Source:Koleda, Elizabeth Potts. Gaskill Genealogy

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This source is very annoying in its insistence on giving dates in numeric forms. Some explicitly identify the month and day, as in "7m 28d 1687". Dates that do not identify the components seem to be month-day-year.

Unfortunately there is no preface/intro, so there is no explanation given about the book's philosophy on date handling. Only by comparison to other sources can one determine if there is any cognizance of the change in month numbering that occurred in 1753. In general, it appears that the month number in use at the time is used, i.e., January is month 1 after 1753, and March is month 1 for 1753 and before.

All this confusion is not helped by several errors encountered. For example, the date of a will is given "8 1 1725", but in the text the will's date is described as September 1, 1725. Month 8 can be interpreted as August or as October, but I am not aware of any arrangement of "8 1 1725" that yields September?? A birth date quoted as "11m 7d 1678" is given in the Vital Records of Salem as "11 : 7 m : 1678". In one case a birth recorded in month 11, 1696, is given in the book as month 11, 1696 (i.e., as recorded). In another case, a birth in month 11, 1663, is given in the book to month 1, 1663/4 (adjusted, using double-dating). In a third case, a birth in month 11, 1698, is given in the book as month 1, 1698 (adjusted, but no double-dating).

Unfortunately, as a result, any date in this book becomes very suspect. --Jrich 11:45, 20 March 2009 (EDT)