Well said Richard..another thing to remember about census takers is that they were only paid for the one-time enumeration, so if people were not home at the time, they would ask neighbours, and use that material rather than go back again...many of the people who did the census also did the surveys for directories like McAlpine's etc., and used the same tactic. Family historians should proceed in the same manner as I used to tell my newspaper reporters..use the best information possible, but always take it with a grain of salt! Jay Underwood Elmsdale www.Pennydreadfulpublishing.com or join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pennydreadful-Publishing/229917090400650 ---- Richard Noble <nobler@accesswave.ca> wrote: > While we are considered to be genealogists, I often think family historian > might be a better name. > > One problem we run into is to verify all data. But realistically that might > not always be possible. > Thus, if I look on the 1901 census and it has a birth date, should I use it? > Those dates are well known to not be reliable, although often times the > dates are correct. > It is no different with names on census records. > > To give an example, on the 1901 census, George and Agnes Pineo in Hants > County are shown with > a daughter Catherine, born 03 December 1899. Imagine my confusion when I > found a birth announcement > in the Hants Journal and it says a SON. > But then on the NS Vitals site, I now find a son Frank Lee Pineo, born 03 > December 1899. > Obviously the Catherine is a huge mistake. > But should we ignore the 1901 census because it has errors. Of course not. > Will we always be able to correct the errors, again the answer is no. > > Thus if the 1901 census gives me a birthdate, that I cannot find anywhere > else, I will use that date, just note where I got it. > > The one thing we all have to remmeber, is that in 1900, these people did not > have a driver's license with their date of birth on it. > When the 1901 census was taken, when asked when they were born, they often > said, April 1, then they were asked how old they were. > They would then often tell the census taker that they were 73, and he would > then calculate the birth year. > Of course they often lost track of how old they were. > > What about a gravestone. Errors abound there also. On my great grandmother's > stone the date of her death is given. > But they mistakenly used her birth date as her death date. And also got the > year wrong. > My grandfather's has the wrong year on it. > > But then what if the date of death on the gravestone is all you have. You of > course still use it, but note where it came from. > > An Example of this is, on the 1901 census there is a Daniel Nolter. His date > of birth is given as 03 August 1826. > As I can find no other record of his birth I use it. But I note that it > comes from the 1901 census. > He married 22 December 1857. But where did that date come from? From the > birth record of his son in 1868. > So I use that date and note where it came from. > Is it accurate? Who knows. I have seen marriage dates on birth records that > vary from child to child. > Daniel's wife died 26 July 1891. That date is from her gravestone. I can't > verify that date, so I use it and note where it came from. > > My great grandmother on my mother's side, has her date of birth in her > obituary. But of course it does not agree with her baptism record. > In my data base, I put in the obituary. Now you read my entry and it shows > her date of birth and baptism date, from the church record, and then the > obituary says something else. Kind of makes me look like I don't know what I > am doing. > > But that is my message. We are historians and can only record what we know. > Will we have mistakes in our work? You can bet on that. > But our job is to report as acurately as we can. nothing more. > > Thus when I talked to my cousin and he showed me his birth certificate all > officially stamped by the Registrar, then he turns around and tells me, that > the certificate is wrong, he was born on April 23, not April 24 as the > record says, I have to believe him. > > Go on the vitals site and look at records. My Grandfather William Henry > Noble on his death record is Henry William. Imagine the fun trying to find > him in the index under William, when he is recorded as Henry. Or my Uncle > Robert Henry, and on his marriage record he is Henry Robert. Good thing I > can search on Noble and Annapolis County, or I may never have found them. > > What if it was MacDonald? Would I find them? > > The other problem is the vitals site has errors also. Thus a Schnare indexed > as SchMare. Two Dalrample deaths in Kings County in the 1930s not in the > index. > > Bottom line!! Do the best job you can. quote your sources, and have fun. > > It's never going to be 100% accurate. > > ---------------------------------------- > Basic List Commands: > > 1. To post to the list > Send a message to: > NOVA-SCOTIA-L@rootsweb.com > > 2. How to unsubscribe > a. List mode: Send a message to NOVA-SCOTIA-L- > request@rootsweb.com that contains only the word > unsubscribe > > b. Digest mode: Send a message to NOVA-SCOTIA-D- > request@rootsweb.com that contains only the word > unsubscribe > > 3. How to subscribe > Send an email containing only the word > subscribe > to NOVA-SCOTIA-L-request@rootsweb.com > > 4. How to change to Digest mode > a. Unsubscribe from List mode (2.a. above) > b. Subscribe to Digest mode > Send an email containing only the word > subscribe > to NOVA-SCOTIA-D-request@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NOVA-SCOTIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message