A Soldier's Secret: Pinning Down Charles McKinney's Birthday

Finding the truth in historical records can feel like being a detective. You must look past the "what" and focus on the "who." When it comes to Charles, his paper trail is a bit of a maze, but if you look at who was giving the information, the real story starts to emerge.

Charles is my grandmother, Sarah Lela (McKinney) England's grandfather. The McKinney-Jeffries cemetery where many family members were laid to rest is on his farm in the Exie community of Green County, Ky. His headstone in the cemetery indicates he was born Sept 1, 1846, which is the date you most often find in family trees. When I found his older brother, George, with a birthdate of July 1, 1846, I had to get to the bottom of this discrepancy. Here is my search for the "Truth."

*Source citations in the "Learn More" section below.

The Inner Circle (1848–1910)

Early on, we get the most reliable data because the people speaking had front-row seats to his life.

• A Mother’s Word: In the 1850 and 1860 censuses, Charles’ mother, Sarah, provided his age. She was there for the event, so her testimony carries the most weight. In 1850 she also indicated that all her children were born in Barren County, Ky. In her 1859, divorce deposition, she indicated that they had only lived in Green County, Ky. for 10 years.

• His Own Word: Later, Charles likely provided his own age for his marriage license and definitely did so during an 1876 Green County Circuit Court Case deposition.

• A Wife's Word: In the 1880, 1900 and 1910 censuses, Charles' wife, Lucy, most likely provided his age as he would have been working on his farm. She was with Charles for many years, and likely knows family details well.

• The Consistency: In every one of these early records, the math leads us back to the same date: September 1, 1848.

  
  

The "White Lie" of 1863

So, why do some records say otherwise? Well, Charles and his brother George had a very good reason to bend the truth. In the summer of 1863 military operations in South Central Kentucky by Confederate guerrillas increased. The 37th Kentucky Mounted Infantry was organized in response. On Charles' birthday, September 1, 1863, the brothers headed to the enlistment office in Glasgow, Kentucky to join the Union Army with its official minimum age of 18.

• Charles claimed he was 18, but he was actually just turning 15 that day.

• George (born July 1, 1846) claimed he was 19, though he was actually 17.

  
  

It’s a classic story: two young guys eager to serve and protect their family and homes, adding a few years to their lives to make the cut. While it muddies the historical record, it tells us a lot about their character! Did they tell their single mom, Sarah, or just run away?

Recent studies, particularly "Of Age: Boy Soldiers and Military Power in the Civil War Era" by Clarke and Plant and their associated articles on OAH.org and Bunk History, estimate that around 10% of Union soldiers were underage (under 18) when they enlisted, a significant increase from older estimates, suggesting widespread lying about age.

The Final Verdict: Why the Records Drifted

It is easy to see how the "truth" got fuzzy toward the end of Charles’ life. By 1930, he was an elderly man, and his daughter, Rutha, likely relied on family lore or his military stories rather than a birth record from eighty years prior. When John Mouser filled out the death certificate, he was even further removed from the source. This is the "telephone game" of history—as the information passes from mother, to wife, to child, and finally to a grandson-in-law, the facts naturally begin to drift. However, when we prioritize the people who were actually in the room when the story began, the evidence points clearly to one date. We can finally lay the discrepancies to rest and confidently mark his birth as September 1, 1848.

Roots to Branches

Learn More

Graham, Christopher A. "Clark and Plant: Underage Service and the Union War Effort." Process: a blog for american history. Organization of American Historians. https://www.oah.org/process/clark-and-plant-underage-service-and-the-union-war-effort/ : 2025.

"United States, Census, 1850", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M65Q-BS3 : Sun Dec 14 01:30:12 UTC 2025), Entry for George and Charles McKinney, 1850. You can get a free membership for the FamilySearch one world tree and open and view these links.

Kentucky. Green County. 1850 U.S. Census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com.  https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8054/records/17156130?tid=22465243&pid=1253691427&ssrc=pt/ : 2024. Requires an ancestry.com subscription to open this link.

"United States, Census, 1860", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZBF-K5B : Mon Jul 08 07:45:36 UTC 2024), Entry for George and Charles Mc Kinney.

Kentucky. Green County. 1860 U.S. Census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7667/records/39399046?tid=22465243&pid=1253691427&ssrc=pt: 2025.

Kentucky. Civil War Service Records (CMSR) - Union - Kentucky, 1861-1865. Digital images. National Archives Catalog. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/43690081 : 2023.  Charles McKiney, 37th Kentucky Mounted Infantry.

Kentucky. Civil War Service Records (CMSR) - Union - Kentucky, 1861-1865. Digital images. National Archives Catalog. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/43690093 : 2023.  George T. McKinney, 37th Kentucky Mounted Infantry.

"Kentucky, County Marriages, 1786-1965", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2QD-L1CC : Fri Dec 26 23:11:55 UTC 2025), Entry for Chas. McKinney and Lucy M. Jeffrys, 21 January 1868.

Wright, Barbara. Green County, Kentucky Abstracts of Circuit Court Records. Vol. 15. N.p.: self-published, n.d. Digital images. FamilySearch. https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/823494-green-county-kentucky-abstracts-of-circuit-court-records-v-15 : 2025.

"United States, Census, 1880", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCCL-8VX : Sun Oct 19 17:15:45 UTC 2025), Entry for Charles Mc Kinney and Lucy M. Mc Kinney, 1880.

Kentucky. Green County. 1880 U.S. census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6742/records/11723345?tid=22465243&pid=1245120553&ssrc=pt : 2025.

"United States, Census, 1900", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M94C-WL5 : Fri Jan 17 23:57:38 UTC 2025), Entry for Charly McKinny and Lucy McKinny, 1900.

Kentucky. Green County. 1900 U.S. census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602/records/23132114?tid=22465243&pid=1245120553&ssrc=pt : 2025.

"United States, Census, 1910", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2DH-QL6 : Wed Aug 13 16:03:41 UTC 2025), Entry for Charley McKinney and Lucy M McKinney, 1910.

Kentucky. Green County. 1910 U.S. census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884/records/8594343?tid=22465243&pid=1245120553&ssrc=pt : 2025.

"United States, Census, 1930", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XM6P-P36 : Thu Jul 11 03:19:39 UTC 2024), Entry for Charles Mckinney and Ruthie J Mckinney, 1930.

Kentucky. Green County. 1930 U.S. census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/records/81981047?tid=22465243&pid=1245120553&ssrc=pt : 2025.

"Kentucky, Deaths, 1911-1967", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N9V9-RJK : Sat Mar 09 01:17:35 UTC 2024), Entry for Charley Lincoln McKinney and Chas McKinney, 1931.

Kentucky. Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. "Kentucky Death Records, 1852-1953." Database with images. Ancestry.com. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1222/records/935075?tid=22465243&pid=1245120553&ssrc=pt : 2025.

"Find A Grave," database, Find A Grave (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80569311/charles-a-mckinney), memorial page for Charles McKinney (1848–1934), Memorial ID 80569311, citing McKinney Cemetery, Green County, Kentucky, USA; maintained by contributor 47657129).

"Civil War Veteran Dies in County at Ripe Age of 94," The Record-Herald (Greensburg, Kentucky), 11 October 1934, p. 1, col. 3; digital image, Green County Public Library Digital Archives (https://greencounty.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=mckinney&i=f&by=1934&bdd=1930&d=10111934-10111934&m=between&ord=k1&fn=record_herald_usa_kentucky_greensburg_19341011_english_1&df=1&dt=1&cid=2747 : accessed 25 August 2023).