Twin Josephine Smith

Regarding twin Josephine, I have decided that Josephine Holub (GHM6-RVH) probably is twin Josephine.

In 2024, When I discovered the existence of twin Josephine Smith, these were the only records of her existence that I found:

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 "Josephine 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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:  

1. 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.
2. There is a nefarious reason that twin Josephine was given precisely the same name as one of her elder, living sisters.
3. Twin Josephine almost certainly became known as Josephine Holub.
4. 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.

Post by William Mortensen Vaughan

Who is dd_777 on FamilySearch?

The Typical Genealgoy Snob

The following is a report I made to support@familysearch.org, against

dd_777

On June 5, 2026, I decided to create a separate profile for Rasmus Julius Sorensen, which I did:  P6CW-RVX

I did this because, after studying, since 2018, the life and history of Erastus Julius Smith(KWCL-TJW) his forebears, and descendants (including me), I had/have come to the conclusion that Erastus Julius Smith and Rasmus Julius Sorensen were probably two different people.

I had/have also come to the conclusions that:

1. Erastus' daughter, Emma (KWVW-RCJ), had a twin named Josephine Smith (GB3V-LVS), not to be confused with their elder sister by the exact same name, Josephine Smith (KWC2-B3N).

2. Erastus' biological mother was probably NOT Juliane Sorensdatter (KWJR-KDM).

3. Erastus' biological father was probably Juliane's husband, Jorgen Christian Pedersen (KWJZ-KTB) - NOT her employer, Rasmus Smidt (LZP5-L4T).

As I was working on these profiles I suddenly discovered that someone else was working on them simultaneously. For instance, they kept merging Rasmus Julius Sorensen's file with Erastus Julius Smith's, almost as quickly as I could unmerge it. Worse, I discovered that they had deleted my Alert Notes on Erastus' profile, as well as those of several members of his family.

I submitted a report regarding this abuse.

On June 6, 2026, I discovered that the perpetrator was, apparently, identifying themself as dd_777, and they were continuing to delete my Alert Notes almost as quickly as I could submit them, so I submitted another report of abuse.

As I noted in a deleted Alert Note update, dd_777 is entitled to have a difference of opinion regarding my conclusions about my great-grandfather and others, but they ARE NOT entitled to delete the work I've done on his profiles and others for years.

UPDATE:  On June 7, 2026, I discovered that a FamilySearch Volunteer identified as "SPacker FS volunteer" had edited Josephine Smith's Collaboration Notes. 

Being surnamed "Packer," they are probably one of Donna Smith Packer's ten children, or one of her descendants. They might be the same person as dd_777.

What he/she/they is/are trying to do are essentially two things:  

1. They are trying to reconcile Rasmus Julius Sorensen and Erastus "Rasmus" Julius Smith as the same person. We (Erastus' descendants, including me) believed, for more than one hundred years, that Rasmus and Erastus were the same person.

2. They are trying to reconcile the Josephine Smith born to "Julius" and "Josephine Smith"(KWCL-TJ4), in Brigham City, Utah, on August 10, 1898 (the same parents, place, and date as Emma Smith(KWVW-RCJ)), as someone other than Emma Smith's twin. They are saying that the second Josephine Smith born to Erastus and his wife, Josefina Bernhardina Beckman, alias "Josephine Smith" is Emma Smith, and that the Josephine Smith born to Emma's parents, in Brigham City, on August 10, 1898, that I regard as Emma's twin, was, instead, a woman named Josephine Holub (GHM6-RVH), who married a man named Edward Berosehicker/Bergschicker Smith (GRSV-MZZ). 

Before this abuse began, there were three records of twin Josephine's existence:

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).

UPDATE (As of  June 20th):  dd_777 initiated a conversation with me on FamilySearch's chat. Essentially, dd_777 is not going to change their opinions regarding these Erastus and twin Josephine, and neither am I, although I do concede that Josephine Holub probably is twin Josephine (more below). Also, dd_777 refuses to identify themself, and does not consider what they have been to to constitute abuse.

I was not surprised to receive a reply from support@familysearch.org, agreeing with dd_777 that what they were doing did not constitute abuse. I countered with an e-mail reminding them about how they had found in my favor regarding M.Scott Manning's similar abuse, and how much worse this was. He at least identified himself by his real name and relationship to the person whose profile he was bogarting, and didn't delete my work, but simply always added his clarification to it, as if he were the final authority regarding her life. I received a reply to this challenge indicating that they still do not regard dd_777's behavior as abusive; on the contrary, they suggested that my behavior is abusive.

I did not dignify them with any further response, and I have decided not to do any more work on their website. I feel that there is little point in wasting my time doing so, when their moderators are going to allow people to delete my work.

Regarding twin Josephine, I have decided that Josephine Holub probably is twin Josephine. I am going to create another post on this blog in lieu of a profile for her.

Post by William Mortensen Vaughan