In reviewing information on one of my “brick wall” ancestors, I realized that I had not researched the origins of the second or third husbands of that ancestor. While it’s possible that information on these two men does not contain information on my direct line ancestor, it’s also possible that something on one of these men does contain some clue.
I won’t know until I look.
2 Responses
That’s exactly where I am with my 2x great-grandmother. Her mother’s 1st husband died in 1864 fighting for the Union. My gg-grandma has his last name but according to every record I’ve found she couldn’t have been born prior to late 1866. Most documents say Nov. 1868, but I suspect closer to 1866 for various reasons. Obviously he wasn’t her biological father. But her mother didn’t remarry until late 1869. My gg-grandma never took the 2nd husband’s name even though he was the only father figure she knew. I know her mom filed a pension app for widow’s & dependents’ pensions, but it doesn’t appear she received them. The certificate numbers are blank on the card. Probably since she was already remarried at that point. I know she received a widow’s pension after her 2nd husband died. There are records of payments made. However, he fought for the CSA. So which records do I order? Is there a good chance she was illegitimate & I may never know the identity of her father?
I agree Michael. My great grandfather was married once before. While investigating his first wife, I discovered that she was the sister to my great grandmother. I found more information on her than I did on my great grandmother. This opened up several more doors for me.