The prompt for this week's #52ancestors is #Oops. I thought I'd show how challenging it can be sometimes to get the right information in researching for family members.
Selma Amelia Henrickson was the oldest daughter of George and Malvina Henrickson. All records I found relating to Selma listed her birthday as November 2, 1900. This record from the Sandhem Lutheran Church lists her birthday as Nov. 2.
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One of her descendants even confirmed to me that Selma's birthday was always celebrated on November 2. So, I was surprised when I found this record from a Lutheran church in Iron Mountain, Michigan. It lists Selma's birthday as October 2, 1900.
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This record is from the First Lutheran Church (Swedish Lutheran Saron Church) Iron Mountain, Michigan. It lists Selma's birthday as October 2, 1900. That's a full month before November 2. It lists Florence, Wisconsin as her place of birth, but she's baptized on December 11, 1900 in Iron Mountain, Michigan. So, was she born on October 2, or November 2? I decided to search for her birth certificate. I went to Wisconsin's online record search. You cannot find the entire birth certificate online but you can search for names and then order the certificate. I searched for Selma's name and found, nothing. I searched for October and November 1900 and found no mention of Selma. I searched in Florence County and I searched statewide. I could find no mention of a Selma Henrickson at all in Wisconsin's archives.
The record from Iron Mountain is curious. Did the recorder of information simply make a mistake and write down the wrong month? Being told November but accidentally writing down October? Were they told the wrong month? It seems unlikely as the information most likely would have come from George and Malvina themselves. George and Malvina should know when their firstborn daughter was born.
2 church records. 2 different dates. Which one do you go with? Unless something more official pops up with an October 2 birth date, I have to go with November 2. After all, that's the one on all Selma's official papers and the one she celebrated. Every time I find an "Oops" I have to make a judgement call. I try to go with the one that has the most evidence to back it up. And the most reliable source.
I think Janice told me there was a discrepancy about her birth date.
ReplyDeleteJanice said her birth certificate says May 22 but mom told her she was born on May 21 and that's when we have always celebrated it
ReplyDeleteYes. She told me that too, to make sure I had her right birthday listed. That's the kind of information that's helpful to know when researching.
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