Carved in Stone, But Dead Wrong

Recently I was doing some research on a client’s ancestor, Philip Geissinger, who lived in Tamaqua, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania in the mid nineteenth century. According to his entry on Find A Grave, he had died on January 20, 1867; that date was carved on his gravestone.

Find a Grave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150848449/phillip-geissinger), digital image by J.D. Arling, citing Odd Fellows Cemetery, Tamaqua, Pennsylvania.

But then I had to wonder. Why was Ancestry giving me a hint to his entry on the 1870 census of Tamaqua, Schuylkill County? Because there he was, listed as the head of the household with his wife Kate and their four children: Louisa, Charles, Carolina and Elmer.

1870 U.S. census, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, pop. sched., Tamaqua, p. 519B, dwell. 716, fam. 750, Philip Geissinger; imaged, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7163/).

Another hint led me to his last will and testament, which he signed on January 14, 1871 and was entered into probate in Schuylkill County on February 8, 1871. In it he named his wife Catherine and his four children: Charles Henry, George Elmer, Emma Louisa and Caroline Mary.

"Pennsylvania, Probate Records, 1683-1994," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9S9-HGL4),  Schuylkill > Wills 1863-1883 vol 3-5 > image 289 of 1085.

Don’t believe everything you see, even if it’s carved in stone!