Agate Type: Adventures in Baseball Archeology

pete hill

Nov 19, 2008

Written by

From The Courier, the SABR newsletter on the Negro Leagues edited by Larry Lester:

Rod Nelson reports finding a death certificate for Hall of Fame outfielder John Preston “Pete” Hill. The correct date of death is December 19, 1951, in Buffalo, New York. His occupation is listed as porter and place of burial as Chicago, Illinois. The cemetery is unknown!

I’m guessing there is no birth date listed…

UPDATE 11/24/2008 See Pete Hill’s death certificate posted here. It was, as Rod notes in the comments, actually found by Fred Worth.

4 responses

Patrick Rock

November 19, 2008

From my experience with death certificates (mostly in genealogical research), any information such as age or (if provided) date of birth is dependent upon how knowledgeable the person providing the information is. It could have been his son, who may or may not know his father’s age; it could have been the landlord, who would be making no better than a wild guess.
Unless a family member (a CLOSE family member) filled out the information, anything that’s not primary information (date and place of death) must be taken with a grain of salt.
I’d really like to see a copy of the death certificate. While it did not state the name of the cemetery, it MIGHT list the funeral home in Buffalo or Chicago (depending upon how the remains were handled), and even nearly 60 years later, the records might still exist.

Loading…

Reply
Kevin

November 19, 2008

Rod was the reporter, but it was actually Fred Worth who found it. These are Fred’s comments:
The death certificate gives a date of birth of October 12, 1882.
Looking at the HOF site, they say October 12, 1880. Years of birth are
not firm data, particular for negro leaguers, so I’d say that is
confirmation. For a place of birth it says “unknown city.” For state,
it is hard to be sure but I think it says “Pa” or “Va.” It gives
marital status as divorced. It lists wife as Gertrude Lawson.

Loading…

Reply
Gary Ashwill

November 21, 2008

That would be the second document we have giving a birth date of Oct 12, 1882. The other is Hill’s WWI card, which he signed himself.
What is the deal with people not being able to write “Pa.” / “Va.” clearly? I would never have thought that was a problem before this Pete Hill business.
I second Patrick’s hope that we will be able to see a copy of the death certificate.

Loading…

Reply
Rod Nelson

November 26, 2008

Fred Worth first posted his find on Sept 13 to the BaseballNecrology eGroup that I moderate. He was following up on tips from Bob Bailey and Howard Henry while on a trip to Buffalo. Knowing Hill’s final resting place (and other biodata) to be in question, I passed along the info to Larry Lester, Dick Clark, Wayne Stivers and Dr. Jeremy Krock all of whom have an interest, as do Stew Thornley and a few others. I’m not sure what remains to be confirmed, but if you’re interested, I’ll forward you the thread. Please reply in private.
BTW Gary, your research never fails to blow me away. Thanks for all you do.
RN

Loading…

Reply