Advice before editing this pre-1700 Stambach profile?

Question

I have information to contribute to the profile of Felix Stambach. This is what I can add:

• Change date of birth to 16 Jul 1643 calculated from age at time of death and date of death.  

These are the sources I am using:

• Burgert, A.K. (1992).  Eighteenth century emigrants from the northern Alsace to America. Camden, ME:  Picton Press.

Should I contact one of the pre-1700 projects or know about any style guidelines before proceeding? Thank you!

Comments

Hi Sharon,

Please edit your question and add the french_roots tag, as it appears that may be an appropriate project for coordination for this pre-1700 individual. I'm not familiar with the particular source that you listed and it's not currently listed in the French Roots Project Reliable Sources. Hopefully someone will come along and provide more guidance.

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Change date of birth to 16 Jul 1643 calculated from age at time of death and date of death.

I do not think it is a good idea to put such a precise calculated date. It lets the reader believe there is a source with this exact date. Age at death is usually not very accurate, so at best we know he was born "about 1643".

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I disagree (with a caveat). German church records of the time period frequently added a very specific age-at-death info at the time the person died-- so many years, so many months, so many days.  From this, one can calculate a birthdate within a day or two. I would use 16 Jul 1643 but select the Uncertain tag until I had an actual birth record.

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This is actually a minor point considering the state of the profile. And the locations are anachronic. There was no Bas-Rhin until 1790. It was Basse Alsace, or Unterelsass if you will. It was in France at the time of the person 's death but not when they were born.

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Thanks, Isabelle. If I understand correctly now, Kutzenhausen (if indeed that's his place of birth) would likely have been in Holy Roman Empire in 1643. So maybe German Roots also as possible project for coordination? But I thought that area become part of France somewhere in the 1646-1648 time frame. If so, since it's likely that all his other BMD events other than birth/baptism would have occurred while part of France, and since any records (including birth/baptism) that may exist would likely be in Bas-Rhin, France archives now, it seems like French Roots might still be more appropriate for project coordination.

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Alsace (first the Southern part, or Haute Alsace, and later the North) became officially French between 1648 and 1690 (except Mülhausen/Mulhouse).

Concerning the parish records, if they survived, they would be in the Bas-Rhin archives (Haut-Rhin for Haute Alsace) regardless of the time period.

With all that said, I do think "German Roots" applies, at least culturally.

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Hi Sharon,

Per Isabelle's comments, please also add the german_roots tag to your question.