I don't think you can rely completely that the birth or death date on a tombstone is absolutely correct. There can be several reasons why it might be off. First, of course, often a tombstone was not ordered until several years after the death! Then, whoever ordered it and gave the information may not have been correct! When I was looking for the dates for a great-great grandmother I found her listed twice in the monument company records, but never did find her death certificate. The dates of birth and death differed by several years on the two stones the monument company listed, but I KNEW there hadn't been but one Margaret Havice that old and with the notation "Wife of John". I discovered that both stones had the same description and wording, but different dates, and different cemeteries listed for delivery. Turned out that they took that first stone to Mt. Hope Cem in Champaign, IL, instead of "Hope" cemetery out in the country, so the family had tried to get it to the right cemetery finally. When I got out a snapshot of the stone I could see down on the base the year 1910, but from census we knew she had died before 1900! 1910 was the date of death for a daughter-in-law who was buried in the same cemetery, so the family must not have ordered the stone for Grandma at the time she died, and then ordered hers along with the daughter-in-law's. Apparently the family insisted they correct the date of death to a more realistic one, but they used the same base, so the 1910 was still down on the base, and the dates of birth and death still vary on the monument works records! Looks like by the time the stone was ordered the family had forgotten the actual date of their Mother's birth! Especially when you are working with older stones many of the families couldn't read or write, so it is no wonder the people gave different ages each time the censustaker came! Confusing? Sure is! Marian