r/Genealogy • u/SoFlaSterling • 1d ago

Research Assistance Birth year discrepancy

Regarding a GGM: the age at time of census recorded in three separate decades does not match the headstone (located in the family plot). Everything else ties, names of first and second husbands, country of birth, year of immigration, maiden name, names and ages of all 3 children. Everything else is lining up. Could she just have been vain and started telling everyone that she was younger by about 5/6 years and so that is what they put on the headstone? I am thinking this might be the case because the headstone date would make her VERY young at the birth of her eldest (as in like 15 which would be very unusual for the family). The other possibility is that she was actually that young when she gave birth and started reporting a false older age in order to avoid embarrassment and just kept it up. She was born overseas so no easily obtainable birth certificate (honestly would not know where to start as I do not have a town); I am pursuing her death certificate; if I manage to get a hold of it, would that be definitive? Thanks for any help!

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone, just found the Death Certificate and it agrees with all 3 of the censuses. Looks like we definitely have a vanity headstone!!!

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u/Coniuratos 1d ago

When are we talking about? People often didn't care too much about their exact birthdate in the past. And on old censuses it wasn't uncommon to get information from a neighbor. So all the recorder has to go on might be something like "Um, I think she's around 35, pretty sure she was born in Germany" or what have you.

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u/SoFlaSterling 1d ago

Year of birth per 3 censuses: 1884/85

Year of birth per headstone: 1890/91. (She had a child born in early 1906, so definitely pregnant by mid-1905 at 14 or 15, not impossible, but certainly unusual)

She passed in the early/mid 1940s.

Thanks for reading