Death with Details Will Link Us

Center for Health Statistics, State of Alabama, Department of Public Health, Montgomery, Alabama, Death Certificate File no. 6113, 2 March 1930, Jefferson County, Alabama. Entry for Columbus McClure.

Because I interviewed Ellis McClure, the grandson of Columbus McClure, I discovered the details about his tragic death. I do have a few different versions of the story, but I had enough good clues to find the death certificate. I conducted this interview long before I got inspired to search for actual documentation: Where is Grandpa? Oral History Interview of Ellis McClure (genealogyjustask.com )

According to oral history, he was walking or driving across a railroad track in which ran alongside his property in Birmingham, Alabama and was hit by a train. It is not clear to me that he was walking. He was a driver for a landscape company, so I am not sure why he would have been out walking down by the tracks.

I was able to confirm the fact that he was struck by the train from the death certificate. A few years ago, I found the index at Ancestry.com. I had to contact the department of vital records to order a copy of the original.

I was happy to discover further details:

Birth: November 1881 in Alexander City, Alabama
Father: Bill McClure (William)
Mother: Jane (I later discovered her last name was Champion before she married William McClure)
Burial: Woodlawn Cemetery

These details helped me to locate his headstone:

Added by kellilee. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/30873965/columbus-mcclure: accessed 23 January 2024), memorial page for Columbus McClure (26 Nov 1881–2 Mar 1930), Find a Grave Memorial ID 30873965, citing Greenwood Cemetery, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, USA; Maintained by Robin Foster (contributor 46822925).

We visited Birmingham just before I had a stroke back in 2016, but I did not find the headstone until later. Remember to look around in the cemetery for other family members. I did find his daughter, Lula Bell McClure (1905-1925) - Find a Grave Memorial, right next to Columbus.

We even have found census records. This is the first one without Columbus:

"United States Census, 1930", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:32RX-N6Z : Wed Oct 04 20:52:49 UTC 2023).

His wife, Corinne, is with two sons, Columbus and Archie in 1930. Corinne owned her property valued at $6,000. Where is Grandpa? Oral History Interview of Ellis McClure (genealogyjustask.com ) is Ellis' memory of being on the farm and asking Grandma what happened.

We still have so much to find. While I knew Ellis' dad, Archie, I feel as if I know his family a little better. See Documented Columbus McClure's Probate Record in Alabama, Wills and Probate Records, 1753-1999 (genealogyjustask.com ).