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copy of Anna's tombstone, on which the date of death and her age in years, months, and days appeared. When figured back this agreed perfectly with the year 1765, instead of 1764. Not to be outdone, Jacobus photocopied the town records. In reply, the client sent a photocopy of a Bible record made by Anna's son in which he had entered the birth dates of both parents, and which showed Anna's birth correctly according to day and month in 1765. At this point, Jacobus gave up the struggle. He accepted that the moral of the story is that we often lack dates for birth and marriage, but that is not how genealogy is derived. We should try to be accurate, but proving the line of descent is what's important. Jacobus stated the point clearly: Does it really matter if Anna was born in 1764 or 1765, since her father acknowledged paternity by marrying her mother?
Family Sources
    Nevertheless, we all hope to find dates of birth, death, and marriage, for this is the foundation on which we build our genealogy. The first place to look for these important dates is within the family: Bibles, letters, journals, notes on the backs of photographs, obituary notices, marriage certificates, funeral cards, family histories, engraved jewelry, etc. Do not overlook the possibility that an obscure notation or reference tucked away where it doesn't belong could be the only reference to a date you need. Just use caution and be sure to carefully inspect any gem found in family sources. A postcard is the only reference my husband's family has been able to locate specifying the death date of Justus Cobb, his second great-grandfather, even though the county in which he died has been combed for additional information (see Figure 2-1 ). His tombstone reads only “Father,” with no dates.
    Diaries and journals can reveal important information. If you can find those still within your family you are indeed fortunate, but don't neglect the diaries and journals of neighbors, local physicians, ministers, and “busybodies.” New England families were particularly good at keeping those important diaries. For example, Samuel Sewall of Boston kept a diary faithfully from 1674 to 1729. Fortunately, it has been published. 2 He recorded the only death date I have been able to find for my husband's ancestor, Captain Daniel Henchman, who died in 1685.
    Monday, Oct. 19th
About Nine aclock [
sic
] at night News comes to Town of Capt. Henchman's Death at Worcester last Thursday; buried on Friday. Very few at His Funeral, his own Servants, a white and black, carried him to, and put him in his Grave. His Wife and children following and no more, but one or two more.
    QUOTES
    “Proving the line of descent is the essential thing. So far as dates are concerned, we should try to be accurate, but should not make a fetish of it.”
    — Donald Lines Jacobus
    Although New England kept excellent vital records in the colonial period, death dates are the least likely to be complete — especially for children. In researching my Robinson family history in Massachusetts, I located this reference to the death of a cousin in 1745 that was not recorded in the Westborough vital records. It was taken from the annotated published diary of the Reverend Ebenezer Parkman. 3 10 December 1745: At the Funeral of Mr. Seth Rice's Daughter. Just out of interest, I compared a number of deaths at random that were recorded in Ebenezer Parkman's diary against the vital records of Westborough. I found that only 33 percent of those recorded by Parkman were also in the vital records. Thus, it behooves a researcher to learn the identity of the local minister and learn whether his diary has been preserved. Some diaries and journals are extant from the 1630s. Four excellent sources for locating them are:
    1. Arksey, Laura, Nancy Pries, and Marcia Reed.
American Diaries: An Annotated Bibliography of Published American Diaries and Journals
. 2 vols. Vol. 1: 1492–1844. Vol. 2: 1845–1980. (Gale Research, Book Tower,