Staying afloat

Hi neighbors. We should all have the water poured out of our boots by now. Now that it's over we'll have the flood of '07 to talk about for a few years.

I do hope none of you lost your homes or livestock to the flood. Floods always take something away with them -- and leave a lot of mud and yuck behind.

It's a good time to have good neighbors. A friend called me and reminded me that floods often lead to contaminated drinking water. I hadn't even thought of that and I usually pride myself on being prepared.

Another thing the floods produce is impassable highways and county roads. I used to work with a lady who always kept a boat by her front door. When the waters started rising, she parked her car on the hill about half a mile from her hilltop house. When the road out would flood, she would row her boat to her car and drive to work.

If flooding is going to be our regular fare with all the global warming, maybe we should make our homes more water friendly.

When you think about it, the only thing holding the houses down are the utility pipes underneath. Make a sea worthy foundation and flexible pipes and the house should be able to rise with the water without floating away. This would probably work in earthquakes too.

You'd think someone would have improved over the basic design after all these centuries of people's houses being flooded.

Onto another subject that, although less drenched is still difficult to stay on top of: genealogy.

I know you may be tired of talking about genealogy, and hearing me talk about. Lord knows I'm tired of it myself. However, once in a while some breaking news hits the world of yesterday; and today's researcher gets enthusiastic yet again.

If you are not aware of the Missouri state archives webpage: (http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates) you should check it out.

This is an invaluable resource for genealogist, or anyone else who wants to know about their grandparents. The data base covers the years 1910 through 1956. Death certificates for the years 1910-1934 and 1945-1956 are online and you can download or print them out. Every few weeks another year or so is added. Those years from 1935 to 1945 are indexed and names and death dates are available for them. Keep checking back though because those years will soon be finished and those death certificates will be online.

If you have done any family research you have discovered how expensive it can become. Some states charge as much as twenty dollars for a single death certificate. If they cannot find the death certificate you want, you still pay the 20 bucks for them to do the search.

Some states charge extra to reveal the cause of death.

On the Missouri site, you can get an exact copy of the original death certificate, cause of death included.

Although the format changed some through the decades, a Missouri death certificate will tell you many things about the person you are researching.

For instance, their full name, their spouse's name, and the deceased's parent's names including their mother's maiden name and birth location of both parents. It will tell where the deceased was born and where, their usual living address and where they died.

Also listed is the length of time they were under treatment for a disease or condition; who the doctor was, whether or not an autopsy was performed or any other type of surgery shortly preceding their death. The actual cause of death is listed. You can also find what funeral home tended the body, where and when they were buried, removed or cremated.

The deceased's occupation is listed, some even list how many years they worked at that occupation and what the work involved. An informant is listed who provided the information. Often this is a family member or a close neighbor. Some of the death certificates indicate whether the deceased served in the military or not.

The age they were when they died is listed down to the number of years, months and days. Of course birth dates and death dates are also listed.

There is a wealth of information for any genealogist on these free copies of death certificates. Missourians should be grateful that our state government makes these documents so readily available to print off or download. A simple click of the mouse is much simpler and less expensive than traveling to the archives and spending hours looking for various death certificates to copy.

Until the next time friends remember, when you find yourself adrift, grab a tree root and hang on till help arrives.