1. "Utah, County Birth and Death Records,1892-1951"[1]
2. "Utah Births and Christenings, 1892-1941"[2]
3. "United States Social Security Death Index,"[3]
On March 9, 2024, I e-mailed the following inquiry to Glenn Alvin Smith:
I've been looking at our genealogy pretty hard today. I discovered that, apparently, Rasmus Julius Smith and Josefina Bernhardina Beckman had twins, on August 10, 1898. One of them, Emma, died fifteen days later. The other, named "Josephine," just like an elder sibling, lived to adulthood. The records of her birth leave no doubt she was born to Rasmus and Josefina, in Brigham City, on August 10, 1898 - the same day as Emma, so she is not to be confused with their elder sister, Josephine, born in 1887.
However, the twin is not listed among Josefina's offspring on the the back of her and Rasmus' tombstone.
The twin died, apparently, in an unspecified county, in California, in the month of March, 1981. The U.S. Social Security Death Index does not specify which county she died in, or which day of March, 1981 she died. It also makes no mention of any family, and identifies her by her maiden name, "Josephine Smith," and her date of birth, August 10, 1898.
Why was she not listed on Rasmus and Josefina's tombstone? Why did she have the same name as one of her elder sisters?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Since then, dd_777 has added the first two records, of twin Josephine's birth, to Emma's profile on FamilySearch; the third record, of her death, dd_777 has added to Josephine Holub's profile. dd_777 insists that Emma and her twin are the same person, and that the record of her death applies to Josephine Smith, née Holub.
Several people have added eleven other records to Ms. Holub's profile, including two additional death records.
One of the records of her death[4] indicates that Josephine Holub Smith, alias "Josephien Smith," was born, to William Holub and Emma Jira, in San Francisco, California, on August 10, 1898, and died, in California, presumably, in March of 1981. dd_777 would have the world believe that Josephine Holub was born to the Holub couple, in San Francisco, on the day Emma Smith was born to Erastus and Josephine Smith, in Brigham City, Utah, and that the same dates of birth, and the same names, "Josephine" and married name "Smith," are mere coincidences.
(The other death record[5] attached Ms. Holub's FamilySearch profile indicates that her daughter, Marilyn Josephine Smith, died, in Alameda, California, on February 25, 1986, having been born on March 26, 1935.)
I agree that the NUMIDENT death record corroborates dd_777's hypothesis that Josephine Holub and the Josephine Smith who died, in California, in March of 1981, are the same person. However, I do not agree that Josephine Holub is not the twin named Josephine Smith born to Erastus and Josephine Smith, in Brigham City, on the same day Emma Smith was born.
As I took a closer look at the other sources attached to Josephine Holub's profile, I soon noticed, because they are listed from the oldest to the newest, that the earliest source was the U.S. Census of 1900,[6] which indicates that Josephine Holub, at age two, and born, in California, in August of 1898, resided, in Oakland, California, with her parents, William and Emma Holub; and a three-year-old sister, born, in California, in January of 1897, named, like their mother, Emma Holub. A couple other people resided with them, also.
There is no specific record of Josephine Holub's birth; nor is there a specific record of her sister, Emma Holub's birth, on her sister's profile.
The U.S. Census of 1910[7] indicates that "Josie Holub," at age eleven, born, in California, circa 1899, resided, in Oakland, California, with her parents, and two sisters named Emma and Alice. Emma's age is listed as thirteen, with an estimated year of birth as 1897.
The next source listed is an application for a U.S. Passport[8] for Josephine Holub, submitted in 1912. This is the first source listed which states that she was born, specifically, on August 10, 1898.
A similar application[9] is listed on Josephine's sister, Emma's profile, indicating that her precise date of birth was January 26, 1897. Similar applications were also made, in 1912, for Josephine's parents and her sister, Alice.
The U.S. Census of 1920[10] indicates that "Josephene R. Holub" was born circa 1900; "Emma A. Holub," circa 1898.
The U.S. Census of 1930[11] indicates that "Josephine R. Holub" was born circa 1899; "Emma A. Reiff," circa 1897.
The U.S. Census of 1940[12] indicates that "Josephine O. Smith" was 41 years old (born circa 1899); Emma was age 43 (born circa 1897). It also indicates that Josephine and her husband, Edward Smith, had a five-year-old daughter named Marilyn Smith, which is corroborated by the record of her birth[13] as "Marilyn Josephine Smith," born, in Alameda, California, on March 26, 1935.
The U.S. Census of 1950[14] indicates that Josephine Smith was 51 years old (born circa 1899); no such record is attached to Emma's profile yet.
There are other sources attached to the profiles for the members of this family, but I find several similarities in the sources and lack of sources disturbing:
- There are no specific records of the birth of any of the Holub couple's children. Emma and Josephine' earliest source is the U.S. Census of 1900; Alice's, 1910.
- There are no specific records for any of the marriages of any of the Holub girls, although U.S. Census records and other records indicate that all three of them were married.
- The earliest records to state the precise dates of birth of William and his wife and daughters are their U.S. Passport applications in 1912.
These sources (and lack thereof) suggest to me that the dates and places of birth the family reported on their passport applications are not to be trusted. The lack of specific birth records, in combination with the records of Josephine and Emma's births, in Utah, to Erastus and Josefina Smith, as well as the coincidences that Mrs. Emma Holub and her daughters and one of her alleged sons-in-law had the same names as Mrs. Josephine Smith and her daughters leads me to believe that my original hypotheses regarding twin Josephine are correct:
- Emma Smith had a twin, named "Josephine Smith" - precisely the same name as their sister who still resided with their family, and survived to adulthood.
- There is a nefarious reason that twin Josephine was given precisely the same name as one of her elder, living sisters.
- Twin Josephine almost certainly became known as Josephine Holub.
- Twin Emma may also have become known as Emma Holub.
Sources:
1. "Utah, County Birth and Death Records,1892-1951", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:8ZR4-BNPZ : Wed Oct 04 23:45:50 UTC 2023), Entry for Josephine Smith and Julius Smith, 10 Aug 1898.
2. "Utah Births and Christenings, 1892-1941", FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F82C-HYM : 28 January 2020), Josephine Smith, 1898.
3. "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V3GM-6JD : 11 January 2021), Josephine Smith, Mar 1981; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
4. "United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6K49-513C : Sat Apr 26 09:38:11 UTC 2025), Entry for Josephine Smith and William Holub.
5. "California, Death Index, 1940-1997", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPV9-QY3 : Tue Feb 25 20:10:39 UTC 2025), Entry for Marilyn Josephine Smith and Holub, 25 Feb 1986.
6. "United States, Census, 1900", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9PS-6SD : Mon Oct 13 17:55:30 UTC 2025), Entry for William Holub and Emma Holub, 1900.
7. "United States, Census, 1910", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MV2Q-JXH : Wed Aug 13 15:18:45 UTC 2025), Entry for William Holub and Emma Holub, 1910.
8. "United States, Passport Applications, 1795-1925", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKNT-JMJS : Fri Apr 25 03:31:58 UTC 2025), Entry for Joseephine Holub, 1912.
9. "United States, Passport Applications, 1795-1925", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKNT-JMJ9 : Fri Apr 25 02:51:58 UTC 2025), Entry for Emma Holub, 1912.
10. "United States, Census, 1920", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MH3Q-72P : Fri Oct 17 04:15:37 UTC 2025), Entry for Wiliam Holub and Emma Holub, 1920.
11. "United States, Census, 1930", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCXF-Q38 : Mon Jul 22 04:44:21 UTC 2024), Entry for William Holub and Emma Holub, 1930.
12. "United States, Census, 1940", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K98M-6NC : Sat Jan 18 16:09:51 UTC 2025), Entry for Edward Smith and Jospehine O Smith, 1940.
13. "California, Birth Index, 1905-1995", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VLPS-JWG : Tue Feb 25 19:53:25 UTC 2025), Entry for Marilyn Josephine Smith and Holut, 26 Mar 1935.
14. "United States, Census, 1950", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XL1-4S3F : Wed Mar 20 16:08:16 UTC 2024), Entry for Edward B Smith and Josephine Smith, 5 April 1950.