USING CENSUS TO ESTABLISH BIRTH DATES Can you figure out when a person was born by going through Census Records? The answer is that you can narrow it down to a certain number of years, such as 1774-5. Begin with the 1790 census and go through the 1830 Census, then "Decipher" what you have found. 1790 census under age 16 b. 1774-1790 (16 year time span) 1800 census age 16-25 b. 1774-1784 (10 year time span) 1810 census age 26-45 b. 1765-1784 (19 year time span) 1820 census age 45 & over b 1775 or before. 1830 census age 50 -60 b. 1770-1780 (10 year time span) By the 1790 census, he could not have been born before 1774. By the 1830 census, he could not have been born after 1780. You now have a set of POSSIBLE birth years for your ancestor: 1774 to 1780. But let's see if we can narrow it down further. You already know that his first child was born in 1799. That he married ca 1798. The one thing you don't kndow is how old he was when he married; the usual standard used in research is four generations to a hundred years, and that means marriage at age 25 for men. To play it on the safe side, I always figure two dates, marriage at age 20 and marriage at age 25-that way you get another set of dates to work from. Here you have a man who married about 1798. Deduct 25 (his age) and you come up with the year 1773. Now deduct his age at 20 and you have 1778. So he was born between the years 1773 and 1778, using this method. Now referring to the set of birth years derived from the census records you see two things. He couldn't have been born before 1773 (1790) census nor was he born after 1775 (1820) census. You now have a new SET of possible birth years for your ancestor - 1774-1775-AND you have narrowed the time span down to two years. It is much easier to search a two year supply of vital records than a 16 year one. ---Taken from Southern Echoes, Augusta Genealogical Society as printed in Tri-State Trader, 28 October 1985, via The Genealogical Society of Stanislaus County, CA Inc. Newsletter, Vol. 6, #11. REALLY IN VIRGINIA?: Did you know that any reference made to a person's having been born or lived in Virginia as early as 1728 and as late as 1863 could indicate he was born or lived in any part of: ILLINOIS FROM 1781 TO 1818 STATEHOOD; INDIANA from 1787 to 1816 Statehood, KENTUCKY from 1775 to 1792 Statehood, MARYLAND from 1775 to 1792 statehood: NORTH CAROLINA from 1728 to 1779 statehood, OHIO from 1778 to 1803 statehood, PENNSYLVANIA from 1752 to 1786 statehood, TENNESSEE from 1760 to 1803 statehood, WEST VIRGINIA from 1769 to 1863 statehood.