SNGF --- An Ancestor Without Exact Birth and Death Dates and Places

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

It's Saturday Night again - 

Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings, is to:

1)   Do you have an ancestor with no defined birth and death dates or places?  

2)   This week, please tell us about that ancestor and what clues you used to estimate a birth and death dates and places.

Here’s mine:

I have not blogged about these ancestors of my husband yet, but James Gorrell (1770-1826) and his wife, Sarah (1771-1849), lived in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. I have dates of birth and death for them, though no marriage date.

Also living in Beaver County were James, Senior, and Elizabeth. James Senior disappears after the 1806 tax record, with Elizabeth being listed until 1810. She also appears in the 1810 census. In 1800, James and his wife are over 45 and in 1810 Elizabeth is over 45.

I have not put in a birth date for either of them, though I have put in their dates as after 1806 for James and after 1810 for Elizabeth. Now for some math to get a good range for their birth.

In 1800 James and Elizabeth were over 45, making their birth born before 1855. That is the closest I can get with so little information. Even if I could locate them in the 1790 census, any male would be over 16, and this would not help tie down his date of birth further.

James Junior, if he is their son, was born in 1770. I have no idea if James was one of the first born to the family or one of the last. I do not have enough information. If James was the oldest and Sarah was about 20 when she had him, then her birth would be about 1750. If James was the youngest of a large family and she was closer to 35, then she would have been born about 1835. If James and Elizabeth lived into their 70s, then 1835 is not far off. There is a history of Gorrell ancestors living into their 80s.

Although I have not come to any conclusion, I shall paste this analysis into their profiles so I do not have to rethink this again. If my thinking is flawed (I am not a numbers person), let me know.

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