Discrepancies

What is one to do when the paper trail does not fully support or directly contradicts the family tradition? As aspiring historians we must follow the documents where they lead us and place primary sources in a superior position to secondary ones. There might be circumstances where the primary source is actually inferior to a secondary one but that is not the assumption one begins with. One must fully document and methodically detail that an original record keeper creating primary sources was a notorious drunkard or otherwise a lousy record keeper.

Michael John Cassidy was born on 28 Oct 1880. Numerous sources list his birth as being in the United States, New York, Manhattan and New York City. Several incorrectly list his birth as being in 1884. His daughter vehemently insisted that he was born in America. A 1910 federal census record and a baptismal notation in his 1914 marriage registration are the only two American records that pointed us to Ireland. Indeed there is both a civil birth registration and a church baptismal entry that declare he was born 28 Oct 1880 in Newry and baptized there. He emigrated with his parents in 1881 so he did not have a brogue one would assume but a New York accent instead. 

My own grandmother filed for her Social Security card with a 1 Feb 1896 DOB. That was the date that was always said to have been her birthday. The birth records from New York City and the baptismal entry from St Raphael indicate that she was born a day earlier on 31 Jan 1896. This can be seen as a curiosity or a deal breaker. If for some reason the later DOB would entitle her to a crown or benefits one might be suspicious. I list both the primary sources from the official records and the secondary source from family tradition and Social Security to cover the bases when I write about her.  

I recently decided to look at the whole birther issue again regarding President Obama. There are Hawaiian newspaper listings announcing his birth just days after his birth in early Aug 1961. That settles the issue for me regarding the certainty that he was born in Hawaii and is a natural born citizen. 

The certified birth certificate that is online is completely typeset. The genealogist in me would like to see an original handwritten copy that was possibly submitted. If Hawaii was completely typeset in 1961 that is the end of that. If, however, anyone out there born in Hawaii in 1961 has a handwritten birth certificate, anyone searching their Hawaiian roots should keep pressing lest they lose details that were transcribed wrong on even “certified” copies.