Proof Summaries - When & Where was Catherine Lucinda Ballinger born?

Dear Myrtle's second study group session on the written conclusion as part of the Genealogical Proof Standard is tomorrow. Chapter 7 in Thomas W. Jones’s book, Mastering Genealogical Proof, covers this topic. Tomorrow’s Google Hangout over in DearMyrtle’s Genealogy Community will cover proof summaries.

Dr. Jones defines a proof summary as "documented lists or narratives stating facts that support or lead to a proved conclusion."[a]

My proof summary has some minor conflicting evidence. Here goes:

The question we are answering in this proof summary is:

When and where was Catherine Lucinda (Louie) Ballinger, daughter of William H. and Lucinda Ballinger, born?

Conclusion:

Catherine Lucinda (Louie) Ballinger, was born in Boulder, Colorado in 1871.

Proof Summary:

·      Louie, as Catherine Lucinda Ballinger was known, was born in a time and place where official birth records were not kept. No newspaper account of her birth has been found.

·      Louie was one of 12 children born to William H. and Lucinda Ballinger. A birth year of 1871 makes sense when placed in context of her siblings and when they were born. The family is also well documented in Boulder, Colorado in the early 1870s.[1]

·      Louie’s reported age in the 1885, 1900 and 1910 census is consistent with a birth year of 1871:

Name in Census	Census Year	Location	Reported Age	Estimated birth year
	1880	Family not located.
Lewis	1885	Grand Co., Colorado	14[2]	1871
Louie C	1900	Sweet Grass Co., Montana	28 years, Aug 1871[3]	1871
Louie	1910	Yellowstone Co., Montana	38[4]	1871

·      In her marriage record to John Morton, dated 13 May 1893, Louie reported her age as 22 and her birthplace as “Boulder City,” Boulder County, Colorado. This puts her birth year as 1871.[5]

·      Louie’s 1940 death certificate states her date of birth was 22 March 1871 and that she was born in Boulder, Colorado. Her son, Gerald Morton was the informant.[6]

·      With Louie’s 28 April 1919 marriage to Charles Hoffman, Louie reported her age as 44, which puts her birth year as 1875. Her birthplace was reported as Colorado Springs.  Charles reported his age as forty-three.[7] She may have been motivated to lie about her age in order appear closer in age to her new husband. Women traditionally were not older than their husbands during this time period. The birthplace of Colorado Springs is probably just a reporting error.

·      The census records after Louie’s marriage to a younger man continue to reflect age inconsistencies until 1940. These can be explained by a motivation for husband and wife to appear closer in age.

Name in Census	Census Year	Location	Reported Age	Estimated birth year	Comments
Louie C.	1920	Columbus, Stillwater, Montana	47[8]	1873	Charles is 43
Lucindy	1930	Columbus, Stillwater, Montana	54[9]	1876	Charles is 54
Lucinda	1940	Columbus, Stillwater, Montana	69[10]	1871	Charles is 67 Informant: Charles

·      In 1940 Louie’s age is once again reported so that her birth year is estimated to be 1871. Charles, the informant, may not have cared whether his wife was younger.

Explanation of minor inconsistencies

·      Two minor inconsistencies are:

o   The date of birth of 22 March 1871 on the death certificate. The son, who was the death certificate informant, wasn’t present for his mother’s birth. So the information is secondary and may not be reliable.

o   The August 1871 birthdate on the 1900 census. The informant on the 1900 census is unknown. Therefore we don’t know how reliable the information is.

Summary

Catherine Lucinda (Louie) Ballinger, was born in Boulder, Colorado in 1871. An 1871 birth fits perfectly with the family structure and they are well documented in Boulder during the early 1870s. Census records consistently report her age as being consistent with an 1871 birth year as does her death certificate and marriage record to John Morton.

There are inconsistencies in the age reported in the marriage record to Charles Hoffman, a younger man, and Louie’s age in the census records for 1920 and 1930. The explanation is that Louie married a younger man and reported her ago so as to appear closer in age to her husband.

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[1] Michelle Roos Goodrum, William H. Ballinger-Lucinda Campbell Family Group Sheet, Goodrum Family Papers.

[2] 1885 Colorado State Census, Grand County, Colorado, District 1, p. 7, line 24. Louie Ballenger in

household of Wm. Ballenger; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 October 2012), citing Schedules of the Colorado State Census, 1885, Washington, D.C.: National Archives microfilm publication M158, 8 rolls.

[3] 1900 U.S. census, Sweet Grass County, Montana, population schedule, Stillwater Township, Enumeration District (ED) 134, sheet 5A, dwelling and family 98, Louie C. Morton in household of John A. Morton; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 November 2014; citing National Archives microfilm publication T623, roll 915.

[4] 1910 U.S. census, Yellowstone County, Montana, population schedule, Billings, Enumeration District (ED) 244, sheet 15A, house 311 and family 310, Louie Morton in household of John A. Morton; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 November 2014; citing National Archives microfilm publication T664, roll 837.

[5] Yellowstone County, Montana, Marriage Records, V. 1, p. 232, Ballinger-Morton, 1893; Clerk of the District Court, Billings; "Montana County Marriages, 1865-1950" digital image, FamilySearch; FHL Film 1943754.

[6] Montana State Registrar, certificate of death no. 1408 (1946), Lucinda Catherine Hoffman; Bureau of Vital Statistics, Helena.

[7] Yellowstone County, Montana, Marriage Records, V. 11, p. 512, Morton-Hoffman, 1919; Clerk of the District Court, Billings; "Montana County Marriages, 1865-1950" database, FamilySearch; FHL Film 1943759.

[8] 1920 U.S. census, Stillwater County, Montana, population schedule, School District No. 6.  enumeration district (ED) 127, sheet 7B, dwelling 47, family 56, Louie C. Hoffman in household of Chas. Hoffman; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 April 2015); citing National Archives microfilm publication T625, roll 977.

[9] 1930 U.S. census, Stillwater County, Montana, population schedule, School District No. 6., Columbus, enumeration district (ED) 48-4, sheet 6A, dwelling 128, family 131, Lucindy Hoffman in household of Charles Hoffman; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 April 2015); citing National Archives microfilm publication T626, roll 1263.

[10] 1940 U.S. census, Stillwater County, Montana, population schedule, School District No. 6., enumeration district (ED) 2, sheet 2A, Visited No. 30, Lucinda Hoffman in household of Charles Hoffman; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 April 2015); citing National Archives microfilm publication T627, roll 2232.

Note to readers: I'm interested in collaborating with descendants of Louie and if you are willing to do an autosomal DNA test, we need to talk!


[a] Thomas W. Jones, Mastering Genealogical Proof (Arlington, VA: National Genealogical Society, 2013), p. 86.

To cite this blog post: Michelle Goodrum, "Proof Summaries - When & Where was Catherine Lucinda Ballinger born?" The Turning of Generations, 26 March 2015 (http://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com/2015/04/proof-summaries-when-where-was.html : accessed [access date]).

 © 2015, copyright Michelle Goodrum