Remember that "official" does not always mean accurate. My grandmother's 1910 birth certificate (which I believe to be accurate) provides a different place of birth for her than those given on her marriage license and death certificate. One would give more credence to the birth certificate as in this case it is the most contemporary record of her birth in existence.

Delayed birth certificates, while official documents, can still be incorrect. In one instance, these documents were filled out by a mother who provided the wrong date of birth for her child. In this case my "proof" that it was wrong consisted of the fact that the date was different from the one listed on the christening record and the fact that the mother apparently mixed up this daughter's date of birth with that of another child.

Even investigators can make mistakes. A postal investigator looking into a relative in 1900 indicated that the relative was born in Kansas. Virtually every other available document on the relative in question indicated he was born in Illinois. The investigator reasonably concluded the relative was born where he had lived since he was approximately ten years old.

It always pays to obtain multiple sources whenever possible and to compare. One document can easily be wrong and lead you down the wrong research path.

> Comment on this article