Hutcheson Case Study
As reported by several sources, Oril is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Tucson, AZ. However, this finding confuses our data just a bit more.
Evergreen Cemetery
Tucson
Pima County
Arizona
HUTCHESON1
Oril O.
Aug. 21, 1879
Feb. 18, 1949
Etta Mae
Aug. 6, 1892
Feb. 19, 1991
Did anyone happen to catch Oril’s death of birth on the death certificate v. the one on the stone? And even more, did you check the age at death as reported on the death certificate and calculate his age?
The death certificate says: DOB 7 22 79 [22 Jul 1879].2
The certificate also says: AGE 69y 8m 22d. Therefore, his DOB should be 27 May 1879.
The headstone says: 21 Aug 1879.
In their defense: The informant at the death was not present at the time of Oril’s birth and could have misremembered the date. The death of a loved one is a stressful time. The person calculating his age could have carried an incorrect number. And because the headstone is a double stone and looks to have been carved all at one time, it was likely set in 1991 when Etta died.
The importance of the date of carving is notable because when one partner in a marriage dies, a stone for both persons may be erected. Depending on preference, anything from just a name to a name and DOB will be engraved for the person who will be buried in the future. Sometimes, one side will be left entirely blank. When the second person dies, their data is added to the stone. Many times, the engravers will bring equipment to the cemetery to add the date of death. And many times, you can tell which information was added later. It will look different. The depth will be different; the color will be different.
Other times, when the first person passes away, a stone will be erected just for that person. When the second dies, the family will have the original stone removed and have a second, larger, double stone set for the couple. The further in time one gets from an event, the more likely data could be incorrect.
So — when was Oril born?
1. Jim Tipton, Find A Grave, digital images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 19 Sep 2010), photograph, Oril O. Hutcheson (1879-1949) and Etta Mae Hutcheson (1899-1991) gravemarker, Evergreen Cemetery, Tucson, Pima, Arizona.
2. See post dated 29 Aug 2010.