Exactly When Were You Born?

Family historians are more than fact-finders–we are “fact-fixators,” obsessed with finding one more piece of evidence to prove a theory or a relationship. We want to be sure that the families we are piecing together are accurate. This determination to find the “proof” is what keeps us “in the hunt.”

I have learned not to expect absolute, but varying, birthdates for my immigrant ancestors in U.S. records. I know that they celebrated namedays, not birthdays; and maybe someone was nervous when being questioned by an official and could not remember. Or even more common, he/she just did not know.  I get it, and I accept it.

But I do expect accuracy in primary sources. Church books, created by priests at the time of the event, should constitute a high level of proof. Yet I am finding contradictions in the very records that should set the standard of correctness.

Like many Greek villages, Agios Ioannis, Sparta, has more than one church. Koimisi tis Theotokou was the old one, but it is now open only on certain religious holidays. Agias Triadas  is the church currently used for Sunday services and religious events such as baptisms and marriages.

Each of these churches has a set of books, and their years overlap beginning in 1913. Many people are listed in both books–the names are the same, but in many cases, the event dates are different.

Here is an example:   Kalliopi Lambropoulos was the daughter of Anastasios Lambropoulos and Vasilo Metronou. She was born and baptized in Agios Ioannis, but WHEN was she born?  [click on images to enlarge]

Kalliopi Lambropoulos, born October 16, 1916, no baptism date

Kalliopi Lambropoulos, born January 19, 1917; baptized October 15, 1917.

Kalliopi Lambropoulos, born January 19, 1917; baptized July 2, 1917.

Two different birthdates. Two different baptism dates. Same person.

I have ruled out that these are three different people with the same name because:

• the earliest birthdate, October 16, 1916 and the latest birthdate, January 19, 1917 are only three months apart
• the parents and godparent are the same in all three records
• the family structure in other records shows only one daughter named Kalliopi

I had been working from an index, and the indexer typed one of the birthdates as January 15. It was not until I examined the original record that I caught the error. Always, always look at the original!

Because two of the three records give a birthdate of January 19, 1917, I will assume that is correct. But the baptism dates are three months apart. To resolve this conflict, during my next trip to Sparta, I could go to either the Lixarheion (municipal office) or Dimarheion (Town Hall) and request to see the civil birth record for Kalliopi. In Greece, civil birth records also record the date of baptism.

This experience of finding conflicting information in records emphasizes the importance of trying to find ALL the records available for an individual. In this case, even finding one church record cannot “prove” a fact when the data sources vary.

Is being a “fact-fixator” important? Absolutely! The more facts we have, the sounder our conclusions. Facts are ways to prove an assumption, and in genealogy, that assumption means a specific person belongs to a specific family.

But ultimately, all that matters is that we have connected the right people as families. Does it truly matter if Kalliopi was born October 16, 1916 or January 19, 1917? She is in the right family, and ensuring that fact is why I remain “in the hunt.”