For twenty years, it seemed as if my ancestor Ira Sargent was dropped off by a UFO in Hancock County, Illinois, in 1880.
Turns out he wasn’t.
He was in the 1850 and 1860 United States Census listed under the last name of his step-father–whom his mother had married in 1849. Until I discovered the last name of the step-father, I was unable to find Ira.
Is it possible that your UFO ancestor wasn’t dropped off by aliens but was instead listed in records as a child under his (or her) stepfather’s last name? And that the first time they used their “birth name” in a record was when they married?
One response
I love this. I chuckled at work when I read it because I have a similar ancestor who seems to have been hatched out of nowhere (or dropped off by aliens). The idea of looking under a step-father surname hadn’t occurred to me for this particular person, although it makes sense since the mother was widowed while she was still relatively young. Thanks for sharing!