I was just going through my vital records for my family tree recently, looking at all the birth certificates I have, thinking about how I had evidence of an exact birthday for so many of these people. My train of thought then led to how those same people on those records would list their age as one thing in one census, only 8 years older in a census 10 years later, 11 years older again in another census 10 years after that... a lot of our ancestors didn't know when their birthday was. Maybe the month, maybe the day, not always the year. A lot of times, they were just guestimating. Maybe their birthday was recorded somewhere in a family Bible, but chances were, they didn't have a copy of their birth certificate. But I do. They didn't know when their own birthday was...but I do, because I have access to their birth records. They didn't have their birth record in their own lifetime, but 100 years later, 200 years later, 300 years later I do... Isn't that crazy?
Anyway, happy weekend everybody...have fun and be safe!