Dowling Funeral Home Records 1935-1940

The records included in this volume are from a period when the Godwin Funeral Home was called Dowling Funeral Home, hence the reason title of our page doesn’t match the title of the book.

Stephen B. Godwin, Sr., was employed in 1931 by H. B. Dowling of Eufaula, Alabama to establish a branch funeral home in Clayton, Alabama, the County seat of Barbour County. The Dowling Funeral Home began operation at 230 S. Midway Street in Clayton, Alabama in early November of 1931. Following the death of Mr. H. B. Dowling in 1948 the funeral home was purchased by the Godwins and continued to operate under the name Godwin Funeral Home until Mr. Godwin’s death in 1981. The business was purchased by Mr. Ricky Kent in 1982.

The information contained in the original funeral home records was transcribed onto cards and arranged chronologically. The leading reference number refers to the page number in the original funeral home ledger. Every name contained in the records has been included in the master index. These names would include those of relatives, attending physicians, clergymen, etc. if such information was included in the original record. In many cases the maiden names of the wives and mothers of the deceased were given, but in other cases, the married name of the wife/mother was given. In some cases the maiden surname of a female may not agree with the surname of the person listed as her father. These apparent discrepancies may be because the listed father was a step father or the discrepancy may be due to an error in the original recording of data. Some of the handwriting in the original records was faded and difficult to read and in cases where there was a question regarding the entry a question mark has been included. Apparently, the given name “Francis” was given the male spelling regardless of sex. Some corrections have been made if the gender of the deceased could be otherwise verified. In many cases the family informant did not know the information called for on the death certificate. In such cases it was a common practice for the funeral home employee taking the information to write D/K (Don’t Know).

Some of the information has been modified and expanded in cases where the editor actually knew the deceased. Additional information, which was not a part of the original record, has been designated as an editor’s note. Many genealogy researchers are interested in the medical history of their ancestors. Where cause of death information was recorded this information has been included. Foot notes have been added in cases where obsolete medical terms were indicated. Definitions have been verified with Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary 18th Edition.

The following information was required, if known, on the standard Alabama Death Certificate:

1. Name of deceased
2. Date of death
3. Race/Sex
4. Age at last birthday
5. Date of birth.
6. Place of death (city, town, or location)
7. Hospital or institution
8. State of birth
9. Citizenship
10. Marital status
11. Name of surviving spouse
12. Social Security number
13. Occupation
14. Kind of business
15. Residence address
16. Father’s name
17. Mother’s maiden name
18. Name of attending physician
19. Informant’s name
20. Cause of death (Designated by the attending physician)
21. Burial information (Burial, cremation, removal, etc.)
22. Name of cemetery/crematory
23. Location of cemetery or crematory
24. Name of funeral director/address
25. Date of burial/cremation
26. Signature of funeral Director

Surnames of Deceased

Adams, Adkins, Adkinson, Akins, Anderson, Anglin, Aplin, Armstrong, Atkinson, Auston, Bailey, Bainder, Baker, Banks, Barefield, Barker, Barnes, Barron, Bass, Baxter, Beacham, Beasley, Beaty, Beauchamp, Belcher, Bennett, Bishop, Blackman, Blairfield, Blakley, Blyther, Borders, Bowden, Boyd, Boykin, Bradley, Brooks, Brown, Brundridge, Bryan, Burch, Burgess, Bush, Butler, Butts, bynum, Calvin, Campbell, Capel, Capers, Caraway, Carmichael, Carpenter, Carreuthers, Carroll, Carruthers, Carry, Carver, Casey, Cattle, Champion, Clark, Clayton, Cobbs, Coggins, Cole, Conner, Cook, Cooper, Corley, Cotton, Cox, Crawford, Cregg, Crews, Cutchins, Dancy, Daniel, Daniels, Dasinger, Davis, Dawkins, Dawsey, Dawson, Day, DeBose, Dees, DeLoach, Dent, Dixon, Dominey, Dorman, Dorsey, Drake, DuBose, Dunlap, Dunn, Dykes, Efurd, Ellison, Emerson, Emmerson, Ennis, Euter, Evans, Farrier, Feagin, Fenn, Finney, Flinn, Florncie, Flournoy, Floyd, Ford, Foster, Freeman, Fryer, Fuqua, Gachet, Gachett, Gamble, Gambles, Gammell, Gannier, Gatewood, Gill, Gillis, Glover, Goods, Grayham, Green, Griffin, Grisson, Grubbs, Guice, Hagler, Hall, Hancock, Harp, Harper, Harrald, Harris, Harrison, Hart, Hartman, Hartzog, Hawkins, Hayes, Helms, Herlong, Hicks, Hickson, Hightower, Hobbie, Hoffman, Holland, Hollin, Hollingsworth, Hollins, Holloway, Holmes, Horn, Horten, Hortman, Hovey, Howard, Hubbs, Huggins, Hulen, Hunt, Hurst, Hurt, Idason, Jackson, James, Jenkins, Johns, Johnson, Johnston, Jones, Jordan, Kell, Kelley, Kennedy, Kinds, King, Kinnon, Kirkland, Krakdin, Landrum, Lane, Laseter, Lawrence, Lawson, Ledbetter, Lee, Leger, Lenard, Lewis, Lightner, Livingston, Lommon, Long, Louis, Lowe, Ludlam, Ludlamb, Mader, Mallard, malone, Martin, Matthews, Matthie, Mayo, Maze, McCall, McCorthorn, McCoy, McCranie, McCray, McDownel, McGilvery, McGwain, McInnis, McKenzie, McKinney, McKinnon, McLain, McLaney, McLean, McLendon, McLeod, McMillen, McMurray, McRae, McSwain, Medley, Melton, Miles, Miller, Mooneyham, Morris, Morrison, Murphy, Murry, Neals, Newman, Newsom, Nix, Nobles, Norton, Odom, Orr, Owens, Pallen, Palmer, Parker, Parr, Parrish, Partin, Paynes, Peaterson, Perkins, Persons, Peterson, Petty, Phillips, Poague, Pope, Powell, Price, Pruitt, Purswell, Quillin, Ray, Reaves, Reeder, Richard, Richardson, Ricks, Rider, Riley, Roberts, Robinson, Ross, Rump, Rumph, Ryals, Scongil, Scroggins, Seals, Seay, Self, Sellers, Sessions, Sewall, Shaw, Shehan, Shehand, Shipes, Shipman, Shiver, Shorter, Sims, Singleton, Sinquefield, Skipper, Slater, Smart, Smith, Snead, Snell, Spears, Spires, Stanford, Statum, Stephens, Stevens, Steveson, Stewart, Stokes, Strickland, Stringer, Tasker, Taylor, Teal, Telis, Tellis, Tew, Thomas, Thomason, Thompkins, Thompson, Tiller, Tillie, Toney, Trawick, Tucker, Tullis, Turner, Tyler, Tyson, Underwood, Vann, Veal, Veasly, Waddell, Walker, Ware, Warr, Warren, Washington, Watkins, Watson, Welch, West, Weston, Whigham, White, Whittington, Wilburn, Wilder, Wilkinson, Wilks, Williams, Williamson, Wilson, Windfield, Winn, Winslett, Wise, Woods, Wynn, Yelverton, Yound, Young.

Barbour county funeral records : Godwin Funeral Home from January 1, 1935 through January 12, 1940