Hi, Judith,

You missed the most important part for this discussion. The Napoleonic
format birth record starts (in translation of an example): "It happened in
Raczki in Suwalki gubernia on the 15th of September/3rd of September 1857...
" with the numbers written out in full. This gives the dates on both the
Julian and Gregorian calendar, thus accounting perhaps for the fact that
your father's idea of his 'real' age and 'official' age differ.

If the baby were just born, it would say (later on), "born to his wife this
morning at 7 AM" or "last night at 9 PM" or whatever. So, if the birth
record was done for a newborn, you would know (if you had a copy) exactly
when the baby was born. Obviously, if it was a delayed record, you don't
know for sure exactly when the event happened..

And no, the example isn't any particular birth record, as there apparently
aren't any >from Raczki in that time period. Don't I wish I had that!

Sally Bruckheimer
Princeton, NJ

"Before me came Yankiel Rumianek, merchant, age 27, permanent
resident of Wysockie Masoviecke, Lomza Gubernia, currently residing
in the town Blonie"