#52Ancestors Week 16: Mary Frances (McConnell) Fife

Better get my submission for week 16 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks done in time; don't want to miss the deadline for the weekly recap again!

I've written about my 2nd g-grandma, Mary Frances (McConnell) Fife before, way back in 2009 for a Tombstone Tuesday entry, HERE.  I hope you'll visit that page to learn for more about Mary Fife's life.  Her husband died young in a violent accident, so I can't help thinking of her life as tragic.  

You may know that Ancestry.com and the state of Pennsylvania have recently made the images of Pennsylvania Death Certificates for the years 1906 to 1924 available to Ancestry members at 

Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1924

This past weekend, I went crazy looking for the records of relatives who died during that time.  One that I found, for the first time, was the one for Mary F. Fife.

Click HERE to view

I already knew her full date of birth and death, I've visited her grave at Bethel Cemetery many times, and I know enough to realize that her mother's maiden name was actually Ann Jane Morrow, not "Mary McConnell" as it's listed on the form.  What I didn't know was that she lived with her daughter, Kate McGinnis, in Wilkinsburg, PA, at the time of her death.  And I discovered that she died of breast cancer.  That actually scared me a little.  I know how important it is to know my family's medical history and I was concerned enough to search for information about how concerned I should be about the fact that my great-great-grandmother died of that illness.  I quick Google search for making a medical family history.  Not one page I looked at mentioned collecting information further back than my grandparents.  I suppose that means that I don't have to be overly concerned about Mary Fife's cause of death.  

But I found an interesting website that has inspired me to collect more of the information that I should have for my own medical history at My Family Health Portrait.  It's probably not the only site like that, but I think it will work well for me.  Check it out!