What happened between 1905 and 1910 that caused Delarma Lawrence McCracken to suddenly report his age as several years older?

The Early Years

Delarma Lawrence McCracken was born to Lemuel Lawrence McCracken, my great-great grandfather, and Sarah Dufer, Lemuel’s first wife, in Lee County, Iowa.  Lemuel and Sarah had married September 23, 1854.   Prior to their marriage, Lemuel was living in Montrose Township, which lies adjacent to Jefferson Township, along its southern border. In the 1856 Iowa Census, they are listed as living in Jefferson Township, where Sarah’s family lived. 

Although a record of Sarah’s death has not been found, it appears that she died sometime between Delarma’s birth April 30, 1858 and the end of the year.  Lemuel married my great-great grandmother Louisiana Matteer on January 17, 1859.  Both of them inherited children with their marriage.  In the 1860 census, Delarma, who later mostly used the name Lawrence, Louisiana’s two children from her first marriage, and their first son are all living in the household.

By 1870, Lemuel and Louisiana still resided in Lee County, but had moved west to Van Buren Township.  However, only the children they had together lived in their household.  Although, Delarma was only 12, he was living with Robert and Diana Kennedy.  They do not appear to have any relationship to the family.  They also had two other young people living in their household. 

Delarma had no occupation listed nor did the record indicate that he had been attending school.  Thus, it is unclear why he lived with the family. However, multiple of Lemuel and Louisiana’s children lived elsewhere after Louisiana died.  So, perhaps he did the same.

In 1873, Lemuel and Louisiana and their younger children moved to Sherman Township near Farlington, Kansas.  Delarma appears not to have made the journey with them, although he was only 15 years old.  At least, he has not been found in any records in Kansas or Missouri where they lived over the coming years.  Thus, he was left in Iowa to make a life of his own.

Marriage

It is unclear what Delarma did over the next few years.  He is not found in the 1880 census.  Perhaps a coincidence, however, Lemuel and Louisiana’s two oldest sons together are also missing in the 1880 census.

The next record of Delarma was in May 1881 when he married Nancy Judy in Franklin Township, Lee County, Iowa.  The next year they had a set of twins, Sarah and Mary, although only Mary survived childhood.  They were the first of eight children to be born before the turn of the century.

Delarma and Nancy spent many years living in Denmark Township, which is along the northeast border of Lee County. To support the family, Delarma worked as a laborer, farmer, and mason.

Sudden Change

From the time Delarma was young until 1905, his birthdate was always recorded as approximately 1858 with the 1900 census specifically stating April 1858.  However, starting in the 1910 census, his birthdate is consistently recorded as approximately 1853. 

The following chart shows Delarma Lawrence McCracken’s reported age and/or birth year in various records throughout his life.  The highlighted cells show information directly given in the record and the other data is the calculated age or birth year based on what is in the record.  Variations in age or birth year are typical in records, especially ones dating back into the 1800s.  However, in this case, there is an abrupt shift.

So, the question in my mind is, “Why did Delarma suddenly get 5 years older?”

Why the Change?

What happened around 1905 that caused Delarma or his wife Nancy to report his age as several years older?  She was older than him by several years, but that didn’t suddenly change.  Perhaps she had a mid-life crisis and insisted he had to be closer to her age.  But, in that case, it seems she would have more likely made herself younger instead of him older.  And, it definitely wasn’t his mid-life crisis that spawned him to be older.

I checked the records and the newspapers for something that might have happened to him or the family.  The only thing I found that happened around that time was that in 1910 he was elected constable for Denmark Township in Lee County, Iowa.  However, nobody would have cared if he was 52 or 57. So, that doesn’t seem like a likely reason for a change.

I also considered military service as a reason to change his age as often men changed their age so that they could serve or to avoid service.  I did find military records where he is listed at various ages.  However, I did not find a date for each entry.  Thus, it is impossible to tell if he had changed his age or not.  Additionally, no big push for men in the military existed in that interval.  Even if it did, it wouldn’t have lasted for the remainder of his life.

The only thing I can think of is if they found a birth record where the year appeared to be 1853 instead of 1858.  But, even so, why change at this point?  And, wouldn’t he wonder what happened to the missing 5 years?  It just doesn’t make sense.

So, what else could have caused the sudden shift?  What am I overlooking?