Unfortunately, tombstones are not always correct, either. The tombstone of one of my father's uncles says he was born in 1878. Yet he was on the 1870 census, one year old. Now those census takers didn't always get it right, but they didn't just make up people, LOL. It's just that his relatives left after he died obviously didn't know when he was born. Sue On Wednesday, April 12, 2006, at 09:38 AM, John R. Clarke wrote: > > The "best evidence" is a tombstone, because the seldom lie and cannot > be changed without some difficulty. Family histories and county > memorial books are often wrong.

Not to argue, as I agree tombstones are NOT always correct, but there are 2 other possibilities for your father's uncles name showing up in the 1870 census 1- They had a child by that name in 1870 who did not survive and named a later child the exact same name. (I've found this suprisingly often in my research) 2- He lied to his family about his age. I've found this extremely common, even on marriage licenses and census records and such. Again, sometimes you just have to go with the best evidence you have and note it in your sources that it conflicts with other evidence. Sometimes a tombstone is all the evidence you have and sometimes you'd thank your lucky stars if you could find a tombstone! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Granny Sue" <grannysue@triad.rr.com> To: <NCWAYNE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 5:41 PM Subject: Re: [NCWAYNE] Lane records -- Tax, Voter, Census > Unfortunately, tombstones are not always correct, either. The tombstone of > one of my father's uncles says he was born in 1878. Yet he was on the 1870 > census, one year old. Now those census takers didn't always get it right, > but they didn't just make up people, LOL. It's just that his relatives > left after he died obviously didn't know when he was born. > > Sue > > On Wednesday, April 12, 2006, at 09:38 AM, John R. Clarke wrote: >> >> The "best evidence" is a tombstone, because the seldom lie and cannot be >> changed without some difficulty. Family histories and county memorial >> books are often wrong. > > > ==== NCWAYNE Mailing List ==== > NOTICE: Posting of virus warnings, test messages, chain letters, > political announcements, current events, items for sale, personal > messages, flames, etc. (in other words - spam) is NOT ALLOWED and will be > grounds for removal. Consideration for exceptions, contact Kathleen > Burnett kathleenburnett@earthlink.net > > ============================== > Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. > New content added every business day. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx > >

I have also heard the persons who cut the tombstone didn't always get it right and didn't want to do the whole tombstone over. Rose Parks ----- Original Message ----- From: "Granny Sue" <grannysue@triad.rr.com> To: <NCWAYNE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 4:41 PM Subject: Re: [NCWAYNE] Lane records -- Tax, Voter, Census > Unfortunately, tombstones are not always correct, either. The tombstone > of one of my father's uncles says he was born in 1878. Yet he was on > the 1870 census, one year old. Now those census takers didn't always > get it right, but they didn't just make up people, LOL. It's just that > his relatives left after he died obviously didn't know when he was born. > > Sue > > On Wednesday, April 12, 2006, at 09:38 AM, John R. Clarke wrote: > > > > The "best evidence" is a tombstone, because the seldom lie and cannot > > be changed without some difficulty. Family histories and county > > memorial books are often wrong. > > > ==== NCWAYNE Mailing List ==== > NOTICE: Posting of virus warnings, test messages, chain letters, > political announcements, current events, items for sale, personal > messages, flames, etc. (in other words - spam) is NOT ALLOWED and will be > grounds for removal. Consideration for exceptions, contact Kathleen > Burnett kathleenburnett@earthlink.net > > ============================== > Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. > New content added every business day. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx > >