Etta Lund (Witten) - Obituary

I'm slowly making may way through the pile of obituaries from Aunt Jeanine's house. I'm scanning them in, along with the funeral program if she had it, and then transcribing everything. These obituaries should be a great help in finding all the descendants of Didrick Funk and Karen Hansdatter Lund. Here's the one from today for Etta Lund (Witten), their granddaughter:

Source: "Etta Lund Witten," Obituary, The Ogden Standard Examiner, 22 October 1968 or 23 October 1968, born 15 March 1887, died Monday [21 Oct 1968]. Held by Jeanine Lund (Clountz) (Allen) (Sinsel).

Transcription:


OBITUARIES
Etta Lund Witten
Mrs. Etta Lund Witten, 81, of 2640 Washington, died Monday night in a local nursing home of natural causes.
Mrs. Witten was born March 15, 1887 in Plain City, a daughter of Mathius and Pauline Swenson Lund.
On April 30, 1907, she was married to Robert Alfred Witten in Ogden. The marriage was solemnized in the Salt Lake LDS Temple on Feb. 12, 1908. Mr. Witten died Feb. 21, 1937, in Ogden.
She had resided in Plain City and Perry, and most of her life in Ogden. She was formerly employed by the Shupe-Williams Candy Co.
She was a member of Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 3rd LDS Ward and had been a Relief Society teacher.
Surviving are four daughters, Mrs. Lionel (Ivy) Ipsen, Clovis Calif.; Mrs. Robert (Myrtle) Parsley, Panorama City, Calif.; Mrs. James (Verda) Faulkner, Ogden; Mrs. Tom (Carma) Dixon, Las Vegas, Nev.; six grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, one brother and two sisters, Heber C. Lund, Farr West; Mrs. Rosella Cottle, Plain City; Mrs. Frank (Clide) Heslop, Tremonton.
Funeral services will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at Lindquists and Sons Colonial Chapel.
Friends may call at the mortuary Thrusday from7 to 9 p.m. and Friday until services. Burial in the Ogden City Cemetery.

What I Learned:

• Where she was living when she died.
• Support for her birth date and place and parents. (There were no birth certificates for this date/time).
• Support for her wedding date, my date came from a family group sheet.
• Death date for her husband.
• Where she worked.
• Names of her four daughters and husbands...didn't know any of this.
• When the funeral was held.
• Where she was buried.

What a goldmine!

Oh, sources!

My brother-in-law is getting into genealogy. He chose a line of the family I haven't done any research on and got really excited to see the the work that was "already done." His excitement quickly turned into annoyance when he discovered that none of what he found in online trees was sourced and that he had wasted a lot of time adding three generations to his tree that may not even be related! As I talked with him during our Thanksgiving get-together, I tried to emphasize the one big thing to remember:

If it doesn't have a source, it's not true (yet).

Yes, the topic of sources is a big one and the nuances of each source type and its veracity in relation to any particular event or fact could be, and has been, discussed in depth. However, put very simply: I may suspect something, and possibly use family "knowledge" to help guide my search but until I have proof, it's not true. It's a frustrating lesson to learn but a very important one.

The ancestor in question: Mary Ann Waller (Mills).

At the party we were unable to find her death certificate online at the Utah State Archives...I was hoping to show him what kind of information he could get from that kind of record. Later, at home, I did find it:

Here's part of the email I sent my BIL with suggestions on where he may look next:

I have also attached Mary Ann Waller (Mills) (Hatton)'s death certificate. She did remarry, which is why we didn't find her death certificate the other day. I have not yet updated my database. This is the information I currently have for her:

Mary Ann Waller

b: 16 Jun 1838, Bagshot, Surrey, England, United Kingdom

d: 25 Oct 1925, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States

m: 1855 to William Mills

Parents: Sammuel Waller and Diana Wild

Children: Annie Chelsea Mills

I don't have any verification for any of it! I'm sure she had more children. I don't know if she was married in England or in Utah.

Here's the interesting thing about her death certificate - It has slightly different dates and names for her parents. 

Mary Ann Mills Hatton

Born: 16 January 1838, England

Died: 29 October 1928 (at home - 1788 So. 11 East, SLC)

Parents: Josiah Waller and Margaret Wild

The Informant was Edith P. Fowler who may be related...a married daughter, perhaps? Not sure.

I don't know for sure that this is our Mary Ann but I believe that it is. 

From here we could try to find her in a census record living with Richard Hatton. Since William Mills (her first husband) died in 1887 she may be in the census with Richard as early as 1890 (which was destroyed), but also in 1900, 1910, or 1920. If some of her other known children (which we don't know yet but will have to find) are also living with her, that would be evidence that this Mary Ann is our Mary Ann. 

To find her other children, we can try to find her in censuses with her first husband, William Mills. I'm not sure when they immigrated to the US but we could start with 1860, then go on to 1870 and 1880.