I have been working on some family lines for a friend of mine, and the information is not coming easily. The more recent stuff - 1900 - 1957 is covered with obituaries, but the older stuff is being stubborn.
The families I'm researching are White, Naylor, Brooke, and Gibbons. They're all from the Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia areas. Some moved on to Ohio later on. The problem is the census. This is the 1860 census. In it you see John C. Naylor, presumed wife Susan, and presumed children: daughter Florence, son Henry, and daughter, R. C. Also enumerated with this family is Robert Brooke, wife Caroline and daughter Anne E.
In this family, the person I was interested in was Henry Naylor, whom I presume to be the son in this family, and whose name is Henry Brooke Naylor.
When I went looking for this family in 1870, I did not find John C. Naylor, instead the head of household is Henry Naylor, wife Susan, daughter Florence, and son Henry. No R. C. Naylor and no Brooke family. I went back to that 1860 census and I think the census taker carried down the name from the family above. This happens far more often than you might think. I try not to let the ages concern me, because you really don't know who gave the information. It might have been a neighbor, or the people being counted might have been intimidated by an official of the U. S. government.
This is just the first discrepancy I've found while working on these lines. There are more!
