Don’t assume that just because the names are “close” that they have to be a match. I was looking for information on a William Bell who married a Martha Sargent in Iowa. Turns out there was another William Bell in the same part of Iowa who married a Lorinda Sargent. Totally two separate couples from two separate families. How many William Bells can marry a Sargent and live a few counties away from each other? Apparently two. Two distinct ones.Remember that sometimes there is a relationship and sometimes there is not.
Always look for additional information to confirm that you really have the same couple and not another couple with the same or similar names. In this case, both marriages were in the 1870s and the 1880 census confirmed that there were two separate couples.







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