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It seems unclear when Jarrett was born, and where. They are several reliable sources giving conflicting dates.

• Library of Congress says June 19, 1921 in Paris, Texas
• Legacy.com says he was born June 19, 1918 in Saulsbury, Tennessee
• Find a Grave says he was born June 19, 1917, in Saulsbury, Tennessee (notice the picture of the headstone, though)
• Washington Post obituary says he was 84 years of age when he died (May 23, 2004), which would suggest 1919 or 1920, and that it was in Paris, Tennessee.
• Then there are book sources, confirming the 1921 date and the Saulsbury birthplace, for instance Biographical Dictionary of American Newspaper Columnists (1995), and Black Journalists (1997), and others confirming the 1918 date and Paris place, for instance People Wasn't Made to Burn (2011).

Any ideas how to proceed? I'm inclined to go with the Find a Grave information, since it's hard to believe his family had the headstone "misprinted." -- bender235 ( talk) 23:52, 5 March 2017 (UTC) reply

I decided to take a look at the SSDI (Social Security Death Index), which showed conflicting information for both the name and birth year as stated in the Wikipedia article. Here's what I found in the SSDI (I masked most of the Social Number that was reported in these sources):

Vernon D. Jarrett in the U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014

Name: Vernon D. Jarrett

SSN: XXX-XX-6929

Last Residence: 60649 Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA

BORN: 19 Jun 1918

Died: 23 May 2004

State (Year) SSN issued: Tennessee (Before 1951)

SOURCE CITATION:

Number: XXX-XX-6929; Issue State: Tennessee; Issue Date: Before 1951

SOURCE INFORMATION:

Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2011.

Original data:

Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.

* * *

Now, here's what I found in the Social Security Applications and Claims Index for the same person:

Daurice Vernon Jarrett in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007

Name: Daurice Vernon Jarrett [Vernon Jarrett]

Gender: Male

Race: Black

Birth Date: 19 Jun 1918

Birth Place: Saulsbury, Tennessee

Death Date: 23 May 2004

Father: William R Jarrett

Mother: Annie S Thomas

SSN: XXXXX6929

Notes:

Jun 1939: Name listed as DAURICE VERNON JARRETT;

18 Dec 1997: Name listed as VERNON JARRETT;

25 Jun 2004: Name listed as VERNON D JARRETT

SOURCE INFORMATION:

Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Original data:

Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936-2007.

As for the name, I suspect that a legal name change (i.e., switching the first and middle name) might have taken place sometime during Jarrett's life. Although the person was known for most of his life as Vernon Daurice Jarrett, the name Daurice Vernon Jarrett appears to be his birth name according to the iterations of names that were recorded by the Social Security Administration (see the notes listed above from the U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007).

* * *

Also, I reviewed information from the U.S. Census records and found that the birth date was definitely not 1921, since Vernon Jarrett was listed in the 1920 U.S. Census for Enumeration District 49 in the town of Trenton in Gibson County, Tennessee.

The census date was January 2, 1920, and the handwritten age of Vernon Jarrett was one year, six months old (written by the census enumerator as 1 6/12 on the census record). That means that Vernon Jarrett was born 18 months before the 1920 census, which also means he was born in 1918 and not 1917 or 1921 (i.e., one year before the 1920 Census would have been January 1919, and six months before January 1919 would have been June 1918).

SOURCE CITATION:

Year: 1920; Census Place: Trenton, Gibson, Tennessee; Roll: T625_1739; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 49

SOURCE INFORMATION:

Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Original data:

Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City).

* * *

I would go with 1918 as the correct birth year based on the 1920 U.S. Census for Trenton, Tennessee and Daurice Vernon Jarrett (also known as Vernon Daurice Jarrett) for the name based on information recorded on the U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index.

BTW, misprints and other erroneous information sometimes happens with biographical information, even among family members -- as I've found in genealogical research about my own family → Lwalt ^{♦  talk} 09:57, 25 August 2017 (UTC) reply

Wow, that's a remarkable piece of investigation. At least the place of birth seems to be definitely Saulsbury, Tennessee. As for the year of birth, I agree with your analysis reporting 1918 as the most likely. I'll add a note though on the article, feel free to correct it. Also, could you please add a note with your references on Jarrett's Wikidata entry? -- bender235 ( talk) 12:15, 25 August 2017 (UTC) reply