I have come across two death certificates during my research for my great grandfather’s older brother Prophet Read. One has his name spelled Read the other is spelled Reed. The reason for the duplicate death certificate in his case was my great great grandfather Samson Read’s last name was entered as Gregory which was the last name of the Undertaker.

Finding the two death certificates was a blessing for me, because on the first certificate the place of birth for Samson was illegible. On the second certificate it showed that he was from Georgetown, South Carolina which put one of my suspicions to rest. I always had a feeling he was not originally from Edisto Island.

While I was there (Tennessee) last year, I mentioned it to the archivists on staff. One was amazed at the possibility of two death certificates for one man, while another said it happened all the time.”

I plan on going back to Tennessee this year and look at the original not just the copy on line. Taking a tip from Taneya Koonce, I’m going to look on the back of the certificate in hopes in might shed some light. And yes, it does make me wonder and imagine all sorts of reasons for the two certificates.