My great, great grandmother, Alice O'Neil, was born to Mortimer "Morty" O'Neil and Catherine "Cate" Dugan O'Neil in Nashua, NH in 1861. When in 1861? I don't know. It's not on her marriage record, divorce record, birth record for her children, or death record.
I search for more on her parents, having to search for Morty instead of Mortimer to find his death record. Even worse, Catherine is listed only as Mrs. Mortimer O'Neil on her death record. They were married in 1859, I have their marriage record, June 5th, 1859 in Nashua. Searching today I find a birth record for a daughter, no first name, born March 29, 1859. Oopsie.
Could this be Alice's actual birth date? Before her Irish Catholic parents were married? Ancestry thinks so. So I checked the 1860 Census, there's Morty and Cate in Nashua, no children listed. The census was taken June 12, 1860, just a year after they were married.
Did Morty and Cate hide their child born out of wedlock from the census taker? Did they lie to Alice, and others, about her birth year?
