Very Confused on Parentage of Nancy (Byers) Chamberlain b. 1851 d. 1931
I have been tracing the life of my great-great-great grandmother Nancy Byers, born in 1851 in Ohio. The first record I have of her is the 1860 us census, which states the following:
Name: Nancy J Byeres [Nancy J Byers]
Age: 9
Birth Year: abt 1851
Gender: Female
Birth Place: Ohio
Home in 1860: Center, Noble, Ohio
Post Office: Sarahsville
Family Number: 922
Value of real estate: View image
John J Byeres 61 Elisabeth Byeres 42 Margaret Byeres 20 Mary Byeres 18 William Byeres 17 David Byeres 14 George Byeres 14 Elisabeth Byeres 11 Nancy J Byeres 9 Joseph Byeres 7 Robert Byeres 1
You see my problem? At first I thought John Byers and Elizabeth Byers were Nancy's parents But then I realized John is 61, and Elizabeth is 41! Twenty years difference. So I did more digging, and came across Nancy's death certificate:
Name: Nancy Bell Chamberlain [Nancy Bell Byers]
Death Date: 7 Apr 1931
Death Place: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Gender: Female
Age: 79
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Birth Date: 23 Sep 1851
Birth Place: Portsmouth, Ohio
Father's name: John Byers
Mother's name: Mary Jones
Spouse's Name: Noyes Chamberlain
Document Type: Certificate of Death
See?! John Byers and a Mary Jones are obviously Nancy's parents. Not even close! A marriage record of Nancy's brother Joseph, states his parentage as John Byers and Elizabeth Botty! Lets jump ahead to the 1870 census:
Name: Nancy I Byers
Age in 1870: 18
Birth Year: abt 1852
Birthplace: Ohio
Home in 1870: Railroad, Starke, Indiana
Race: White
Gender: Female
Post Office: San Pierre
Value of real estate: View image
John Byers 71 Elizabeth Byers 52 Mary Byers 26 Elizabeth A Byers 20 Nancy I Byers 18 Joseph A Byers 16 Robert Byers 11 Sarah J Byers 9 Rosella Byers 2
No new clues! Who is actually Nancy's parents? Am I confusing 2 different people? According to the death certificate, the person who stated the parents of Nancy was Nancy's daughter. Coincidently, Nancy's husband Noyes mother was a Mary Chamberlain.
Could the daughter be confused? Twenty years apart marriage? Wrong family? Please help!
EDIT: Mary Jones is confirmed to be the mother of Noyes Chamberlain. Who is the real mother of Nancy?
Posted Apr 15, 2016, 1:22 AM UTC · edited