HI All, I wanted to share something that happened to me in regards to tombstones. This can be a bit lengthy but important. I had 3 cousins in my Crenshaw line who died in California. Ethel Geneva (Crenshaw) Delaney, McCarty, her brother Elmer G. Crenshaw and Ethel's daughter Evelyn (Delaney) Arney. All three had the wrong birth date on their tombstones and their death certificates. Ethel's birthdate was October 30, 1874- Death Certificate said October 30, 1879 Elmer's birthdate was March 06, 1879 - Death Certificate said March 6, 1881 The problem with these dates is that they were supposedly born the same year, one in March and one in October. Their mother died August 21, 1880 and Elmer was 1 1/2 years old at the time of her death. I have a letter written by my great great grandmother to their mother, Sarah Anna (Bolt) Crenshaw, that probably did not reach them in Lima before she died because it was written August 12, 1880 and mailed August 13, 1880. You have to pay close attention to the birthdate of Ethel, 1874 compared to 1879, It says "have Ethel write us as we miss you all so much. Maybe she could come visit us on a car (I assume a train car as they were not far from the train depot) and I will make her a new dress." If she was born in 1879 and the letter was written in 1880 she would be one year old and not able to write or get on a train and go visit. Elmer was born in March of 1879 and their father did not re-marry for 10 years after Sarah's death in 1880. He could have been born out of wedlock I suppose, but again going back to the letter from my gg grandmother written in 1880 she states " Kiss Ethel, smack Earl (another brother) and bite Elmer for us. That is how we do it, and hug them all. " The way the story goes is that Sarah Anna (Annie) and John Crenshaw, took the children and went back to Lima for a visit from Kansas. While they were there Sarah got sick and died 8 days after that letter was mailed. The children were raised by Aunt's and Uncle's until grown. Evelyn's birthdate was January 11, 1895 - Death Certificate and SSDI said she was born Jan 11, 1901 It also said she was 77 at the time of death which was (according to her death certificate) Dec 13, 1983, which according to my calculations she would have been 82 years. Her Obituary also said she was 77 years. The 1900 census record for Lima, Adams County, Illinois listed Evelyn at 5 years old born January 1895. If she was born in 1901, she would not have been on the 1900 census record. Her tombstone gives the dates that are on the death certificate. Every census after that gave the exact age she was according to her 1895 birthdate. I am going to ammend the death certificates because I have enough evidence to prove the dates are wrong. I am telling you all this because I was shocked when I found the dates were wrong so now I do not take everything, including the dates on the tombstones so literal. They are something to go by just like census records, and death certificates. They can all be wrong unless you have proof to back it up. Thanks for listening. Shawnnee