Estimated birth dates

Question

generally I believe the older the source the more likely it veracity.

my great grand mother’s birth date (and precise location) are unknown.

The 1900 US Census shows her birth in Jul 1859

The inscription on her gravestone indicates 1861 - 1934

her 1883 marriage record suggests 1861.

Any suggestions on this should be handled?

Thanks so much.

E

Answer 1

If the profile is Marie Joséphine Blanchet, daughter of Ambroise Blanchet and Lucie Paquin (sic) ...

She was born 14 Jan 1861, baptized 15

"Québec, registres paroissiaux catholiques, 1621-1979," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G99Q-MYGR?cc=1321742&wc=HC4M-929%3A19374901%2C19374902%2C20225801 : 16 July 2014), Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska > Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska > Index 1852-1876 Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1852-1868 > image 399 of 688; Archives Nationales du Quebec (National Archives of Quebec), Montreal.
 .

Comments

Marie Joséphine Blanchet  (LNAB = Blanchet)

---

Marie Joséphine Blanchet was born on January 14, 1861 in Saint-Christophe-d'Arthabaska, Bas-Canada.

Her parents were [[Ambroise Blanchet]] and [[Julie Paquin]].

She married ...

She died on May 2, 1919
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/95673228#view-photo=165690999

---

Josephine Blanchette age 1

Census of Canada 1861 http://data2.collectionscanada.gc.ca/1861/jpg/4108657_00078.jpg

---

Josephine Blanchard age 9
 
"United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-68XS-TJY?cc=1438024&wc=92KZ-Y4J%3A518657101%2C518914601%2C518954901 : 22 May 2014), Massachusetts > Essex > Lawrence, ward 3 > image 42 of 148; citing NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

Josephine Blanchard age 19  

"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YB8-X75?cc=1417683&wc=QZ2W-49R%3A1589405656%2C1589405685%2C1589400462%2C1589395305 : 24 December 2015), Massachusetts > Essex > Lawrence > ED 201 > image 45 of 45; citing NARA microfilm publication T9, (National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C., n.d.)

---

Marriage

"New Hampshire Marriage Records, 1637-1947," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLXF-GMZ : 10 February 2018), Fred M. Morgan and Josephine Blanchard, 29 Sep 1883; citing Nashua, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord; FHL microfilm 1,001,284.

Answer 2

On the safe side of that "1860" and click on "about/uncertain" since the range is short (1859 - 1861)

Without a birth certificate, or baptismal record, or scan of a bible page record listing her, or the Register of any attending physician or midwife where the notation was about her and her birth, or ... well, probate papers from one or both parents giving the "official" DOB of each child, or a record of the mother's death within hours of the birth, or ... so without any of these in hand ~1860 is acceptable

Answer 3

Census records are notorious for having incorrect birth years. The informant might not remember it correctly or it got transferred incorrectly to the final census sheet. I would be more inclined to take the combination of marriage and grave stone.

Comments

Most transcribers of census records subtract the age from the year of the census.

If the census is done early in the year it throws things off.  Eg, England Census of 1881 shows age 10 really means born between April 1870 and March 1871.  (If one was born after April 3 1871 then one would be 9 when the census was taken.)

In the US Census of 1880 age 10 means born between June 1869 and May 1870.

Answer 4

She was probably born in Jul 1860 given all the information available. I also notice you have her birth name as Blanchard which it clearly wasn't. The name Blanchard does not appear in the records until after they came to the US and even then records for some of the siblings record the name as Blanchet. The 1861 census gives the name as Blanchette (mistranscribed as Blauchette) and her baptismal record records it as Blanchet.

Answer 5

Census records are great for finding relationships, but are horrible for other information. They often have estimated birth years since most census records generally record ages, not years. If a child was listed as 12, this could either mean they were about to be 12, or are 12 and about to be 13. Depending on the true birth month, the derived year of birth from a census record can be ±2 years in either direction.

Gravestones are considered a derivative source since they are based on other information, such as an informant's memory or a secondary source. The information could have been provided years later if the funds were not immediately available after the death, the sculptor could have made a mistake in carving the dates, etc.

A marriage certificate would not be a good indicator of the birth either. When these records are "certified," it isn't the birth, marriage, and name spellings that are being certified. Rather, the authority certifies that the document or information matches the official record.

---

The trick, and what you are seeing in this case, is that you have a derivative source, and a primary source that seem to reflect each other with the dates 1861.

With the other data listed in the profile, I would be inclined to use 1860 marked as uncertain until another source can be found.

Answer 6

The Sources list a baptism record without details, and I don't have access to the Drouin collection.  I think that would be the most reliable source.

The 1861 Quebec census listed in the Sources gives 1860.

"Québec, recensement, 1861," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MM7N-GGV : 9 March 2018), Josephine Blauchette, Arthabaska, Arthabaska, Quebec, Canada; citing line number 46, p. 36; Library and Archives Canada film number C-1262, Archives Publiques, Ottawa (Board of Registration and Statistics. Public Archives, Ottawa); FHL microfilm 517,353.

The 1870 US Census, also in the Sources, gives 1860-61.

"United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDST-WJK : 12 April 2016), Josephine Blanchard in household of Humphrey Blanchard, Massachusetts, United States; citing p. 42, family 249, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,108.

I'd say 1861 is unlikely, since she was alive for the 1861 census.  It would be interesting to know the date the family was counted, but it doesn't show on the Family Search record.  If her birth month was really July, and she was a year old, she was most likely born before 1861.  July 1859 is possible, but only the one record has that year (I think).  I'd go with 1860 as an estimate.

Comments

Thanks for the star, Shaun!