April 19, 2009
TRACING OUR
ROOTS
DO YOU DOUBLE DATE?
Brenda Kellow
The first colonists who entered America double dated. Don’t snicker thinking the
term is a social one because this subject is about calendar dating. The records
the colonists left filed at state, county, and town level reflect the
two-calendar system.
There were two calendars: Julian and Gregorian.
The Julian calendar used during the middle ages, named after Julius Caesar,
continued after Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar year in 1582. Gregory
determined the Julian calendar was missing 11 days because there was no
provision made for leap years on the astronomical calendar. Under the Julian
calendar, the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25 was the first day of the New
Year and the year ended March a year later. Gregory changed that to reflect the
calendar we use today with the year beginning on January 1 and ending December
31. Both these calendars were in use until 1752. Although the Catholic countries
adopted Gregory’s calendar beginning in 1582, several countries continued to use
the Julian system.
One note regarding the old style calendar is important. The Julian calendar uses
7ber [September], 8ber [October], 9ber [November] and Xber for December instead
of writing it as we do today. The X
is symbolic for Christ.
Now, this gets confusing so pay attention. To adhere to the two calendar systems
a practice of double dating began after an Act of Parliament called the Calendar
Act of 1751 declared the colonies would adopt the Gregorian calendar beginning
on New Year’s Day January 1, 1752 and every four years an extra day would be
inserted on February 29th. When this happens we call it leap year.
America and most of Europe lost 11 days when the Gregorian system began. Thus,
September 3, 1752 suddenly became September 14th. In that
year alone, September 2 was followed immediately by September 14.
At that time, dates used two years separated by a forward slash mark (/) to
distinguish the old style calendar from the new calendar. This means that dates
between January 1 and March 25 listed both current and succeeding years. An
example is March 2, 1741/42. The slash separates the two years. Thus, the number
1741 represents the Julian calendar and the year 1742 denotes the Gregorian.
Only January 1 through March 25th use the double dates.
Are you totally confused? Don’t stop reading yet because I have another factor
to add to all this. I’m going to use the birthday of our first president, George
Washington. He was born in Virginia on February 11, 1731 during the time of the
Julian calendar. Today, we calculate his birth using the Gregorian calendar.
Therefore, we added 11 days to the February 11th date making it read
February 22. We can’t stop there. We also have to add one year. Thus, February
11, 1731 becomes February 22, 1732.
Thinking of famous people and events affected by the old and new style calendars
is almost as fun as working a puzzle. Wait, it is a puzzle. Moreover, it affects
your ancestors’ dates. Your genealogical software program accounts for these two
calendars, but do you when you type it on your word processor? Until you
remember to account for these it might help to use a post it note until you
memorize the changes.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history,
teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s
histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a
Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunions announcements, books to review,
and genealogy queries to: TraceRts@verizon.net.
