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Calculating a Possible Birth Date for Jane Darragh

Image by Willfried Wende from Pixabay   Trying to figure out a birth date, death date, or range of dates for an ancestor with just a piece of information or two? Perhaps you have a death date and an age on a headstone and want to calculate their birth date. Or maybe you have several censuses with differing ages and are attempting to hone in on the right one. After watching Carolyn Ladd's excellent RootsTech webinar " Which Date Is Right? Solving Birthdate Conflicts Through Genealogical Analysis ," I decided to implement some of her suggestions to tackle determining Jane Darragh's birth date. I have not yet found a birth or baptism record for Jane, so I've had to rely on other sources which give her age, which—typically—vary somewhat from document to document.  I used some great date calculators on Tony Proctor's Parallax View   blog .  He included several in his post, "Measurement Tools ," published in 2015, with various updates since then. Perhaps ...
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So Many Stories to Tell

Young Thomas J. "Tommy" Kozlina and my mom Anna Margaret Kozlina.
Friends,

This past year, I have dedicated much time to my favorite hobby: family history. I have read books, listened to podcasts, attended workshops, and begun again, to research our family lines.

I do so for a variety of reasons, but mainly I am intrigued and excited by the people the research reveals. At first, it was all about the names and dates, and "how far can I get back?" And, while that is still somewhat of a focus (Apparently, we cannot go back to Ireland until I find out where the Casey line is from!), I find more and more that I am just drawn into the stories that emerge, as I find more details of our ancestors' lives.

There's the funny stuff : "Polish Wedding Causes Trouble," is the headline of a newspaper article featuring my great grandmother Margaret McAndrew Gilbride. We'll save that one for another post.

There's everyday life: "So-and-So is visiting their mother this week." The not-so-everyday: "Sleeping Sickness Fatal to Girl."

There are stories which break your heart, and ones that make you nod your head and say, "Oh, so THAT's why..."

There are discoveries of familial likenesses, shared hobbies, tales of travel from abroad, and tales of deeply held American roots. There are railroad men, a hockey player, a prominent blacksmith, several coal miners, a nun and a priest...

Newspaper snippets - the Facebook of the time - recording who visited whom, or who wore what to whose wedding. There are both slices of everyday life and memorable moments in photo. There are bunches of interesting folk, who lived sometimes ordinary, sometimes extraordinary lives.

So many stories to tell. And here in this little space, I hope to share them with you.

Come on along.
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