Dinah Stearns

The Year of Her Birth

Elsewhere Dinah's birth is listed as being 30 Jun 1717, rather than Nov 1738. There are at least two facts that argue strongly against the 1738 date and for the 1717 date.

A birth in 1717 seems more likely considering the age of her parents. Her father, Josiah Wheeler, was born 22 Oct 1675; and her mother, Martha Joslin (Prescott) was born in 1679 or 1680. If she were born in 1738, this would mean that her father would have been 63 years old, and her mother would have been at least 57 years, 10 months old. While there are records of 17 women in the world who have given birth when they were this old through natural conception, such an aged birth should be presumed to be in error unless there is clear evidence to the contrary. However, if Dinah was born in 1717, then her father would have been 41 years old, and her mother would have been no more than 37 years old. This is far more credible.

Also coordinating with this is the fact that Dinah’s husband, Benjamin Stearns, was born 8 Nov 1714. This would make her 24 years younger than her husband. While such differences in age are not uncommon, given that Dinah’s first child Josiah was born 3 Apr 1740, she would have been only 1 year, 5 months old at the time of the child’s birth (and would have become pregnant when she was less than a year old). That of course would be absurd.

Finally, it should be observed that the siblings of Dinah (all of whom were born before her) were born between 1697 and 1711. That in itself proves nothing, but it does suggest that Dinah's mother was coming to the end of her childbearing years at an earlier age rather than a later one.

Elsewhere it is stated that Dinah married Benjamin Stearns 11 Sep 1738. This is probably where the Nov 1738 date for her birth came from. The 11 was possibly mistaken for the month Nov, and the date for her marriage was accidentally used for the date of her birth.

• Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Mar 2 2020, 14:03:40 UTC