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Archiver > FLAHERTY > 2008-09 > 1220974664


From: "" <>
Subject: Re: [FLAHERTY] FLAHERTY's in Maine
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:37:44 -0000


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Author: sciencefan
Surnames:
Classification: queries

Message Board URL:

http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.flaherty/41.68.1.1.1.2/mb.ashx

Message Board Post:

Hi Glenn,

Census information can be wrong.
It's not considered official documentation.
You have to consider the source of your information.

I don't know why census info was sometimes wrong.
I don't know if it's because the census taker "assumed" something, or whether the person answering the questions really didn't know the right answer, or whether people outright lied for various reasons. And there's always the factor of human error.

Birth records have the most authority. Even death records and obituaries can be wrong, as in the case of my husband's grandmother. They didn't know exactly where she was born.

I have even seen a wrong date on a tombstone before!

You are doing the right thing in weighing all the information together.

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