The vital statistics on Tomás Carrasquilla have hitherto baffled not only scholars and librarians, but even the members of his own family. One authority suggests 1865 as the year of his birth; another, 1851. The most conservative estimate, which “splits the difference,” as it were, favors 19 January 1858, the date accepted by Carrasquilla's family. In Santo Domingo, Colombia, I discovered on a baptismal certificate that “en la iglesia parroquial de Santo Domingo a veinticuatro de enero de mil ochocientos cincuenta y ocho, yo el cura interino que suscribo, bauticé solemnemente a un niño de un día de nacido a quien nombré Tomás María hijo legítimo de Rafael Carrasquilla y Ecilda Naranjo vecinos de esta parroquia,” so that, on the strength of this document, the actual date of Carrasquilla's birth appears to have been 23 January 1858.