Good morning,

I have a perplexing find, two birth certificates, on the same day, at the same hospital, both for Harry Goldstein. Both are born 2 Jan 1904, son of Michael Goldstein. Both show the home address as 17 Ludlow. Both certs are signed off by JC Salter. Both show the father's occupation as tailor. Both show the mother as Ida, age 36. Both show this being the 8th birth. There are a few small differences:
Cert (#968 vs #1942)
Father's age (40 vs 42)
Mother's maiden name (Goodman vs Judas)
# of living children (8 vs 9 - although how there can be more living than total is itself a contradiction)

I have attached both cert images.

I also have tried to track this Michael and Ida Goldstein, the parents of Harry, through census, draft, birth and marriage records for them and their other children. A PDF summary is attached. I can not determine if there are one or more families, like cousins or close relatives all living together. 

I am open to anyone's suggestions as to what to make of these two certs. Is it a correction? Why are the cert#'s almost 1000 digits apart (968 to 1942)? Is Ida's maiden name: Goodman, Judas, Mayer or Myers, if it is a correction?

Thank you,
Moishe Miller
Brooklyn, NY
moishe.miller@...

There are corrections made to official records, when needed.

"I have a perplexing find, two birth certificates, on the same day, at the same hospital, both for Harry Goldstein. Both are born 2 Jan 1904, son of Michael Goldstein. Both show the home address as 17 Ludlow. Both certs are signed off by JC Salter. Both show the father's occupation as tailor."

Sally Bruckheimer

My personal thoughts.   1)  Could twins have been born and one died at birth?  2) on the first certificate for mothers name before marriage it repeats her married name, the second certificate lists her maiden name.  3) the first certificate was done at birth; (according to the stamped date);   the second one possibly months or years later.  Something to think about.     Trudy Barch,  Florida

I can't be certain, but I strongly suspect that the first (#968), filed just a few days after the birth, had several errors that were corrected on the second. As far as the number of children is concerned, note that the first section is the number of previous births, which would not include the current one, so 8 previous births and 9 now living indicates that all of the previous children are still living. It's too bad that the stamp in the upper left corner is illegible on the second certificate. Knowing what date it was filed might help clear up the mysteries. 
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Deborah,
Thank you. I will have to go to a Family History Center and check the dates on the surrounding certificates of the #1942 cert, to get a date estimate. 
I appreciate your reply.
Moishe Miller

Good idea, Moishe. I hadn't thought of  that! 
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