Always think about the family that was left behind when someone died? Were there children who would have needed looked after? Was there a spouse who would have needed some assistance? Was there an adult child who would have been unable to look after themselves?
Who would have been nearby to help these individuals?
Were there court records, guardianships, or other records resulting from issues when the person died?
6 Responses
An elderly widow may be in the home of one of her children — could even be in another state from her usual residence.
An older sister took her brother and went to Calif. The last I found a location for him was in his older brother’s obituary – Alberta, Canada. He can’t be found after 194?.
I had a gggrandfather and gggrandmother buried the same day. I researched and there was a Yellow Fever epidemic in Texas at the time.
My sixth great-grandmother died after the birth of her tenth child. They had ‘forted’ and were amid a Cherokee attack at the time. Back in the 18th century it wasn’t uncommon, at all, for a widowed man with small children to marry as early as a month after his loss, sometimes two months. (We have to realize at that time marriage was a ‘business arrangement’.) My sixth great-grandfather’s children ranged in age from newborn on up to just seventeen. Granddaddy was a Colonel and considered the Rear-Guard during the Revolutionary War, keeping the Settlements in western North Carolina safe while a majority of the Militia went to assist the Continental Army. There was no way he could simply sit home and mind babies. His wife passed away in the late Spring, by mid-August he was newly married again. Not judging, just saying that’s how it was.
Yes, a child from a large family on a census disappeared. I wondered if it had been an error. A year later of my searching, she popped up in a much later census with her oldest brother. Since then I have urged people to look at the collateral families. They sometimes are genealogical gold mines.
After their mother died,a family of unmarried young adults Immigrated from Germany to St. Louis.