A tree compiler indicated that a relative of mine was born in a specific small town in Illinois in the 1860s. I won’t repeat the name of the town or the relative in this public forum. But I was intrigued because the location was a significant distance from the general area where several of us conjecture he was born. I was more intrigued because there are no local birth records in Illinois in the 1860s. Their source, which could very well be reliable, was something I was interested in.
Their tree had three sources for the specific village–the 1870, 1880 and 1900 census record. I had seen the census enumeration for this person, but doublechecked it just in case. All it said was Illinois as the place of birth–nothing more specific. The census should have only been linked to the state of birth. The fact that the census indicated the man was born in Illinois did not necessarily mean he was born in the specific small town the compiler had on their tree.
None of the other sources they had listed the small town (or even the county in which it was located). In fact, other sources, for the most part indicate was born in Illinois or simply say “unknown.”
A record indicating a man is born in the State of Illinois does not mean that a statement he was born in a specific town in Illinois is true. He could have been born in any town in Illinois and the broader statement would still be true.
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