The articles mentioned that her father listed her as 7 years old in the 1940 census. The 1940 census records were just released on April 2, 2012. The Census Bureau releases census records 70 years after they are compiled. This is the first census after Loretta Lynn was born.
http://1940census.archives.gov/
Thank you Paleo. That is a most concise and intelligent response to my sarcastic post. Once again you have shown that the people who read and post on FR are informed, intelligent and literate...with the possible exception of me.
My only regret is that I will probably be long dead when the results of the 1970 census are released and the world will see the what the records hold.