One can easily have many “dates of birth” for the one ancestor. A tombstone provides an exact year. A death certificate provides an exact date. A census record provides an age on a date. A marriage record provides an age on a date. Another record may provide the month and year, but not the exact date. How do I cite them in my database, how many dates of birth do I have for an ancestor?
There’s the year of birth from the tombstone. That’s one year and the tombstone should only cite the year of birth because that is what it says. Then there is the exact date of birth from the death certificate. That’s specific date should have the death certificate as its source. The marriage record, only giving an age, should only be linked to an approximate year of birth. The census that provides a month and a year should be a separate date as well, with the appropriate citation to the census record.
In this case, I’ve got four dates of birth for the ancestor. Which one is right? Which one is preferred? That goes to which one I perceive to be most reliable. It may be any of the four dates. In my notes on the ancestor, I should mention all the dates of birth have and why I think one is likely the most accurate one.
No responses yet