Determining and Expressing Dates
The topic of dates and how to estimate or calculate them has been addressed in NGS Monthly before. In Laura Murphy DeGrazia’s “Calculating Dates and Date Ranges,”[1] qualifying terms like “about” and “calculated” are referred to, but the article appropriately focuses on the actual calculations. Now we revisit the topic, but with a focus on how to express those calculations.
The case study at the end of this article revolves around Mary (–?–) (Adams) Ryan of late eighteenth- to early nineteenth-century New York City.[2] Research has revealed a fair amount about Mary, her family, and her life, but as of this writing no record of birth, baptism, first marriage, second marriage, death, or burial has yet been discovered for her. In the absence of those records, we can make educated estimates and narrow down date ranges in order to relay vital information about Mary.
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About Author
Aaron Goodwin
Aaron is a genealogist and house historian specializing in New York City research across all time periods, from the Dutch colonial era to the 20th century. His book, New York City Municipal Archives: An Authorized Guide for Family Historians, won the National Genealogical Society’s 2017 Award for Excellence: Genealogical Methods and Sources. He is also editor of NGS Monthly, former contributing editor of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, and former editor of the Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine. In 2011, he received the American Society of Genealogists’ Scholar Award.
What? No Anna Fanna Faux-Fanna?
A tough one for me was John S., born in Virginia and died in Georgia in the early 1820s. The only one of numerous records I collected for him that hinted at an age was the 1820 census because of course the first two for Virginia and first three for Georgia haven’t survived. The best I could do was use his first deed: he bought land in 1758 and would have to have been 21, so born by 1737. But I was thrilled to be able to do that much!