Bertha’s date of birth presents a conundrum. While it’s perfectly believable that she and older brother Selig are nearly 2 years apart, the problem is that she could not be born 9 November 1824 and her next sibling, Jacob, be born 3 February 1825.
As I sat down to start working on Jacob’s blog post, I realized I have 10 different sources, ranging from census records, death records, passport applications, ships manifests, and all points in between, in which he consistently puts his date of birth as 3 February 1825. By contrast, documentation for Bertha shows birth years of 1824, 1825, 1826, 1830, and 1838. Which of those is correct? To be honest, I don’t think any of them are.
In looking at the birthdates of the rest of her siblings, the only way Bertha fits into the family is if she was born in 1823. That makes her 11 months younger than Selig, and 15 months older than Jacob.
I do not have a single scrap of documentation suggesting her birthyear is 1823. But I know it can’t be any of the other years that she suggested it was. So, in my records at least, I’m changing her date of birth to 9 November 1823.
Rothschilds of Vöhl and Their Relatives 
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