Evidence Analysis Issues

Two local board numbers in WW2 Draft Registration

I'm looking to understand the two local boards identified in a World War II draft registration card. This man was in San Quentin on that date. So why the Hartford County stamp?

He was previously in Connecticut State Prison from 1940–1942. He committed another crime in California 4 years later which landed him in San Quention prison. Ancestry has this card filed under Connecticut.

 

Birth date doesn't match age at date of death

Did people use to calculate age at death differently than we do today?  Specifically, did they not count the day the person died?

I have seen a number of records like the attached in which that seems to be the case.  Or was it just miscalculated?

The attached record states Walter was born Mar. 30, 1875 and died  Aug. 28, 1941 at the age of 66 years, 4 months, and 28 days.

If one considers the birth and death dates to be correct then the age should be ... 29 days.  (By my calculation and that of my genealogy software.)

Understanding date stamps in a pension document

Hello EE,

I have been studying and thinking through this document, found within a civil war pension file. I am trying to understand the date stamps and think through how this letter flowed through the pension system. I want to use this as evidence that Judia Holt died before 4 November 1897. Her name is mistakenly Julia here, but Judia in other documents in the file and from other sources.

Finding the bound cover

I've got an Oklahoma Marriage record from 1909. Easy to read and fill out. The image appears to be from a bound volume (no big deal there). https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/963529326:61379

The issue is that the filmers did not include the cover or a title page. There is a film header giving the dates included, but it's from Ancestry and not the volume dates. 

The question is do I try and find the corresponding film at FamilySearch, where the cover is hopefully filmed, or just deal with what I'm looking at. Pick a side and I'll argue the other one :)

Using a diagram to show a multigeneration network of family marriages - citation of the documentation

I am writing a proof argument (for my own files and blog at this point) that relies in part on a diagram of a complex 5-generation network of marriages between the descendants of 3 "founders" across 5 states.  I am struggling with documenting this thoroughly and efficiently without overwhelming the resulting diagram and the text of the argument. The diagram shows 19 marriages in 5 generations.

Referencing Differing Surname Spellings

Hi EE,

This question probably would have worked best in a writing forum, but what is the most straightforward and clear way to discuss a person in a proof when sources spell the person's name (given or surname) differently, as they often do? 

I find that some authors:

use quotation marks within the sentence when referring to the differently spelled name to the source, others add [sic] after the varied spelling, and others use neither of these, perhaps supposing the reader will pick up on this by simply reading the citation.

Wrapping my Head Around the GPS

I have no trouble understanding the five items involved in the GPS when it comes to ancestors more than 2 or 3 generations back. Often there is not a single record that states who someone’s parents are and in some cases, those records may be incorrect. Like an incorrect surname of a parent. Or there may be more than one person with the same name.

Where I have trouble is applying the GPS to myself & my parents & some of my grandparents. 

Missing dates

In this revolutionary war bounty land claim, the widow requests an award of land. Fairly straightforward, and it's part of the pension file, no big deal. BUT a closer look makes me wonder. The page is here but is a paid site. 

There are no dates for either her husband's death or her marriage. The clerk didn't write them in, or she didn't know, or ...? She is illiterate and so will be trusting to those around her for what she signs, but not having dates seems off. 

Mountain / mole hill?

David