Correcting Birth Date Mary Elsie LeMaster (1873 Darke County, Ohio)

While preparing an analysis for my paternal great-grandaunt, Mary Elsie (LeMaster) Atkinson, I was searching for documentation of her birth in FamilySearch's birth record database for Ohio.  My database had her birth date as April 25, 1872 in Rose Hill, Darke County, Ohio, so I knew she should be listed.

Unable to find her in the index, I decided I would browse the individual county records for Darke County and see what they had.  Fortunately, they did have a birth volume that would cover the time period when she was born.

The volume had an index, and I was able to locate her.  Her name was mispelled as Mary E. Leamaster.  

Thinking that was why she wasn't indexed, I went back the main search screen at FamilySearch and tried to find her.  No such luck.

Going back to the index, and then paging through the volume, I did find her birth record, and a surprise.  The date I had was totally wrong.  Her birth was listed as February 15, 1873 instead of April 25, 1872, which was what her obituary had stated.  What a discrepancy.  Another good reason to seek multiple sources for a fact and dig until you get the original record.

Source : "Ohio, Births and Christenings, 1821-2003." Index and Images.  FamilySearch. (https://familysearch.org) accessed 18 April 2013, Darke County, Ohio Birth Registers with index 1863-1878 vol. 1.