Leitrim-Roscommon

I have a Patrick J. Reynolds, Jr. b abt 1878 who married my great aunt Catherine Farrell b. abt 1878 They are both from Leitrim, their son Louis A. Reynolds was born in RI in 1903. I was able to find the family in the 1920 census, listing the occupation of Patrick J as a carpenter.

If I go back to the 1900 census I find a Patrick and a Catherine with a son Earl J. b 1900. The Patrick listed occupation as a carpenter as well. Also living in the household are Ellen Farrell and Mary Farrell - my other great aunts names. The birth years are off a bit (by three to nine years) , but Ellen's occupation listed was a hair dresser (the ellen I have owned a hair goods store in rhode island in the 20's - it seems too coincidental that these names and occupations are the same.

Were the Irish know to lie about their age on US census as they did on the Irish census?

Why would they lie about their age on either census? Just curious

MarkCT wrote:Why would they lie about their age on either census? Just curious :D

Hi Mark,
You ask a very good question which has implications that many researchers should be aware of. Throughout this bulletin board (and many other genealogy related sites) you will find similar postings related to our ancestors "lying" about their age. Let me pass along to you and other viewers of this message, information that has been passed along to me and perhaps it may help you in your research.

Our grandfathers, and their fathers before them, never celebrated birthdays. This concept of celebrating a birthday is something that came into being after their time. There are a few reasons for this lack of celebration. Perhaps one of the most important reasons is related to the fact that they just didn't have time or the resources (gifts, money etc) for this kind of celebration. Their day began with getting up before sunrise, having their breakfast (what little there was for a breakfast) and then off to work for the remainder of the day until after sundown. This process continued for their existence in Ireland (and for a few, even after they migrated to the U.S.)

A second reason that may have contributed to this lack of celebration was the fact that they had little need to know and use their birth date. There were no legal or government driven events in their lives that were associated with the accurate knowledge of their age.

What our ancestors did remember was the order of birth. They could tell you if they were the first, second,......or last child of their parents. When the year of your birth is never spoken to you and you don't have a birthday cake sitting on the table surrounded with gifts once a year, it doesn't take long for you to forget your date of birth. This is not "lying", this is just what happens to anyone when a piece of information is not recalled from our memory over a long period of time.

This is why as researchers, we have always been told to look at our ancestor's documents and add plus or minus 5 years to any recorded age or date of birth. They were making their "best guess" at their age, and for many, this guess was being made for the first time when they arrived in the U.S. For others it may have been when they had to provide their age to the registrar for their marriage in Ireland.....but you can be sure, for many, it was nothing more than a guess. And when they would do it for the next document (census or other), they would guess again and this time the guess may be different from the first time!

Ed Finn

Thanks for enlightening us; it makes complete sense!

MarkCT wrote:Why would they lie about their age on either census? Just curious

The only apparent attempt to mislead about their age is in the 1901 census. It appears to me that when they heard of census based ages being used for the proposed old age pension they took advantage of the opportunity. This leads me to be very cautious about taking 1901 census ages as genuine.
Peter.

Ahhh, I see. Very interesting and I had absolutely no clue - but it does make sense! Thank you for the explanantions!

I was born in Ireland in 1951 and the lack of knowledge of precise dates is not something that happened in the olden days. To this day, my only sister get's my birthday wrong by one day. My mother could not remember what day of the week or what time of day I was born. My dear Auntie, who was 88 this past August never celebrated a birthday until I started sending her cards a number of years ago. In fact, I have often phoned her on her birthday and she had totally forgotten about it. Ed is absolutely right, there was no celebration in her day about birthdays or little else. Now, if they were Catholic, every day of the year was a "Feast Day" of some Saint or another and this was much more likely to be celebrated.
Dates in Irish records are a very "iffy" business. I remember coming home from work the day of the census about 1971 and looking at the form my Daddy had filled out for our family. Holy smokes! There was only the 4 of us, but I don't think he got a single "fact" correct. Names also, especially given names, are a minefield for the genealogist. In the parish register for my baptism cert. my mother is listed as "Caecilia". Her name was Sarah, but most often call "Sheila". Someone, at the time, must have written it down for the Priest, and he read and recorded it incorectly. It's really important to gather as much information from as many sources as possible. Good luck.