Lesson Learned: Dates and why we should carefully cite those

Diaries of William Lanning Tucker (1839 - 1929)

I received another notice this weekend from FamilySearch.org that a date had been changed on my G-G-Grandfather William Lanning Tucker. Sigh.

With my Tucker family draft monograph in hand, I went to my FamilySearch Family Tree to see what exactly had been changed.  Another researcher in this family line had changed his birth year from 1839 to 1840. My monograph had his birth date as 19 September 1839. But where exactly did I get that? I have a number of citations, including his granddaughter’s “Black Diaries” and “Information taken from 1830 family bible pages,” but that was more of a general citation for William’s parents, Ezra and Caroline (Lanning) Tucker. I did not have a citation attached to William’s birth date per se.

We have been told that a citation should accompany every date. What a pain! But excellent advice since it saves time later when verifying where the date came from.

So last night I spent time going back through what my Great Grandmother, Jessie (Tucker) Agard had written from the Tucker Family Bible, where she had noted her father’s birth date as 19 September 1839 and then just to make sure I retrieved William Lanning Tucker’s diaries from the archival box.

William Lanning Tucker kept diaries from 1919 through his death in 1929. I picked three years and went to 19 September. On that date for each of the three years I randomly chose, he wrote that it was his birthday and how old he was. That brought the year of his birth back to 1839.

The confusing issue is the 1900 census that states the day and year of birth is clearly 1840.  I changed the date back to 1839 on FamilySearch, stated my sources and also wrote in that the U.S. Census for 1900 states the year 1840.

Is one year’s difference really that important? To me, no, not for that family tree. My monograph will have what I believe is his correct date of birth, and in the footnote I have already mentioned the census discrepancy.

Unfortunately, this is the same family line that was mistakenly merged with New Hampshire people. Hopefully that won’t happen again, but now I know how to reverse the information back.

This time was not wasted. It is good to have someone challenge your information. It makes you go back and double check where your information came from. In the midst of the thrill of the hunt, you (or I particularly) can make mistakes. Typos happen as you sleep, and even when you are awake. This situation also prompted me to pull out William’s diaries again. They are small books, and he doesn’t have much relevant genealogy information, but I realize I need to scan through them all for the hidden gems or births and deaths and other family activities.

Albert “Bert” and Ida Estelle Lanning Tucker

When we visited the Ithaca area in September for my husband’s high school reunion, we spent some time in Trumansburg, and I grabbed that opportunity to take photos of some family tombstones.  Am just now getting them off my phone!  We shall start with the stone of Bert Tucker and Ida Lanning Tucker.

Albert “Bert” Tucker (b: 1864) was the son of Albert R. Tucker (1842-1864) and Sally Lavina Hausner (1841-1906).  Bert’s father passed away the same year Bert was born. Bert’s mother, Sally Lavina, then married Charles Hubbell, but that's a story for another day.

Bert Tucker married Ida Estelle Lanning in 1883. Ida was the daughter of Horace and Ursula Lanning of Enfield, NY.  Bert and Ida had three children: Neva A. (b: 1889), Ursula L. (b: 1891), and Leon H. (b: 1895).

Bert Tucker died 10 September 1916 at the age of 51. He is buried in Lot 1172, Grove Cemetery, Trumansburg, New York. Ida Estelle Tucker died 17 February 1936 and is buried alongside her husband.

Carrie Tucker

Carrie (Tucker) Beardsley

Carrie, born in Enfield, NY on 10 January 1866 was the oldest daughter of William Lanning and Fanny Adelia (Hosner) Tucker. 

In November of 1886 she married Frank J. Beardsley. They made their home in the town of Hector, just west of the Mecklenburg town line.  Carrie and Frank had three children: Herbert b: February 1888, Mabel b: April 1890, and Olive b: January 1894.

The year 1916 was difficult for Carrie.  In January her son Herbert fractured his leg while jumping from a wagon on the farm he was working.  On 9 April 1916 Carrie’s mother passed away.  Carrie, along with her sisters Jessie Agard and Olive Rightmire then shared in the care of their father, William Lanning Tucker.

Besides keeping house, raising her children, and helping to care for her dad, Carrie stayed busy with the Mecklenburg Grange and Study Club. 

Carrie (Tucker) Beardsley died at her home on 7 December 1932 after a long illness. She is buried alongside her husband in the Mecklenburg NY cemetery.

Please note that Carrie’s birth date in the Rootsweb/Ancestry online index for this cemetery is incorrect by a year.  

Those Places Thursday - Enfield, New York

My current project of documenting the Tucker family brings me to a geographic area just north of Ithaca, New York that I had thought of as just a crossroads. I am now learning that during the 1800s, Enfield was the busy hometown of the many branches of the Tucker family.  I am a bit overwhelmed already as I trace out the eight living of ten children of Ezra and Caroline Lanning Tucker. And then researching the four daughters of William Lanning and Fanny Adelia Hosner Tucker.

I learned that William was raised on a farm in the northeast corner of Enfield, possibly attending School District #10, while his father supported the family by being a blacksmith.

Although early residents of Enfield, NY were from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Middletown, Connecticut, it is suspected that Enfield, New York was actually named after Enfield, Connecticut.

When I am feeling stressed about the amount of work ahead of me, I gaze on this postcard of early Enfield that was recently found in a box in the back corner of my great-grandparent's barn. 

"Now, don't you wish you were here?" 

Surname Saturday - Searching Tucker Cousins

When the 1830 family bible of my great-great-grandfather, William Lanning Tucker (b: 1839; d: 1859), came into my possession I was thrilled. That source provided names and birthdates of the ten children of Ezra D. and Caroline Lanning Tucker.

Ezra D. Tucker was born 25 August 1817 in New Jersey He died in 1898 at the age of 81. Ezra married Caroline Lanning on 21 February 1837 in Enfield, New York. Caroline was born 7 July 1817 and died 31 December 1894.  Living in their household was Caroline’s father, William Lanning. 

With this information in hand, I traced and “filled in the dash” of most of the children in that family line.  Although I have names, dates, and spouse information I do not have any photos of this family.  I would love to connect with any cousins who may have photos of this large family.

I was also fortune to acquire William Lanning Tucker’s diaries – a few he kept in the early 1920s when he was in his 80s.  Although sparsely written there are some precious entries, one in which he described the events surrounding the birth of my mother in 1924.  From his diary I learned how long my grandmother was in the hospital following the birth, and that she and the new baby were sent home in an ambulance!

Willow Creek, NY

Willow Creek is a crossroads in Tompkins County, about 8 miles north of Ithaca, NY. It was probably named for the willow trees that grew along its bank, and which waters flowed into Cayuga Lake.  Samuel Vann was one of the first settlers. When the Geneva to Ithaca railroad served that area during the late 1800s, Willow Creek had a small station and a U.S. Post Office.  The post office was discontinued in 1913. When I was growing up in the 1950s, only the two-room schoolhouse remained.  The school was started because in 1812, it was deemed that everyone should be able to read the Bible, so under the direction of New York Governor Daniel Tompkins, a state law was passed that mandated there be a public school within walking distance of every child.


John and Sarah Agard purchased a farm a half mile up the road and that is where my mother grew up.  I was interested in Dr. Bill's comment that he, too, grew up near a "Willow Creek" in Iowa. And he is correct, it is a small world. 


Jesse Tucker Agard wrote in her diary, "On New Year's Day John Agard, Ella, Arthur, Merritt and I went to Willow Creek on the train. The Colegrove farm was for sale and we went up to see it. Later, John Wesley Agard bought the farm and we moved up there on April 1, 1908." 


The Agard family remained on this land, and continue to do so today.  There will be much more on the Agard family in later posts.