They Didn't Always Require Paperwork

Wonder why great-great-grandma's age changes so much from one record to another? One reason could be that she wanted to shave a few years off her age. Life was also different. Great-grandma might not have been concerned that if her age didn't "match" in various records that there might be a problem with her pension, passport, insurance, credit bureau file, and other records. Life was in some ways very different in 1880 than it is today.