[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] varying dates

[Debbie]

Margrit,

To this day, I do not know the correct year that my grandfather was born.
My grandfather, as well as two of his brother's always said they didn't know
how old they really were.  I found this interesting and when I started doing
my research on the family, I found that they were probably right, by the
time I talked to them, they probably really didn't know for sure!

In the family bible (my great-grandfather was literate), it was recorded
that he and his wife were married in 1885, and the first child born in 1887.
Since the St. Pete's records only go to 1885, I considered myself lucky that
I would be able to find the marriage records, but no birth records for the
children.  However, when I looked in the 1885 marriage records, I found no
entry for the marriage.  So I figured maybe it wasn't recorded until 1886,
bad luck for me.  But, after looking through the rest of the records for
1885, to my surprise I found that the first child was born in 1885!
Thinking the worst, I thought perhaps my great-grandfather had "fudged" the
marriage date in the bible to show that they were married before the first
child was born.

However, further research back into the records showed that my
great-grandfather and great-grandmother were really married in 1883!  Well,
now this seemed a bit odd...two dates that were given exactly two years off
(the days were correctly recorded, but the year wasn't).  I called my dad
and he said he had no answer for me, but then I talked to my mother and she
said that one my grandfather's sisters had told her that when they came to
the US, all the older kids were told to scrunch down a bit so they would
look younger.  Why I wondered?

After thinking about it for a while, I checked into the rates for ship
passage, thinking that perhaps there was a savings for the family if the
children's ages were given as younger than they really were. (Anyone
remember someone giving a younger age for the children to get them into the
movies or the fair or something for a cheaper rate or even for free?) And I
found that yes, children under 12 received free passage on the ship.  By
putting all the dates back two years (which may have been the most my
great-grandfather thought he could get away with), two of the children were
given free passage when they wouldn't have if they had given their correct
ages.

The same was true for train passages.  The younger the children, the less
they paid, or passage was free on some lines for children under 12.  I think
that by the time these kids made the passage to America, then to North
Dakota by train, to Washington state by train, to Canada by train, and back
to ND by train, that they became confused as to what their correct ages
really were!

I'll probably never know for sure if this is the reason the dates are off,
but it seems a feasible explanation.  Perhaps my great-grandfather
considered that if he had "proof" recorded in the bible of the children's
birthdates, he wouldn't be questioned further, so he went ahead and fudged a
bit.  I found it interesting to note that someone would record a "lie" in
the Bible of all places to save some money...especially my great-grandfather
who was known for his pious and upright ways.

Anyone else have any other feasible scenario's that I might not have
considered about the two year age difference?

Debbie Beick


----- Original Message -----
From: "Margrit Weigel" <margrit_weigel at web.de>
To: <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
Sent: Monday, July 21, 2003 5:45 AM
Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] varying dates


> I have some "problems" with slightly different dates. After the SGGEE
database my gr gr grandmother Friederike Hildebrandt, nee Krueger, was born
May 5th 1844  and died May 20th 1937. In the "Wolhynischen Heften Nr.1"
there is a story of a tombstone  which still exists in Korist where she
lived and died. On this stone you find a Friederike Hildebrandt *Feb 22nd
1844 and died March 09th1937. On the same stone you find the names of her
sons Gustav (*Feb.02.1878) and Ferdinand   (*Jul 24th 1880). But the dates
we know are for Gustav *1877 and for Ferdinand *Jul13,1879 and death
Oct16,1904 in Korist (on the tombstone his day of death is known as oct
14.1904).
>
> So I am rather sure that here my ancestors are buried. Does anybody else
has experience with differing dates?
>
> Futheron, even my father (born Oct 03, 1931) always told that he believed
that he had another
> birthday when he was small. Unfortunately there is noone left anymore whom
I could ask. Could it perhaps be an advantage to be older or younger in the
thirties in Volhynia?
>
> If somebody has an idea, I would appreciate every answer.
>
> Margrit Weigel
>
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