Wait, so you're not supposed to use official records because they might contradict family tradition?

*waits*

*waits some more*

Nope, still doesn't make sense. But then, I come from a family where, when we realized we didn't know my maternal grandfather's actual year of birth (because he'd lied about his age so many times that by the time he died he himself no longer remembered how old he was), one of my sisters went to Britain and located his birth records so we could put the correct birth year on his wall plaque in the columbarium.

Re: Whitman County, I'm from that neck of the woods and IIRC their records are pretty darned good. You may find something useful about old Elbert in their archives.