Knowing an ancestor’s age is a big part of identifying him or her in other records and is a huge help when it comes to crafting searches in online collections. As our research takes us back to years before civil records began being kept (which in some cases was the early 20th century), locating critical birth information can require a little creative thinking.
Unfortunately, our ancestors weren’t always accurate (or in some cases truthful) when it came to giving out their age or birth date. Perhaps it was unintentional and they honestly didn’t remember, or in some cases they may have had their reasons for fudging a little. Whatever the reason, in the absence of a civil birth registration, we need to turn to alternatives and the more the merrier. Here are 13 sources where you might get lucky...