Jeff Linscott--So. China, ME
Below is a statement, taken from "Searching For Your Ancestors," by Gilbert H. Doane & James B. Bell, pub. 1981 by the University of Minnesota, that I hope will explain some of the 'double dates' seen in this listing [my book]:
'The Calendar - A stumbling block for many an ancestor hunter, when attempting to check the dates of forebears, is a mysterious discrepancy of either a few days or a year which throws out calculations. If this does not arise, then the 'double' date in some old record may cause the searcher to wonder why those who made the contemporary record did not know whether the child was born in 1702 or 1703. If you have much experience with them, you will note that these double dates occur in the old records only in January, February, and March - never in any other months and never after 1752.'
'This system of 'double- dating' arose as a result of a change made in the calendar in 1582. Before that date the so-called Julian calendar was used throughout the Christian world. It was established by Julius Caesar, hence its name. This system, which divided the year into 365 days, plus an extra day every fourth year, was officially adopted at the sitting of the Nicene Council in A.D. 325. As it became possible to measure more accurately the length of the solar year, it was found that the Julian system of measuring exceeded the solar year by eleven minutes, or twenty-four hours every 131 years, and three days every 400 years. This excess amounted to about 10 days between A.D. 325 and A.D. 1582. Thus the date of the vernal equinox had been thrown back, by that time, from 21 March to 11 March and the calculations for Easter were thrown out.'
'In 1582 Pope Gregory XIII, then head of the Roman Catholic Church, ordered that 10 days be dropped out of the calendar, thus restoring the equinox to its accustomed date, 21 March. To prevent the recurrence of the error, he ordered further that, in every four hundred years, leap year's extra day should be omitted three times. To accomplish this in an orderly fashion it was to be omitted on centennial years of which the first two digits could not be divided by four without a remainder. Thus it was omitted in A.D. 1700, 1800, and 1900, but will not be omitted in A.D. 2000. Moreover, the decree changed the beginning of the new year from 25 March to 1 January. This system, known as the Gregorian calendar, now prevails and we are right with the sun.'
'Following the edict of the Pope, all Catholic countries adopted the new system of reckoning. But, England, in difficulties with the Church of Rome and always reluctant to accept a new and untried idea, even though scientifically proved, refused to adopt the new calendar officially and did not adopt it until 1752, or 170 years later, when the difference between the calendar and the Sun was a little more than eleven days. So in English-speaking countries (including the English colonies) and in Russia, the Julian calendar continued to prevail as the official system of counting time. Throughout that time (that is, until 1752) the new year did not begin until 25 March, and there was still a difference of eleven days between the English calendar and that used in the rest of Europe.'
'In spite of this difference in the official calendar, many people began to use the Gregorian system. Hence, in many of the early colonial records you will find 'double dates', generally written like this: '9 March 1656/57,' indicating that, although it was officially still 1656, some people considered it 1657.'
'In 1752, when the British government finally decided to recognize the fact that a mistake had been made in calculating the length of the solar year, and to shift into line with the other countries of Europe in use of the calendar, Parliament passed an act by which the Gregorian system was officially adopted.'
There are some dates in this listing as indicated in the above explanation. I hope that this explanation will help the reader in understanding any dates with a slash mark ('/') separating the dates.
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