The backstory: I have my Great-Great Grandmother Louise Smith Water's Bible. Though many of the records were obviously recorded well after the fact, it's been invaluable in piecing together my Smith family. I've tried to identify everyone listed, but came up short on a few of the infants listed. One of the names was Grady Waters, who I thought must be Louise's son or nephew. I had both a birth and death date, but could never find a death certificate.
With the recent luck I've had with my Waters family research lately, I thought I'd try and search for Grady again. I searched Ancestry.com, but came up empty. I searched FamilySearch.org and, like magic, found Grady's death certificate as the first record on the first search. He died in Gastonia, North Carolina.
Much of what I wrote yesterday, about problems with death certificates, can be seen here. The surname uses an alternative spelling and the parents names are a bit off as well. Also, there doesn't seem to be any such place as Grady's birthplace: "Fort Dale, Georgia." Perhaps it was really Alabama or another place entirely? If this was the death certificate of a grown man and I was using it to find his parents, I'd have to be flexible.
Also, if you watched my video from a few days ago, you might remember that it showed Leverett and Louise in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina. I was not aware that the family had ever lived in North Carolina. But I'm not surprised. Grady is buried at "Loray Cemetery" - a mill cemetery. The Waters family could often be found in Mill Towns.
I'm going to keep up my research on the Waters family. Who knows what I'll find next?
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