HOW OLD ARE THESE ANCESTORS OF MINE??

Over the past two years during my avid research of the SILVAN family, I have found documents that scream at each other, vying for attention. Each document aches to be right and I sometimes pull my hair out. Spanish birth certificates are few and far between; I hold them tightly to my chest when they arrive to document accurate dates!

Victorino Silvan was 42 in February 1911 on the Orteric when he sailed from Spain. The 1920 Census in Hanalei, Kauai, Hawaii a short nine (9) years later lists him as 62. Assuming the slip of the pen, I know he had to be 52. He died in 1925 and I have not (yet!) found the ship that carried him and his wife (Ramona) and children from Hawaii to California but can only assume it was after January 1920 (census date) and before he died just before Christmas in 1925.

Ramona Silvan, his wife, was 32 on the Orteric and listed as 40 on the 1920 census. Her death document on the internet lists her date of birth as 1875. It doesn't match!! She could have been born anywhere between 1877 and 1879 if those documents are correct.

Happily, I have in my hands the birth documents for Crestencia Silvan Gonzales and her husband, Eusebio Felix Gonzales (thanks again to Patte and Linda!!) so we know absolutely they were born in 1881 for Eusebio and 1884 for Crestencia. ~

Now to my great grandparents. As I scratch my cheek and rub my head, I wonder if my hair truly IS falling out...

Juan Francisco (John) Silvan was listed as age 37 on the Orteric in February 1911, which would make his date of birth 1873. Again, the Governor ship manifest lists him as 44 in January 1918 which also means he was born in 1873. The California census of April, 1930 lists him as 54 which would mean his birth year was actually 1875. His death certificate lists him as 75 in 1945 which means his daughter, Juanita, thought he was born in 1870...Am I crazy yet??! She listed his birthdate as August 1869...which would mean he was only one year younger than Victorino, his older brother... ~

Now, Rita Silvan, I have always been told she married John Silvan when she was 26 years old. But, noooooooooo ---- She was 30 on the Orteric in 1911, 37 on the Governor in 1918 and 48 on the 1930 census in California. Her death certificate states she was born in 1875 which cannot be correct either. The documents prove she was not quite 20 when she married. Her last child was born in 1922 when she must have been 42. If she'd been born in 1875, she would have been nearly 50 years old at Ramona's birth if she'd been 26 at her marriage date in May of 1900.

How could I possibly sing FELIZ CUMPLEANOS / HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our ancestors if I don't know how old they are? When I am in Spain, peering into the dusty corners and church records I will find my answers and arrive home with the years tight to my chest!