All of the documentation -- except the death certificate -- point to mid 1880's. This is also consistent with Jennie's age at marriage in 1914 -- apparently a month after getting pregnant -- and her two births in 1914 and 1919. So how did she get 1879 as the last word? Remember Bernie Barth (her son) had a theory that his father pushed his mother down the stairs. Brother Dave supported his father when Bernie accused him of this, and that's why Bernie was estranged from Dave. At least this is the way I remember it. So Bernie gets back from the war three years after his mother's death with this on his mind. He goes to City Hall (or wherever vital records are kept) and looks up the death certificate, looking for the cause of death. Before this he didn't have a firm idea of his mother's age, so he noted the 1879 date on the document. Again, why does 1879 suddenly appear in the death certificate? If Bernie's theory is correct that there was something dodgy about Jennie's death, perhaps Louis added 5 years to her age to make her seem older, therefore more susceptible to natural causes and less likely to foul play? The difference is between 63 (kind of old in that day) and 58 (not nearly so old, even then). Another interesting fact is that this death certificate is the ONLY document, anywhere, that refers to Bernie's father as "Lazar" and not "Louis". It's too bad we can't find the immigration records. Probably before the name Krat was made up?
Follow Us
Like Us
