Source record · Vital Record
Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947, entry for George Smith, died 3 March 1936, Chicago, Cook County
State of Illinois, Bureau of Vital Statistics (record); FamilySearch (index) · 3 March 1936 (death); index entry undated · FamilySearch online index
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The document and its words
The record
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No image of this record has been deposited in the archive yet.
What the record says
Name: George Smith / Father's Name: John Smith / Mother's Name: Laura Tatlefero
Transcribed as written, including spelling, abbreviation and error. Editorial additions appear in [brackets]; illegible words appear as [illegible].
What was drawn from it
Observations
- BT-EVD-00525Death Record Entry
The Illinois death index entry for George Smith, who died 3 March 1936 in Chicago, Cook County, names his father as John Smith and his mother as Laura Tatlefero. This is the first record entered in this archive that names both of George's parents. "Tatlefero" is one of the phonetic spellings of Taliaferro that appear across this family's records.
“Name: George Smith / Father's Name: John Smith / Mother's Name: Laura Tatlefero”
- BT-EVD-00526Death Record Entry
The same entry records George Smith as Black, male, age 54 at death, born 21 April 1881 in Mississippi, occupation janitor, residing in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.
“Descriptors: Black, Male, 54 [1881] / Birth Date: 21 Apr 1881 / Birthplace: Mississippi / Occupation: Janitor / Residence Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois”
- BT-EVD-00527Death Record Entry
The entry gives George Smith's spouse as Clara, with the surname read uncertainly as "Chess". The bracketed question mark is the indexer's, and the surname should be treated as unread until the certificate image is examined.
“Spouse's Name: Clara [Chess?]”
- BT-EVD-00528Death Record Entry
The entry records burial on 6 March 1936 at Lincoln Cemetery, Worth, Cook County, Illinois - the same cemetery given on the Find a Grave memorial.
“Burial Date: 06 Mar 1936 / Burial Place: Lincoln Cemetery; Worth, Cook, Ill.”
- BT-EVD-00529Death Record Entry
The entry gives the birthplace of George's mother, Laura, as Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Mississippi. This is reported secondhand by an informant in 1936, decades after the fact, but it agrees with the Copiah County records in which Laura appears.
“Mother's Name: Laura Tatlefero / Mother's Birthplace: Hazlehurst, [Copiah], Miss.”
Not yet attached to a published claim.
- BT-EVD-00530Death Record Entry
The entry gives the birthplace of George's father, John Smith, as Brook Haven, Lincoln County, Mississippi. This is the first birthplace of any kind entered for John Smith. It is informant testimony recorded in 1936 and is carried at that strength.
“Father's Name: John Smith / Father's Birthplace: Brook Haven, [Lincoln], Miss.”
Not yet attached to a published claim.
- BT-EVD-00531Death Record Entry
The death date and place - 3 March 1936, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois - place George Smith in Illinois by 1936. The archive still has no record fixing when he left Mississippi, only that the move had happened by then.
“Event Date: 03 Mar 1936 / Event Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois”
- BT-EVD-00532Conflict Note
The death record gives George Smith a birth of 21 April 1881. The 1880 Copiah County census enumerates George in the John Smith household as age 8, pointing to a birth about 1872 - nine years earlier. Both readings are recorded here. The census age was reported while the child was in the household; the 1881 date was supplied by an informant reporting on a man who had died. Neither is treated as settled.
No verbatim wording has been transcribed for this observation yet.
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8 quotations“Name: George Smith / Father's Name: John Smith / Mother's Name: Laura Tatlefero”
The Illinois death index entry for George Smith, who died 3 March 1936 in Chicago, Cook County, names his father as John Smith and his mother as Laura Tatlefero. This is the first record entered in this archive that names both of George's parents. "Tatlefero" is one of the phonetic spellings of Taliaferro that appear across this family's records.
BT-EVD-00525
“Descriptors: Black, Male, 54 [1881] / Birth Date: 21 Apr 1881 / Birthplace: Mississippi / Occupation: Janitor / Residence Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois”
The same entry records George Smith as Black, male, age 54 at death, born 21 April 1881 in Mississippi, occupation janitor, residing in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.
BT-EVD-00526
“Spouse's Name: Clara [Chess?]”
The entry gives George Smith's spouse as Clara, with the surname read uncertainly as "Chess". The bracketed question mark is the indexer's, and the surname should be treated as unread until the certificate image is examined.
BT-EVD-00527
“Burial Date: 06 Mar 1936 / Burial Place: Lincoln Cemetery; Worth, Cook, Ill.”
The entry records burial on 6 March 1936 at Lincoln Cemetery, Worth, Cook County, Illinois - the same cemetery given on the Find a Grave memorial.
BT-EVD-00528
“Mother's Name: Laura Tatlefero / Mother's Birthplace: Hazlehurst, [Copiah], Miss.”
The entry gives the birthplace of George's mother, Laura, as Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Mississippi. This is reported secondhand by an informant in 1936, decades after the fact, but it agrees with the Copiah County records in which Laura appears.
BT-EVD-00529
“Father's Name: John Smith / Father's Birthplace: Brook Haven, [Lincoln], Miss.”
The entry gives the birthplace of George's father, John Smith, as Brook Haven, Lincoln County, Mississippi. This is the first birthplace of any kind entered for John Smith. It is informant testimony recorded in 1936 and is carried at that strength.
BT-EVD-00530
“Event Date: 03 Mar 1936 / Event Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois”
The death date and place - 3 March 1936, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois - place George Smith in Illinois by 1936. The archive still has no record fixing when he left Mississippi, only that the move had happened by then.
BT-EVD-00531
No verbatim wording has been transcribed for this reading yet.
The death record gives George Smith a birth of 21 April 1881. The 1880 Copiah County census enumerates George in the John Smith household as age 8, pointing to a birth about 1872 - nine years earlier. Both readings are recorded here. The census age was reported while the child was in the household; the 1881 date was supplied by an informant reporting on a man who had died. Neither is treated as settled.
BT-EVD-00532
State of Illinois, Bureau of Vital Statistics (record); FamilySearch (index); Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947, entry for George Smith, died 3 March 1936, Chicago, Cook County; Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947; Cook County, Illinois; FamilySearch online index.
Where it lands
Claims this record bears on
- Documented
Was George Smith a son of John and Laura Smith?
The family history names George Smith among the children of John and Laura Smith. No census line, birth record or death record naming both parents has yet been transcribed into this archive.
Supports
Follow the evidence trail - Documented
When did George Smith leave Mississippi?
The family line begins in Copiah County, Mississippi and later appears in Illinois. The archive has not yet entered a record fixing when, or whether, George himself made that move. Any movement he made occurred within the broader period historians call the Great Migration; that context is not a statement about his motive, which no record in this archive establishes.
Partly supports
Follow the evidence trail - Documented
Who was George Smith's wife?
No spouse has been entered for George Smith, because no marriage record, census household or death record naming a wife has been examined. The archive will not import a spouse from an unsourced online tree.
Supports
Follow the evidence trail - Documented
When was George Smith born, when did he die, and where is he buried?
A user-contributed online cemetery index gives a birth of 21 April 1881, a death of 3 March 1936, burial at Lincoln Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois, and a mother named Laura Taliaferro. That entry is a research lead, not evidence: no original death certificate, cemetery register or obituary has been examined by this archive. The dates are shown here as an unverified lead and are not written onto George's record.
Supports · Contradicts
Follow the evidence trail
Provenance and citation
How to cite this record
Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947, entry for George Smith, died 3 March 1936, Chicago, Cook County
BT-SRC-00524- Creator
- State of Illinois, Bureau of Vital Statistics (record); FamilySearch (index)
- Date created
- 3 March 1936 (death); index entry undated
- Repository
- FamilySearch online index
- Collection
- Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947
- Record form
- Index
- Source type
- Vital Record
- Accessed
- Not recorded
Access and use
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BEFORE TILL publishes description, transcription and analysis. Reuse of the underlying record is governed by the holding repository. Cite this archive by its persistent identifier when quoting our reading of the record.
Full citation
State of Illinois, Bureau of Vital Statistics; "Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947," database, entry for George Smith, died 3 March 1936, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois; Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947; FamilySearch; Cook County, Illinois.
Index entry derived from a state death certificate. The certificate image itself has not been examined by this archive. Bracketed remarks in the index ("[Census records c. Jan 1872]", "[Chess?]", "[Lincoln]", "[Copiah]") are the indexer's notes, not part of the original record.
Persistent identifier
Cite this page
Carter-Mills, Amberly R. "Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947, entry for George Smith, died 3 March 1936, Chicago, Cook County." BEFORE TILL: The Living Evidence Archive. Version not yet assigned. Object BT-SRC-00524. Accessed 2026-09-24. /source/BT-SRC-00524.
Attribution: Amberly R. Carter-Mills, Founder, Creator & Descendant Archivist.
What changed
Revision history for this record
No public revision has been logged against this record. When its citation, reading, or rights status changes, the change and its reason appear here.