Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Book photograph discrepancies

There are a few discrepancies pertaining to photographs that are in need of explanation. First on page 336 there is a photo of Sam as a younger man. The caption identifies the picture as being from 1912 in Australia. This is clearly in error as he is much younger. The caption will be revised to say "Undated" and moved to an early grouping of photos in a 2nd printing.

On page 172 there are two photographs of Sam fighting against Jim Barry. Both are identified as April 14, 1910, but Barry is clearly wearing different color and lengths of shorts in the two photos, so one is obviously dated incorrectly. After further investigation I have determined it is the photo on the bottom that is incorrect. That one will be revised to say "undated" for a 2nd printing.

On page 399 there is a photo of Sam's headstone that indicates he was born in 1883. On the first page of the opening chapter I indicate that he was born on March 4th of 1886. The reasons I settled on 3/4/1886 as his correct birthdate include the following:

His manager, Joe Woodman, said that at one point he investigated the issue himself and located Sam's birth certificate and that it confirmed 3/4/1886 as the correct date.

In a series of articles published in 1924 Sam identifies 3/4/1886 as his date of birth. (Source: Halifax Herald, August 12, 1924)

Throughout the book the reader will find Sam making references to his age at different stages of his career and those coincide with a birth year of 1886.

I have a copy of an 1891 census that identifies Sam as being 6 years of age at that time. (Now that could also point to 1885 as a birthdate, but in any case it certainly confirms 1886 more than 1883.

I have another document titled 'Descendants of Charles Langford' that gives a birthdate of March 6, 1886 for Sam.

Another document titled 'Children of Robert Langford and Charlotte Robert' lists their children and gives March 6, 1886 as Sam's birthdate.

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