Martha Jane Cartrett is born
Halfway across the country from Mississipi, where William had been born, lay North Carolina. Following succession, during which it provided more men and materials to the serve the Confederacy than any other state, and suffering the largest number of losses during the Civil War, the state was on the road to recovery.
As if drawing a line between the turbulent past, and the promising future, Luke Cartrett, who had served as a private in the North Carolina Confederate Infantry, and his wife Celia, brought William’s future wife into the world.
But when? The exact birth date of Martha Jane Cartrett is a bit of a mystery. Of the six records available that list either her age or her date of birth, only two agree upon the year.
The earliest record, the 1870 U.S. Census, is a mystery in itself. Her parents’ household is recorded on lines 32-38 of page 50, for Goldsboro Township, in Wayne County, North Carolina. Line 38 lists a female whose age is given as 3/12’s. For 1870, the census enumerators were instructed to record the person’s age as of June 1, 1870. However, if a child was less than a year old on that date, they were to list a fractional age.
What does the 3/12ths age mean for this female child? Since this should be the number of months of age relative to June 1, we can presume that this child’s birth month was March of 1870. However, since this census was taken in August, the enumerator could have made a mistake and listed the fractional age as of the current date, meaning her birth was in May of 1870. Which was correct, and was this Martha?
Perhaps not, for the name on that line looks like Matthew J. Oddly, the next household also lists a Cartret family, and the listing begins with a male, who’s name appears to be Martha. I believe the enumerator made a mistake while recording these families, and never corrected the error. One indicator that this supposition is correct is the fact that a large check mark appears next to Martha’s name, as though the enumerator was marking the line.
The next census where we find Martha listed is in 1880, as part of her parents’ household. Her age is given as 10. If accurate, she would have been born in about 1870.
In the 1900 census, Martha’s birth month and year are recorded as May 1872. Then, in 1910, her age is given as 36, giving her a calculated birth year of about 1884.
When she died, in 1914, her husband, who presumably knew her birthday, listed it as May 8, 1879.
I put all of this into a fact-jar, shook it up, and decided to set her birth-date as May 8, 1870. I decided that her husband probably knew the day and month very well, but could have easily been mistaken about the birth year. So, for the birth year, I decided to use the earliest records that essentially agreed.
As if drawing a line between the turbulent past, and the promising future, Luke Cartrett, who had served as a private in the North Carolina Confederate Infantry, and his wife Celia, brought William’s future wife into the world.
But when? The exact birth date of Martha Jane Cartrett is a bit of a mystery. Of the six records available that list either her age or her date of birth, only two agree upon the year.
The earliest record, the 1870 U.S. Census, is a mystery in itself. Her parents’ household is recorded on lines 32-38 of page 50, for Goldsboro Township, in Wayne County, North Carolina. Line 38 lists a female whose age is given as 3/12’s. For 1870, the census enumerators were instructed to record the person’s age as of June 1, 1870. However, if a child was less than a year old on that date, they were to list a fractional age.
What does the 3/12ths age mean for this female child? Since this should be the number of months of age relative to June 1, we can presume that this child’s birth month was March of 1870. However, since this census was taken in August, the enumerator could have made a mistake and listed the fractional age as of the current date, meaning her birth was in May of 1870. Which was correct, and was this Martha?
Perhaps not, for the name on that line looks like Matthew J. Oddly, the next household also lists a Cartret family, and the listing begins with a male, who’s name appears to be Martha. I believe the enumerator made a mistake while recording these families, and never corrected the error. One indicator that this supposition is correct is the fact that a large check mark appears next to Martha’s name, as though the enumerator was marking the line.
The next census where we find Martha listed is in 1880, as part of her parents’ household. Her age is given as 10. If accurate, she would have been born in about 1870.
In the 1900 census, Martha’s birth month and year are recorded as May 1872. Then, in 1910, her age is given as 36, giving her a calculated birth year of about 1884.
When she died, in 1914, her husband, who presumably knew her birthday, listed it as May 8, 1879.
I put all of this into a fact-jar, shook it up, and decided to set her birth-date as May 8, 1870. I decided that her husband probably knew the day and month very well, but could have easily been mistaken about the birth year. So, for the birth year, I decided to use the earliest records that essentially agreed.
posted by Steve | 2:00 PM
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