Her death certificate records Mrs. Arzella Short, age 61 years 7 months 2 days, born 29 Jan 1880 in Kentucky, died 31 July 1941 in Lemon township, Butler Co., Ohio, (Middletown is entered in the city field and then crossed out), address 2117 Carolina St., married, wife of Alex Short, father Harvey Whitt, mother’s maiden name Narcissus (?), birthplaces “unable to learn”, cause of death carcinoma of liver, informant Mrs. Guy Duff, Middletown, Ohio, burial in Woodside Cem.

The form is typed, and the “(?)” after Narcissus is on the certificate; it is not my annotation, but an indication that the informant was unsure. Since that informant was her daughter Victoria, she probably meant that she did not know her grandmother’s maiden name, rather than the given name Narcissus being speculative.

Based on census records, the age for Arzella is off by a full decade. She was recorded on the 1870 census as Arzella Lykins age 5 months, and on the 1880 census as Arzella Whitt age 10. See the family group notes for her parents for details. (I have not found her in the 1900 or 1910 censuses.)