Sponsors at the baptism of Marie Celeste Michel, daughter of Pierre Michel and Celeste Guedrie, on 16 February 1817 at St. James Parish, LA were Pierre Guedrie and Felesie Lignau.6256,6257

There is an error in the data recorded either on or from the baptismal certificate. The birthdate of Marie Celestin Michel on the baptismal certificate is listed as 12 Jun 1817 while the baptismal date is listed as 16 Feb 1817. Obviously there is an error in that the baptism cannot be before the birth. I believe that the transcriber of the baptismal certificate reversed the dates of birth and baptism.6256,6257

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The birthdate of Marie Celeste Michel, daughter of Pierre Michel and Celeste Guédry, is listed differently on the baptismal and funeral certficates. Her baptismal certificate6256,6257 provides her birthdate as 16 Feb 1817 while her funeral certificate6636,6637 gives a birth date of 12 Jun 1826. Either there were two children of Pierre Michel and Celeste Guédry that were named Marie Celeste Michel or one of the records made a 9 year error in the birth year. Although not impossible, it appears unlikely that two children would be given the same name if the older child is still alive. I , therefore, believe an error was made either on the baptismal certficiate or funeral record. Because the funeral record is further removed in time from the actual baptism event, it is more likely that the funeral certificate is in error. For this reason, I believe that 16 Feb 1817 is the more probable birthdate of Marie Celeste Michel. Another possibility is that two errors were made and both the baptismal certificate and funeral certificate should have listed the birthdate as 12 June 1816.

Marie Celeste Michel