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Archiver > PALANCAS > 2000-04 > 0954642121


From: "Conestoga Area Historical Society" <>
Subject: Re: [PALANCAS-L] Re: Life Expectancy
Date: Sat, 01 Apr 2000 21:22:01 -0500


My experience has been the opposite of yours, my ancestors might make it to 60, those that lived in cities tended to die before those that were from rural areas, especially in the 1800s. Those that were born in rural areas and moved to cities seemed to take the biggest hit often living 20 fewer years than there fathers. Of course we have to be careful about trying to make a determination based on our ancestor since it is statistically such a small pool.
The date of marriage is often a function of the price of land, at least in rural areas. With the first settlers they tended to marry a little earlier because they were in a position to support a family. As the price of land increased they tended to marry a little later, until someone got the bright idea to move to the frontier, where land was the cheapest. Probably the date of marriage and death varied depending on the time frame. The advantage of living in rural areas was that they were less subject to diseases like small pox, yellow fever, etc.
If insurance companies are so poor at statistics I'm at a loss to explain how they got so rich. :)

---

Conestoga Area Historical Society
http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacahs/index.htm



On Sat, 01 Apr 2000 07:20:13 AmyAnn wrote:
>yes this is one of those statistical things that do not really represent
>history. Insurance agents might like the numbers however they are very
>misleading if you research. If you take out children who died before they
>were five, many of my ancestors lived well into their nineties. Some over
>100. Also in my data base most married when they were 17 or older and most
>were literate - which also goes against what many will tell you as a
>statistical norm as well. And very few of my ancestors lived in cities
>where you would think they would be better educated and long lived.
>
>I had one man who was listed as illiterate, however when I researched it a
>bit more it turned out that he was also blind.
>
>Makes you realize that statistics can be used to show many misleading things.
>
>AmyAnn
>
>At 11:48 PM 03/31/00 EST, you wrote:
>>New to genealogy, I have been absorbed for the past year, searching my
>>ancestors from my side, and my husband's side of the family.
>>
>>I, too, am amazed at the longevity of my ancestors. I was always told that
>>people died young in the "old days". Seems as though if you made it past 22
>>(infant mortality, early childbirth and war) you were golden.
>>
>>Kathy Kelly
>>
>>
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