Every once in a while, the universe and the gods of public records conspire to create an unsolvable mystery. Like the cousin who refuses to attach him/herself to any of the relatives living nearby. In my case, it’s a distant ancestor who couldn’t decide when he was born and eventually declared himself a twin. Sorta.

Isaac & Daniel Leonard, twins?

So, whaddaya think? Neither of these photos is dated, but both appear to be men in their fifties. Isaac Leonard, on the left, was born in 1827 according to an early Leonard researcher. That would put him midway between firstborn Edmund (1925) and third born Daniel (1930), on the right. Unfortunately, that early researcher didn’t leave us his sources.

Both men left extensive paper trails, but neither man ever mentioned having a twin brother. Wouldn’t you think it would come up at least once? Their county of birth hadn’t started keeping birth records yet and newspapers from that time are mysteriously missing from the microfilm collection. (I suspect ancestors of Rose Mary Woods, but she passed away in 2005.)

In 1860, the first census to record ages has Issac as 28 years old, Daniel as 30, making Isaac the younger brother not the older. Isaac is missing in 1870, but in 1880 he appears as 48 years old Daniel is 50. Records of 1890 were destroyed by fire, but in 1900 Isaac lists his age as 69 and his birth month as June 1830, same as brother Daniel. but Daniel says the month was April. In 1910, both men are 80 years old, listing only the year of birth as 1830. Both men died within a few months of each other in 1913 and 1914.

Daniel consistently listed his birthday as June 24th, 1930 in multiple locations… the April date in 1900 is clearly a clerical error. Isaac, on the other hand, rarely mentioned his birthday and appeared to grow older as the decades rolled by. But his tombstone clearly says “June 24th, 1830.”

What’s a researcher to do? How ’bout you? Any twins in your line? Any unsolved mysteries?