Witnesses and informants frequently can’t remember specific dates of events. It’s possible that they:
- never knew them in the first place;
- are lying for one reason or another;
- honestly cannot remember.
It can be difficult sometimes to tell which and it’s best to avoid rushing to judgement. Use any dates in the document itself to establish some broad time frame for when the event could have taken place. Be certain to cite the source and include the name of the known or probable informant. The information can’t be analyzed if you don’t know who gave the information and the circumstances under which it was given.
One response
My gggrandmother, who married my gggrandfather on the boat coming over from German, eventually gave 2 completely different immigration years for the 2 of them. How do you forget that!