1860 Federal Census - Hugh Fulton, Short Creek, Harrison, Ohio, age is incorrectly transcribed.
The census transcription for Hugh Fulton, 1860, Short Creek, Harrison, Ohio, was misread. The age should be 63, although it looks like very much 55. I do not know how to fix this. Comparing this record to 1850 and 1870 census, should collaborate my suggestion. Thank you.
jbc
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Hello and thanks for posting your suggestion. I took a look at the 1860 Census that you mentioned listing both Hugh and Elizabeth Fulton. It does state Hugh's age to be 55, Elizabeth's 58. I don't think there was an indexing error. The Census enumerator lists the ages as 55 and 58 with no year of birth. Most likely, it was the indexer who did the math when asked for a birth estimate and subtracted 55 and 58 from 1860 to get the approximate birth year as 1805 and 1802. If we edit the index with a different age it would look like it was indexed incorrectly but in it's present state the index is correct.
Many people back in the day didn't know their exact birthdays and made guesses. It seems interesting though that the 1850 and 1870 Census information is consistent with a birth year of 1797 for Hugh. It's my guess that there was a guess with birth dates given.
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thank you
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