility that some other name is on the death certificate of Matilda Emeline (Stacey) Moore Tate, but I wouldn't bet on it. Just the same, I should check it out one of these days. Thanks for the reminder! Alma