Clark Sargent’s Double Birth Record Was Not Unusual in His Family

Clark Sargent (born 1806 in Vermont to Samuel and Sarah (Gibson) Sargent) was not the only one in his family whose birth was apparently recorded twice. An admittedly quick search of “Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008” at AmericanAncestors.org (Vermont Births, Marriages and Deaths to 2008. (From microfilmed records. Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013.)) resulted in locating several children of Samuel and Sarah whose births were recorded twice:

• Lucina–born 7 August 1808. Recorded in Addison [no record date] and recorded in Leicester on 22 March 1810.
• Lucinda–born 1 July 1807. Recorded in Addison [no record date] and recorded in Leicester on 11 March 1809.
• Amos–born 16 August 1803. Recorded in Addison [no record date] and recorded in Leicester on 11 August 1809.
• Sarah–born 28 January 1802. Recorded in Addison [no record date] and recorded in Leicester on 11 August 1809.
• John–born 18 September 1800. Recorded in Addison [no record date] and recorded in [no town listed] by John Shaw [note: the clerks are listed on all the records, and I need to go back and extract that information for the rest of the cards].
• Clark– born 23 April 1806. Recorded in Addison [no record date] and recorded in Leicester on 11 August 1809.

Lucinda (1807) was recorded in Leicester on 11 March 1809. The births of Clark (1806), Amos (1803), Sarah (1802) were all recorded in Leicester on 11 August 1809. Lucena (1808) was recorded in Leicester on 22 March 1810. John (1800) was recorded in Leicester as well with no date of recording listed.

The double recording for Clark was not unusual at all. The dates may suggest that the family moved between Lucina’s 7 August 1808 birth in Addison and the first recording of a birth in Leicester on 11 March 1809. The whole set of birth dates and recording dates should be put in a chronology to help with the analysis.

It still may be helpful to view the actual records. It also would be helpful to determine if there are any records documenting the family’s possible move in the 1808-1809 time frame. If the family owned property, land or tax records may assist in confirming the move–or at least providing information consistent with that hypothesis. There may also be “warning out records” if the family moved into Leicester and it was thought by the town fathers that they might not be able to support themselves.

While not discussed in this post, the cards gave several different places of birth for the mother, Sarah (Gibson) Sargent. Those varying places of birth could be good clues in locating further information on her. That’s another reason to look at records for the entire family. But seeing more records of birth for the children of Samuel and Sarah helped put the duplicate entries for Clark in perspective.

It wasn’t just about him. Within his family the duplicate recordings were not all that special. One does not know if something is unique if one only looks at one record.