I would go with the family records and put in my notes field what census, etc. states....A census about birth date can be as much as 2 to 5 years off, depending on what the census taker heard.....generally folks will go with the tombstone, but then my grandmother's birth date is wrong...because the stone cutter made an error....Census reports are one of the greatest tools available to locate your family....start with 1850 and work this way.....that was the first census to tie relationships. I'll bet when you check the 1860, 70, 80 (if Henry were still living) you may not find the birth years matches either). Recently I found a fellow who for 30 years the census had his age perfect...that is a first. I love teaching the use of the census records...when you get into them you develop stories without having ever met those folks. Fun but time consuming but worthwhile. Melba -------Original Message------- From: Rosanne Vrugtman Date: 10/24/05 18:37:50 To: TNSMITH-L@rootsweb.com Subject: RE: [TNSMITH] Re: books for sale I'm curious about the "accuracy" of the Census reports. My uncle SWEARS that Henry S. Goad was born in 1840. That's what all the (local) history books/reports say, that's what the family history says, and that is, in fact, what it says on his tombstone. (My brother, uncle, aunt and I toured a number of family cemeteries on Sunday and I have pictures!) However, the 1850 Smith County Census indicates that Henry was 8 years old at that time--which would put his birth year at 1842. I've also seen 1842 in a number of different places, so I don't know which is correct. Any clues/suggestions? Rosanne (Goad) Vrugtman St. Louis, MO -----Original Message----- From: Charles Gregory [mailto:gregoryc@charter.net] Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 8:05 PM To: TNSMITH-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [TNSMITH] Re: books for sale Yes we have a very generous group of smith county volunteers and the money folks put up for the census project as well as other projects and the transcribers are the proof.... thanks to all the smith county volunteers!!! Charlie @ the website Jenny M. Calvin wrote: > The censuses (1820-1930, excl. 1890 obviously) are available on cd from > SK Publications for $30 for all of them. What a deal! Many, many > thanks to those who helped to make these available. I've spent *many* > late nights digging. . . . :-) > > Jenny ==== TNSMITH Mailing List ==== Add Your Surnames to Our Smith County Surnames Page at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnsmith/tngen/surnames.htm ==== TNSMITH Mailing List ==== Submit Your Family Pictures, Biographies, Histories Wills, Fokelore, To The Smith Co Web Project http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnsmith/