One of the first steps to working with your genealogy DNA test matches is to realize that their genealogy interest won’t be the same as yours. In fact their interest probably won’t be. They might not be as obsessed with genealogical detail as you. They might not be interested in tracing ancestors “across the pond.” They might not be interested in “digging up all the dirt” they can. They might not want to shared 3.2 million images of genealogical records with you. Take it slow. Your first real goal is to determine how the person is related–that helps you analyze other matches. Your second goal is to see if they have any pictures of other family documents–that helps you get more information. Then go from there.
US Census enumerators were told to estimate ages if they were unable to obtain them directly. Is it possible that your relative’s age was approximated in one enumeration when for some reason he was unwilling or unable to answer questions? Between 1850 and 1880 a relative is enumerated in four censuses. Three of them indicate a year of birth of 1803/1804–except for the 1870 which suggests he was born in 1800. That’s the only census where his age ends in a 0 and where I’m suspecting his age was approximated by someone. I don’t know this, but it seems plausible. We don’t always know who provided information and we don’t always know when it was estimated.
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