Do not expect ages given in records to be 100% consistent. There are a variety of reasons why an age can be off in a record. People lie. People guess. People get mixed up. Clerks make mistakes. The individual providing the information guessed. Someone other than the “person being aged” provided the information. The list goes on. What you are looking for is consistency. Do ages all suggest a year or two of birth (or maybe a slightly larger time frame)? Is there one age that is significantly off from others? Is there one record you think may be less accurate for one reason or another? Is it possible that the individual in question did not know when they were born–if they were born in a time and […]
Encountered this shadow box with a christening gown for sale in an antique store in Iowa. There was no identifying information in the box. If you are creating a treasure of this type, attach something permanent to the item so that its identity is not lost. Memories fade. Taped pieces of paper fall off. Check out Ancestry’s St. Patrick’s DNA sale–maybe you can purchase your own kit or a test kit for that relative you’ve been wanting to ask.
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