I am searching for an exact birth date for my grandfather, John Van Buren Thayer.  He was born in Buffalo on Jan. 15 in either 1851 or 1852.  Information in his obituary and other NY Times articles make for the 1852 date, but in the 1860 census under his father Hiram P. Thayer he is 9 years old which would make his birth year 1851. As there are no Buffalo officially recorded birth dates until 20 or so years later, does anyone know what Episcopal churches might have been in existence in those years and could have a baptism date?  The other resource would be a newspaper birth announcement. 

are you compensating for the date that was used as the BASE date for the census of that year?? Official census dates were: First Monday in August for 1790-1820 schedules June 1 for 1830-1880 First Monday in June for 1890 (most of this schedule was destroyed or badly damaged by a fire in 1921 - a card index to the 6,160 names on the surviving schedules is available on two rolls of National Archives film No. M496) June 1 for 1900 April 15 for 1910 January 1 for 1920 ----- Original Message ----- From: MJMCKEE1@aol.com To: NYERIE-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 3:30 PM Subject: [NYERIE] Birth date for John Van Buren Thayer I am searching for an exact birth date for my grandfather, John Van Buren Thayer. He was born in Buffalo on Jan. 15 in either 1851 or 1852. Information in his obituary and other NY Times articles make for the 1852 date, but in the 1860 census under his father Hiram P. Thayer he is 9 years old which would make his birth year 1851. As there are no Buffalo officially recorded birth dates until 20 or so years later, does anyone know what Episcopal churches might have been in existence in those years and could have a baptism date? The other resource would be a newspaper birth announcement. ==== NYERIE Mailing List ==== To contact the List Administrator: Dick Rose <dtrose@cox.net> See the Archived Messages at: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ ============================== New! Family Tree Maker 2005. Build your tree and search for your ancestors at the same time. Share your tree with family and friends. Learn more: http://landing.ancestry.com/familytreemaker/2005/tour.aspx?sourceid=14599&targetid=5429

>I am searching for an exact birth date for my grandfather, John Van Buren >Thayer. He was born in Buffalo on Jan. 15 in either 1851 or 1852. >Information >in his obituary and other NY Times articles make for the 1852 date, but in the >1860 census under his father Hiram P. Thayer he is 9 years old which would >make his birth year 1851. Census information is not always correct. Have you found him in other censuses? >As there are no Buffalo officially recorded birth dates until 20 or so years >later, does anyone know what Episcopal churches might have been in existence >in those years and could have a baptism date? The other resource would be a >newspaper birth announcement. The following Episcopal churches records covering the years in question are available at the Buffalo Public Library: St John Grace Episcopal St Paul Episcopal Cathedral Trinity Episcopal Church Of these, I would check the first one first. It is a merger of St John and Grace. Grace was located fairly close to the Niagara River and the canal, and your man's grandfather was a canal inspector. George