laura stockbridge collins?!

I don't think that when Jeremiah says that Barnabas and him are the same age literally means 'the same age'. I think it's a term of affection to mean that although older than Barnabas, we can be close in age like two brothers might be. In other words, the friendship between them is brotherly more so than 'we can't have the same type of relationship because I'm older and therefore need to be a teacher more than a friend'.

I never thought the "same age" necessarily meant literally the same age, but I assumed it was that they were close in age rather than of different generations like most uncle-nephew pairs would be.  Just how big a gap that could be, I'm not sure, but I always figured it was a couple or few years at the most.

That's true.  People do sometimes speak in generalities with regards to age.  They might just be in the same age range/generation. 

It had happened long enough ago that there was no point in bringing it up,  and knowing the Collins family, the marriage was kept out of the history books.

God, no joke!  The Collins clan had a penchant for keeping the actual "facts" about their family hidden from pesky things like family bibles etc...  

Today's soaps mess-up continuity intentionally -- usually in order to "shoe-horn"  some outlandish plot into the already established history of the show

Again, totally true!  They did this on Guiding Light about a dozen years or so ago with the character Mike Bauer.  This character grew up, went to college and law school and then started working, during the course of his life on the show (the character was "born" on the show).  Then, because the actor playing him at the time, an actor named Don Stewart, had been a pilot in the military in his own lifetime, they decide to change the past of his character by saying he'd been a pilot in the military too.  Ridiculous!  

If Barnabas was ten when Jeremiah married her, he would be only 20 in 1795!  That seems highly unlikely.

Ah, but you make the mistake that many fans do, associating the age of the character based on the age of the actor.  True, Frid was 43 when the 1795 plot was being shot, but you have to stretch your imagination and forget his age in relation to Barnabas' age.  We know that Josette was 21/22 when she died from her headstone, and it seems totally logical to me that Barnabas was between 21-25 himself because of this and also, mostly, because I can't believe someone like Joshua Collins would *allow* his only son and heir to remain unmarried and childless (basically, w/out his "own" heir) into his 30's or 40's.  

I don't think that when Jeremiah says that Barnabas and him are the same age literally means 'the same age'.

Actually, Jeremiah says, "Although we are the same age-s" plural.  Now, this was no doubt a flub on Anthony George's part, but I take it as canon to mean that they were close in age rather than exactly the same age.  All the fan fiction stories I've written in the past I have Jeremiah being one year older than Barnabas.  

While I'm sure the character is meant to be younger than Jonathan Frid's actual age, it doesn't have to be as young as just a few years older than Josette.  Back then a more established, somewhat "older" man would often marry a very young woman, teenage in fact.

  Back then a more established, somewhat "older" man would often marry a very young woman, teenage in fact.

And that would be different from  today in what manner, exactly? 

I always thought that Barnabas was supposed to have been around 30. It was very common for men to marry younger women then, although this was sometimes a second marraige after their poor first wife had died in childbirth.

Men marrying later in life was acceptable, but women usually married rather young. At 19, 20, and 21 a woman was almost past her prime.

Misa

I always thought that Barnabas was supposed to have been around 30. It was very common for men to marry younger women then, although this was sometimes a second marraige after their poor first wife had died in childbirth.

Despite prior posts I've made, where I said I *could* see Barnabas as a 21-25 year old, I actually think he was about 30 too.  He was definately older and more mature than Josette, and he seemed a shy, sheltered man, so I could see him hemming and hauling where women were concerned.

I also agree w/the statement about how it would sometimes be a second marriage for the man when a wife died in childbirth.  I actually wrote a fan fiction story about Barnabas and another woman under these very same circumstances. 

The reason Laura probably isn't mentioned in 1795, aside from the fact this idea wasnt thought of yet, is that the Collins faily were being tactful around Jeremiah and Josette.  It was never stated but perhaps Jeremiah lost a child with Laura as well.

I took a look at Dale Clark's DS Book of Questions and Answers Volume 6 which addresses this issue.  Here are some excerpts of what Mr. Clark says:

   Just because Barnabas was ten when he first saw Laura Stockbridge doesn't necessarily mean that he was ten when she and Jeremiah were married. <snip>  Perhaps Laura arrived in Collinsport with her family when she was but a child and grew up with (but not necessarily close to) Barnabas and Jeremiah.  Somewhere along the way, as they all grew up, Jeremiah and Laura's paths crossed and they married.

There are several myths about the DS storylines that seem to get repeated often enough for fans to begin to accept that they happened on the show.  One example is that the Jennings brothers were twins; I've seen intense debates about it, yet not only was this never stated on the show but there is strong evidence that disputes it.  Another is the myth that Barnabas stated he was 10 years old when Jeremiah and Laura were married-- I'd read this so many times that by the time I finally saw the scene I was expecting to hear it.  But since it's only a misconception that has been bandied about by fans, does anybody else find it strange that Dale Clark would bother to discuss it in his Book of Q&As?  I mean, by bringing it up, doesn't that perpetuate the myth?

Dale Clark would bother to discuss it in his Book of Q&As?  I mean, by bringing it up, doesn't that perpetuate the myth?

Ye gads!   It seems I am inadvertantly perpetuating it too by posting it.  It's been awhile since I've watched that scene myself.  Is it Laura who says Barnabas was ten, or does Barnabas merely refer to himself as having been just a boy at the time? 
   

Yikes, PennyD, I never meant to imply that you did anything wrong.  I just find it weird that he would examine something that didn't happen.

It's been awhile since I've watched that scene myself.  Is it Laura who says Barnabas was ten, or does Barnabas merely refer to himself as having been just a boy at the time?

Barn was rummaging through an old trunk belonging to Jeremiah.  Charity happened along as he found the portrait of Laura Stockbridge, Jeremiah's first wife, and of course she looked exactly like Laura Colliins.  He described to Charity what Laura was wearing the first time he saw her, and he said he was 10 years old then and thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world.