| Notes |
- Source [US-SSS-1917b] has Merlin Douglas Masten’s birthdate as 21 Dec 1887. [Whatcom-1962], Merlin’s death certificate, has his age correct but lists a birthdate off by exactly one decade, 21 Dec 1877. [US-1900-1e] and [Masten-1900] also support the date in 1887, listing Merlin as having been born in 1888. Only [US-SSA-1941a], Merlin’s original Social Security application, lists his birthdate as 21 Dec 1886. [4, 7, 9, 17, 18]
- In [US-SSS-1917b] and [US-SSA-1941a], Merlin Douglas Masten listed his birthplace as “Aversberg (Lauderdale County), Mississippi”. No such location exists in Lauderdale County or even in Mississippi more generally. However, Merlin’s half-brother, Matthew LeRoy Masten, recorded that many of Merlin’s younger siblings were born in “Orvisburg”, Pearl River County, Mississippi, and the family of Horace Greely Masten and Alice Frances (Stone) Masten were known to be living in Poplarville (close by Orvisburg) in the early 1890s. On the other hand, [Masten-1900] records Matthew traveling from New Orleans, Louisiana to Jackson, Mississippi with his father’s, “...new wife and baby” (Alice (Stone) Masten and Merlin) in1889. He also records that the family was only in Orvisburg/Poplarville from 1892 on, 5 years after Merlin’s birth. However, in the late 1880’s Horace Greely Masten was known to be working near Boque Chitto, Lincoln County, Mississippi south of Jackson, and Merlin lists Boque Chitto as his birthplace in [US-SSS-1942a1] and [US-SSA-1953a]. Given the timeline of Horace’s movements in Mississippi, it seems more likely that Merlin was born in Boque Chitto than in Orvisburg. [4, 5, 17, 18, 19]
- Merlin Douglas Masten had been a resident of Bellingham, Whatcom County, Washington for 10 years at the time of his death in 1962. [7, 13]
- Merlin Masten’s obituary has his name spelled “Mastin”. [13]
- There is no modern town called “Teel” in New Mexico. This probably refers to the area at the north end of the Mimbres Valley where there was a US Post Office. [17]
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1887 - 1962 (74 years)
[3, 4, 5, 6] 
Residence
