I received one of those telephone calls where a sweet-voiced person asked if I would answer a few questions for a survey. The first thought that entered my mind was "It’s none of your business." After I politely told the telephone interviewer that I don’t answer telephone surveys, I paused to wonder what my ancestors thought when the census enumerator called on them. Did they give hurried answers in an attempt to get rid of the questioner? Did they accurately remember dates and places?

I tried an experiment with my 12-year-old grandson and asked him the questions that are on the 1880 census. He was fairly accurate about his parent’s names and ages but failed on the questions about their birth states.

This gave me a new insight into what is on censuses. For all I know, it could have been the 12-year-old who provided the information about my ancestors. Even worse, it could have been the next-door neighbors.

Looks like I’ll be a bit more skeptical about censuses.

I’m also skeptical about the information on death certificates.

I received a death certificate for a relative. There were the initials of his father’s name, "D. K." I was ready to write down D. K. Johnson in my genealogy database when it dawned on me. The "D. K." stood for "Don’t Know."

That isn’t as serious as the death date that is given on this death certificate. It’s wrong. At least, I assume it is. I have a newspaper obituary for the man, and it is dated two days before the death date that’s on the death certificate.

The information on documents is as reliable as the person who provided the information. If they had first-hand knowledge, if their mind was clear, if they were having a good day, then the information may be correct.

We need to remember to analyze everything that we find. Does it make sense? Did a woman give birth to a child when she was eleven years old? Maybe there is a mistake there.

Does the information match with other documents? Is Grandpa Johnson’s birth state given as Missouri on two censuses and Mississippi on a third? Maybe someone wrote down the abbreviation "Miss." for Missouri and someone else thought it was Mississippi.

© 2004–2009

Connie Lenzen, CG