The death record names Nellie Penfield, not Vina (or Levina or Zina) Penfield. Vina had a sister named Nellie, born in 1882. But there are multiple death records for people named Nellie Penfield, with the same parents. The hypothesis accepted here is that Nellie (born 1882) died at age 2 months, matching one of the death records, and that Vina (born 1876) died in 1883 at age 6 and for some reason was called Nellie Penfield in the death record. Perhaps it was an error in reporting (remember neither of the parents could read or write) or perhaps the family started calling Vina by the name Nellie after the original Nellie died. This choice is the only one consistent with the reported birth and death dates of these people.

This interpretation required unusual effort because there are two different images of death information, one a more legible, presumably later transcription. Both are handwritten, but the forms are slightly different. The older, less legible one is probably more reliable for accuracy. Fortunately the data on the two seems consistent.

Paul Penfield, Jr., editor. Created 22 May 2015.