Posted on by Erin Stone Taylor

Mary Savage Goosey’s Birth Date

Biographical Sketch

A CDV copy of a circa 1850 daguerreotype of Mary Savage Goosey
(Source: Emma Jane Goosey Light)

Mary Savage Goosey was my fourth great-grandmother. She was born at Hill Row (sometimes Hillrow), Haddenham, Cambridgeshire, England, to William and Susan Butler Savage (sometimes Savidge). She was baptized at Holy Trinity Church in Haddenham 18 Jul 1813. On 13 Jan 1835 she married Levitt Goosey at the same church. It was also there that her nine children were baptised and five were then buried after dying in infancy and childhood. The family of six came to America in 1860, settling near Sheldon, Iroquois, Illinois. Mary died there on 14 Nov 1881 and was buried in Sheldon Cemetery there.

Questioning the birth date

The date I’ve always used for Mary Savage’s birth is 2 Jun 1810. The source for this is her gravestone. It states that she died 14 Nov 1881 aged 71 years, 5 months, 12 days.

Left: a photo from Find A Grave taken by Steven Baker (permission obtained)
Right: an enhanced photo-negative version of the same photo

I recently discovered Mary’s parent’s marriage record and to my surprise, it shows that they married 15 Oct 1810. This date was four months after the presumed birth date of their daughter Mary. While it is possible that Mary was born out of wedlock, I thought I should reexamine my information.

Then, I rediscovered something that I found odd years ago. Mary’s sister, Martha was baptized 12 May 1811. If Mary was born 2 Jun 1810, she was the eldest child. Why, then, was Mary not baptized until two years after Martha, her younger sibling?

I have seen many examples of baptisms of illegitimate children at that time. It seems to be a regular occurrence. Why, then, was Mary not baptized until she was three years old?

The answer seems to be that Mary wasn’t born in 1810. My theory is that Martha was the eldest child, born in 1811. Mary was born in June 1813. Here is an examination of the few records we have on Mary which include her age. I assume that June was the month of her birth in calculating years:

RecordDateAgeBirth Date
Gravestone14 Nov 188171y, 5m, 12d2 Jun 1810
Death Record14 Nov 188171y, 4m, 20d25 Jun 1810
1880 US Census2 Jun 188069y1811
1870 US Census7 Jul 187051y1819
Passenger List10 Oct 186048y1812
1851 UK Census30 Mar 185137y1813
1841 UK Census6 Jun 184125y1816
Baptism Record18 Jul 1813Not notedBef. 18 Jul 1813

Here is more information about the records in the above table:

County Death Record

Mary’s death record conflicts with what is on her stone. According to the record:

Mary Goosey, age 71 years, 4 months, 20 days, died on 14 Nov 1881 at 2:30 AM. She was a widow from Cambridgeshire, England. She died in Concord Township, Iroquois, Illinois of pneumonitis after being ill for ten days. She was buried at Sheldon Cemetery 15 Nov 1881 by E. Cradell of Sheldon. Her doctor had been Z. E. Patrick, also of Sheldon.

If the death record is correct, Mary’s birth date would be 25 Jun 1810.

1880 US Census

The next record for Mary is the 1880 US Census. On 2 Jun 1880, she was enumerated as 69 years old. This jives with the general June 1810 birth given on her stone and in the death record. And, of course, census records aren’t always correct. For reference, Levitt was listed as being 73 — a difference of four years between himself and Mary.

1880 US Census for the Levitt Goosey family

1870 US Census

The next record is the 1870 US Census and this is where we see a big change. On 7 Jul 1870, Mary Goosey was enumerated as 51 years old. Her husband was 66, which doesn’t jive with his death date and age at death. It also makes the difference in age go from four years to fifteen. Of course we don’t know who gave Mary’s age to the enumerator. But, if it was Mary, she shaved a decade off of her age. As Mary was baptized in 1813, we know that she was older than 51 in 1870.

1870 US Census for the Levitt Goosey family

Passenger List for the Christiana

The Levitt Goosey family missed both the 1860 US Census and the 1861 UK Census. They left the Port of London, England 10 Oct 1860 on the ship Christiana bound for New York. Their eldest son, George, had gone to America the previous spring, and the family decided to join him in Illinois. The Goosey family travelled in a 2nd class cabin and arrived in New York 22 Nov 1860. The passenger list shows Mary’s age as 48 and Levitt’s as 52. This would put Mary’s birth year as 1812.

Mary was listed as 48 years old in the fall of 1860.

1851 UK Census

The next record in our backwards search is the 1851 UK Census. Mary’s age was listed as 37 and William’s was 42. Census day was 30 Mar that year. If we keep Mary’s birth month as June, her birth year according to this census would be 1813.

Mary was 37 on 30 Mar 1851 according to the UK Census.

1841 UK Census

At the time of the 1841 UK Census, which took place on 6 June, Mary was enumerated as being 25, while Levitt was 30. This would put Mary’s birth year at either 1815 or 1816. As she was baptized in 1813, neither year would be accurate.

Mary was enumerated as 25 in 1841.

Mary and Levitt married in 1835. The record of their marriage did not note their ages at the time. As it was by banns, there was no age minimum.

Baptism Record

The next and final record for Mary is her baptism record. She was baptized at Haddenham on 18 Jul 1813. Her age at the time was not noted.

In conclusion

It’s hard to argue with information literally set in stone. But, 1810 just doesn’t make sense as the birth year for Mary Savage Goosey. How I will handle this going forward is to keep the date as calculated from age at death on the stone, but make note that she was more likely to have been born in 1813.

Sources