Have you ever been following your male ancestor in the census, and suddenly discovered that his wife did not age the same 10 years that your ancestor did?
It could be that your ancestor’s first wife died, and he remarried someone with the same first name. And, he could have had children by the 2nd wife before the next census. So, don’t assume that the information given to the census taker was incorrect. It could be that it is necessary to look for another marriage – your ancestor’s 2nd wife this time!
Maggie
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July 23, 2013 at 6:58 am
Maggie,
Yes, that happened to me. I was doing some research for a friend of mine, who wanted me to find information on her Grandfather’s 2nd wife, Helen. His first wife was also Helen. What my friend had missed in a census record was that there were 3 step children in the household. When I looked at the household, I spotted that, followed the step children back a census year, found them, and their mother’s real name. Found a blend of children and step children in a subsequent census and there were several of those children in the same household.
Based on a couple of other details, we think that one of the children gave the census taker the information about their mother, not the step mother.
So, good advice.
Russ
July 23, 2013 at 7:53 am
Hello Russ,
Yes, those “same name” people do make it interesting in our research!!
Thank you so much for commenting on my blog.
Maggie