eliza jane wilder's birth date
Someone just pointed out to me that in the Prologue article (NARA publication, Winter 2003), Eliza Jane Wilder's birthday is given as January 3. There has always been some question as to when E.J. was born, because the Wilder family Bible was destroyed in a fire, and with it, supposedly the official record of Eliza Jane's birth.

When Eliza Jane filed for a patent on her homestead claim in Kingsbury County, there were questions whether or not she had fulfilled the residency requirement because she had been absent from her claim for a number of extended periods. Eliza Jane responded to the questions by writing a lengthy (and whiney) letter to the Land Office, saying yes, she had been absent a lot, but she had good reasons and here they are if you don't believe me. Reading the letter, it almost makes you think that the Honorable Sirs at the Land Office gave her a damn patent rather than continue to fool with her.

She wrote:
Twas a year of hard work and very few of the young men of our eastern states would or could have done the work that I did that year or endured the hardships, exposure to intense heat in summer & cold in winter. I worked out of doors 5 hours the 3rd day of Jan 1884 when mercury was frozen and spirit therm. indicated 45 degrees below zero. A strong wind blowing and sleet falling that cut like a knife. I remember the day for it was my birthday...

I guess I'll take Eliza Jane's word for it, so I've edited the pioneergirl page about her to reflect a January 3, 1850 birth.
- posted by pioneergirl at 2:57 PM