When I first began my genealogical endeavors, I, like so many others, went through the FTM files that come with the software package. I had bought the Deluxe package. If I had it over, I would have still bought it, but bought the el cheapo package. Nevertheless, FTM data lists WFT Est. dates. This stands for World Family Tree (I think) and is hooey. So now, I merely erase all such references. I leave a blank. Never hurt a soul, and will mislead no one. Anyone looking at it will say "He doesn't know that date." I, for only research purposes, will subtract 19-22 years for a generation, to see if it is reasonable for a certain candidate to fit. But there have been times when I have been 20 or 30 or more years off! Around civil war times, hey! there were no young men! A young widow wants a husband and a father for her kids. Ain't nothing wrong with that!! And so it is that I will list a relative 58 with a mate in her twenties or so. The first one died. So, I am careful to merely look at the 19-22 years as just a guide, as I am sure our original poster does also. Vince Marilyn Bosckis wrote: > > ><< To guess at year of birth, to fit the right > > generation is Take away about 20 yrs from the child's birth date.. if you > > do not have that and do have a marriage date, estimate marriage at age > > 20ish, then you have your Estimate... If they had Children add one year > > from the year of the first child born... >> > > > >Just be aware that it is only a GUESS! > > I've noticed that when people post their family trees on the Web, the > information can take on more authority than it deserves and it is repeated > as gospel. My grandmother's youngest sister is shown as the oldest sibling > in her descendant tree. My grandmother, who was really the oldest sister, > is shown with an estimated birthdate later than that of the actual > birthdate of her oldest child. > > Marilyn > Sequim, WA > > > > > ============================== > The RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > Tens of millions of individuals... and counting. > http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/