Sepia Saturday 554. Sixth in a series on my maternal German ancestors, the Stoutners, of Gloversville, Fulton Co., N.Y.
My maternal great-great grandmother Christina (Albeitz) Stoutner — the third wife of Andrew Stoutner Sr. — is shown here in an undated studio photo wearing a stunning beaded outfit.
She was born in the mid 1800s in Germany — but as with many of my other immigrant ancestors, there is some mystery about the details.
When was Christina born?
Sources below place her birth between 1842 and 1845. While most indicate Christina was born in Germany, the earliest source says she was born in Prussia — the portion of Germany located south of the Baltic Sea.
To find the most accurate birth date, the obvious solution is to locate Christina’s birth or baptismal registration in Germany/Prussia. Ah, if only it were so easy!
With so many family lines to research, I decided years ago that I would focus on tracing each immigrant ancestor from their arrival in the U.S. — so I have not yet researched Christina’s early life. Which leaves me with the sources shown here.
| Christina (Albeitz) Stoutner’s Date of Birth – Sources: FamilySearch (census entries) and family records (death certificate and tombstone photo) |
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| Source | Location | Name | Age | Born | Birthplace |
| 1870 US census | Johnstown, Fulton Co., New York | Christina Stoutner | 26 | 1844 (estimated) | Prussia |
| 1875 NYS census | Johnstown, New York | Christina Stoutner | 30 | 1845 (estimated) | Germany |
| 1880 US census | Gloversville, Fulton Co., New York | Cristine Stoutner | 35 | 1845 (estimated) | Germany |
| 1900 US census | Gloversville, New York | Christina Stoutner | 56 | June 1843 (penned) | Germany |
| 1905 NYS census | Gloversville, New York | Christine Stoutner | 61 | 1844 (estimated) | Germany |
| 1910 US census | Gloversville, New York | Christina Stoutner | 65 | 1845 (estimated) | Germany |
| 1915 NYS census | Gloversville, New York | Christina Stoutner | 71 | 1844 (estimated) | Germany |
| 1920 US census | Gloversville, New York | Christina Stoutner | 75 | 1845 (estimated) | Germany |
| 1924 NYS Death Certif. | Gloversville, New York | Christina Stoutner | 81 yrs, 9 mos, 17 days | Aug. 1, 1842 (penned) | Germany |
| Tombstone: Prospect Hill Cemetery | Gloversville, New York | Christina Stoutner, wife of Andrew Stoutner | 80 (calculated from engraved date of death: May 17, 1924) | Aug. 1, 1844 (engraved) | — |
Estimated, penned and engraved dates
The census is an imprecise genealogical tool, since it was designed to collect demographic data rather than link us to our ancestors. Nevertheless, it does offer clues to point us in the right direction.
At census time, Christina (or a household member) gave her age to the census taker — and her year of birth was later estimated by indexers. As she appears to have a summer birthday (in either June or August) a different birth year — either 1844 or 1845 — might be estimated from her age depending on the month the census was taken.
The 1900 federal census is the only one with a specific month and year for Christina penned in by the census taker (June 1843) — and it varies from the other census returns.
I believe this is a census-taker error, because the same household enumeration in 1900 shows an inaccurate birth year (1863) for Andrew and Christina’s son Andrew Jr., 26. He was actually born in 1875.
Settling for a best guess
The details on Christina’s death certificate were supplied by a funeral director, rather than a family member, so that date-of-birth information is also suspect.
My best guess, until I find additional sources, is that Christina’s date of birth as engraved on her tombstone — Aug.1, 1844 — is probably more accurate. Her children likely supplied the information for the stone at the time of her death/burial — possibly from family records and/or their own knowledge.
Clearly, more research is needed on my great-great grandmother Christina’s birth and early years. For now, on to her life after immigration.
Up next: Christina (Albeitz) Stoutner’s mysterious U.S. arrival. Please stop back! Meanwhile, please visit the blogs of this week’s other Sepia Saturday participants here.
© 2021 Molly Charboneau. All rights reserved.
Similar Posts:
- By 1868: Christina Albeitz weds Andrew Stoutner
- 1865: Christina (Albeitz) Stoutner’s unique arrival in the U.S.
- 1855-65: The first two wives of Andrew Stoutner Sr.
- Circa 1866: The Blended Stoutner Family of Gloversville, N.Y.
I often find questionable dates when researching persons born before 1850. I suspect home births and delays in recording births and christening made many people unsure of their birth year, much less birthday. I tend to trust the census that was made when someone was age 10 to 25, as I think people have less reason to be mistaken.
You asked me about finding the name of Old Bull’s ship. The reason his story is so much fun to tell is that as a celebrity his name was always in the newspapers. Whenever entertainers arrived or departed it was news to add to the gossip columns. So that’s how I found the ship searching for his name and “arrival.” Ancestry.com has ship manifests from the 1880s and 1890s but hardly any before the 1870s, and Old Bull’s name did not show up. I’m not sure when immigration records started in the US, but I suspect those older ship logs and customs records are not yet digitized
Thanks for the ship info. I have searched online ships records, but with no success so far. Will keep at it as time allows — particularly since I have a narrow time window for Christina’s arrival to help narrow my search.
Wow – your research is so organized and looks appealing in that list that you’ve created! There is so much to do when it comes to the ancestors, isn’t there?! I like your idea of focusing on “her life after immigration.”
Thanks, Mary Alice. With more and more records being digitized, I am glad I put off researching my ancestors in their countries of origin. There is a better chance now that I might find something when/if I find the time to do that searching.
She lived to be 80 years old – that’s a fairly long life for those times. I hope she was happy and lived it in good health? The dress she wore in the photograph was beautiful. I wonder what color it was? It’s too light to be black or even brown. Hair styles back then for women were so severe though. I often wonder what women in those days would have looked like in todays looser styles?
Yes, Christina had long life filled with family — in her final years living with her oldest son John in Gloversville, N.Y. I have also wondered about her dress. Apparently German women married in a black dress with a white veil, so I wonder if it might have been her wedding outfit. In this photo. she appears older than 22 (her age when she married), but she may have kept the dress in good shape for special occasions — such as a studio photo.
It always surprises me – I don’t know why – that so many people apparently had no knowledge of when they were born. I guess birthday celebrations were not a “thing” then.
Yes, my Irish ancestors are particularly guilty of this — often with decades of variations in their ages from census to census.