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From: "Nancy Coleman" <>
Subject: [APG] Baptismal Date vs. Birth Date, New Orleans, LA
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2004 11:50:46 -0500


Hope to get some clear advice... This may be an obvious and stupid question, but here goes.

In doing very preliminary research (have just started this branch) in New Orleans records and with censuses, I have found a pattern of discrepancies. I have civil birth records with one date of birth and then further records (1900 census for instance) where the year may be the same (or not) but the month is completely different. The family(ies) involved are Catholic and of a mix of Irish, Spanish, and French heritage.

I can understand the year being off, that's not unusual if they lied about their age. I find that all the time in NYC records. But, why would they change the month of birth? Was it common practice to cite one's baptismal date as a date of birth instead of the actual date of birth? This seems to be the rule, not the exception with many branches of this family. Not just one or two people, but dozens and dozens. Male and female. All seem to cite a date of birth as being several months, if not years, after the actual civil record. The month rarely matches up. Common sense tells me they may be citing their baptismal date... ???

The time period is the last quarter of the 19th century, New Orleans, Catholic. The family names are very unusual and all civil birth records cite the proper parents, including the correct maiden names of the mothers. All alternate spellings or possible misspellings have been checked. All death records have also been searched to check for possible second children by the same name due to a death of the first child by that name. Nothing.

If this is common practice, I'd sure like to know as it will make looking for the church records that much easier! I haven't started that phase yet. It will also help me cite the various dates and sources with a better understanding of their accuracy and whether the discrepancies mean anything (significant) or not. Since I'm just starting this branch of the family I would certainly like to get off on the right foot and gain an understanding of any peccadilloes that I may encounter in LA records. :)

Best regards. Nancy.
Nancy Coleman

http://www.genealogyPro.com/ncoleman.html

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