Clara Valeda Haviland was born 11 July 1894 in either Geddes, Charles Mix, South Dakota (census records 1910, 1920, 1930) or near Bolivar City, Polk, Missouri (family lore). The birth year "1893" on her headstone (pictured) is incorrect. The family knows of the error, but has not corrected the inscription. Several descendants speculate it was a simple error by the stone mason; others offer that her husband, Roy Clymer, may not have known her exact birth year. The date of birth on her official certificate of death is "11 July 1894" that information provided to the authorities by husband Roy, who's listed as the informant. Interestingly, certificate also states "aged 42 years, 8 months, 4 days" when calculated backward gives "11 July 1893" which lines up with the headstone error, but does not match with her correct stated birth date elsewhere on the document. Finally, her newspaper obituary states she passed at "41 years, 5 months and 11 days" which calculates to 4 October 1894, which is not even close... so the mystery continues.
Clara Valeda Haviland was born 11 July 1894 in either Geddes, Charles Mix, South Dakota (census records 1910, 1920, 1930) or near Bolivar City, Polk, Missouri (family lore). The birth year "1893" on her headstone (pictured) is incorrect. The family knows of the error, but has not corrected the inscription. Several descendants speculate it was a simple error by the stone mason; others offer that her husband, Roy Clymer, may not have known her exact birth year. The date of birth on her official certificate of death is "11 July 1894" that information provided to the authorities by husband Roy, who's listed as the informant. Interestingly, certificate also states "aged 42 years, 8 months, 4 days" when calculated backward gives "11 July 1893" which lines up with the headstone error, but does not match with her correct stated birth date elsewhere on the document. Finally, her newspaper obituary states she passed at "41 years, 5 months and 11 days" which calculates to 4 October 1894, which is not even close... so the mystery continues.
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