“The data on the tombstones can be wrong”
And census data too. An old g.g.uncle was married to a gal whose age was off by ten years in the census. After her husband died she married their boarder who was about 20+ years younger than she was. They are all buried next to one another.
Find-a-grave is not gospel either. Far from it. Relatives guess the d.o.b. when ordering the tombstone. Well meaning relatives submit information to the website that is just plain wrong. Case in point, Charles Comiskey, of the Chicago White Sox. The information for his wife is wrong. Someone confused the information for Charles’ mother and his wife’s mother. It may not seem like a big mistake but when you’re trying to unravel a mystery it is a big deal.
Absolutely fascinating. Love the stories.