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Re: Accuracy of birth records/census records



An addendum to inaccuracy in birth records---

In using the various federal census for Massachusetts,
I found three different birth years for my
grandfather. Whether the census taker couldn't
understand his broken English (my grandfather was
French-Canadian), or whether my grandfather didn't
understand the census taker's English, or whether my
grandfather didn't want anyone to know how "old" he
really was, or whether my grandfather didn't know his
birthdate--- that is lost to history.  The census also
gives varying years of when my great-grandparents came
to the U.S.--- which makes sense, because they were
"target earners" who came to the US to earn money,
went back to Canada, came back to the US to earn
money, went back, etc., more than a dozen times over
the 1880s-1910s.

Just because it's written doesn't mean it's so!

Bernadette  :)


--- "Linda C. Morrison" <lcmorrison@MINDSPRING.COM>
wrote:
> Paul Bergeron has some good points about the
> accuracy of birth records.
> When I went to Dummerston, VT and asked to see my
> grandmother's birth
> record, I was shown an entry that read "Elise"
> instead of "Elsie." {A.
> Barrett] By the time of my childhood she didn't like
> the name Elsie, but she
> was always known by that name.  The misspelling is a
> legitimate name,
> though, and someone correcting obvious mistakes
> wouldn't catch it.  It was a
> handwritten record; 1888.
>     You can't assume anything is accurATE, always
> be skeptical!!
> Linda Morrison, Boston area.
>


=====
Bernadette A. Boucher, MLS (Rutgers, May 1999)
"It's alright to 'like books' but a librarian should like people."

balibra76@yahoo.com
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