Talk:Bettie Wilson

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I question the low rating. Bettie Wilson was the last person alive whose mother was a U.S. adult slave (20 years old) when the Civil War ended. Top that off with the fact that Bettie was interviewed by the Univ of Mississippi, GSU, and NBC, and this case should rate as a high priority.→ R Young {yak ł talk } 11:07, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

It has been over a week since my edit has been reverted  with no explanation. As I attempted to explain in my edit summary, the census only records a person's age at their last birthday. The 1930 census was enumerated in April of that year, and so a person whose age is recorded at 19 could have been born in either 1909 or 1910. As it stands, the sentence "Her oldest son, Will Rogers, was said to be born October 27, 1909 - making him 96 years old himself (the 1930 census lists him as 19 years old, suggesting a birthdate of 1910)" appears (to me at least) to be trying to cast doubt on Rogers' claimed birth date. I am therefore changing it back to read "...1909 or 1910". Another issue is that the fact itself needs to be cited. On what roll and page was Rogers recorded? Ardric47 09:22, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

I'm sorry that you do not understand MATH. Let's try again. 1930-19=1911. However, we subtract one year because the 1930 census was taken in April and Willie's birthday was in October. Hence, 1911=1=1910. Was that so hard? THINK!

Image source: Year: 1930; Census Place: Beat 2, Union, Mississippi; Roll: 1169; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 5; Image: 270.0. → R Young {yak ł talk } 06:03, 1 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Ok, I did make a big mistake in "1909 or 1910." It should be "1910 or 1911." Unfortunately, the subtraction of an extra year "[because his birthday was in October]" is begging the question. The census itself suggests a birthdate of either 1910 or 1911 because all that is available is the age at last birthday. Perhaps the sentence should be changed to mention that the census data agrees with the claimed birth date? In common with other math majors (so I've heard), I sometimes honestly do have problems with arithmetic =). Ardric47 06:24, 1 March 2006 (UTC)