SARAH FINKELSTEIN - DEATH - MANHATTAN - MARCH 23, 1930

DOCUMENT: finkelstein-sarah-death-certificate-1930-03-23.pdf

NOTES:

• Document received from City of New York Municipal Archives, January 2016.
• This is the death certificate for Sarah (Siegel) Finkelstein, the mother of Anna (Finkelstein) Black and the grandmother of Joseph Black.
• Date of death: March 23, 1930. [Specifically, it says she was admitted to hospital on March 22 and died around 12:30 a.m. on March 23.]
• Date of birth: [blank; perhaps the family member supplying the information did not know her date of birth?]
• Age: 65
• Widowed
• Occupation: H.W. [presumably stands for Housewife]
• Birthplace: Rowmania
• How long in U.S.: 26 years
• How long in resident in City of New York: 26 years
• Name of father: Siegel [this is consistent with the fact that on Anna Finkelstein's marriage certificate, her mother's maiden name given as Sarah Siegel
• Birthplace of father: Rowmania
• Maiden name of mother: Fannie [this is new information; presumably this is her first name, not her surname?]
• Birthplace of mother: Rowmania
• Former or usual residence: 1345 Washington Ave. Bx c/o Block [presumably it's "care of Block" because she was living with her daughter and son-in-law, Anna and Samuel Black. But it looks like "Block" rather than "Black."] See this address today in Google Maps.
• This is next door to the address where Anna, Samuel, and Joseph were recorded as living later the same year, in the 1930 census (1343 Washington). Perhaps they moved next door? Or perhaps there is a slight error in the address on this form?
• Place of burial: Mt Zion Cem [this refers to the Mount Zion Cemetery, in Queens]
• Date of burial: March 23, 1930
• Place of death: Mount Sinai Hospital, 1 East 100 St., Manhattan. See this address today in Google Maps.
• Cause of death: Ulcer of Duodenum, Intestinal Hemorrhage
• Note: Since the 1980s it has been known that such ulcers are caused by a bacterial infection (according to Wikipedia). This was not known in 1930; and even if it had been known, antibiotics were not yet available in 1930 (penicillin was only discovered in 1928 and did not become widely available until well into the 1940s).
• Note: Sarah was 40 in February 1904 according to her Romanian exit visa, and she was 41 in late June 1904, according to her ship manifest; if both of these are true, she must have been born between February and June of 1863, in which case she would have been either 66 or 67 at the time of her death in March 1930, i.e. slightly older than the age stated on the death certificate (65).]
• Note: On the second page the undertakers state that they have been employed by "Mr. Finkelstein the Son of deceased". The handwriting of the word "Mr." is unclear, but the word "Son" is clear. Might this be Sarah's son (Anna's older brother), who was mentioned in the 1904 ship manifest as the person Sarah and Anna were going to meet?