Death records I've encountered that are so far indexed on GENETEKA seem to be the least useful. I was so hoping to confirm the rumors of how certain ancestors died but cannot even find the records despite carefully paging through. Most of the reasons why someone died reveal that medical knowledge was not so advanced as it is today. I have often wondered at old people dying of "inflammation." I think this means the person probably retained water and appeared swollen by the time they died, which happens with some cancers.
I find creating a TIME LINE in which you note the dates of children who were married and what it says about their parents (i.e. is one of both deceased?) will at least help you limit your research.
Starting with a person's birth, follow them through the years for marriages and children. If you notice they are called a widow or widower on a remarriage record, then you know that by that time their previous spouse died. If a child marries, his parents will likely be listed and it will translate to something like:
Jan, the son of the d.p. (deceased parent) Marcus, and Marianna Sobato, means that at the time of his marriage his birth father was deceased, so there is a date that can limit your research in a positive way, but the mother is alive. By listing the births of children to Marcus' wives, and finding their marriages, you may get closer to the date of his death.
Additionally, you may have to go to the records that are not yet indexed or question what is indexed.
HERE IS MY BIG COMPLAINT ABOUT GENETEKA INDEXING.
In Hungarian records it seems understood that a woman is listed by her maiden/birth name at birth, marriage, and death, though in her community she is known as the married woman, Mrs. Szabo or Szabone. (ne suffix.) However, in the Polish records I found women listed under their previous married name in the database. If someone has not noted that with a little :i: (information) icon then basically, you'll have to discover this yourself by reading the original records. Going to the information about her parentage is important so that you have her maiden/birth name. So, you may have to dismiss the database surname of the bride in marriages and go with what you know about the groom rather than the bride's surname. More than one of my ancestors had three marriages due to the deaths of their first two spouses and that a careful indexer bothered to read and note the maiden name on each was of great help and made me aware this was not the case with every indexer.
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