The couple had the last of their dozen children in Massachusetts around the turn of the 19th century. That was approximately the same time their oldest child got married and shortly before the husband sold property he had owned for over twenty years.
A genealogy of the husband’s family fails to mention anything about the couple after the real estate is transferred. Marriage and death information is included for some of their children and there is some information on what happened to the husband’s siblings.
While it’s tempting to say that the couple went in the witness protection program or were abducted by aliens, the reality is likely somewhat different. My approach is to look for them in the areas where their children settled and lived. I need to see if I can track the other children–not just the ones whose later life details are mentioned in the book. Since the couple had sold their farm, it is possible they are living with the family of one of their children–and are not named in any census since no US census before 1850 lists everyone in the household.
If the husband’s family left the area, it’s possible that they settled there. It is just as possible that they settled near where some of the wife’s family had moved to.
It’s also possible that they caught whatever was going around at the turn of the 19th century and died. They also could have lived in an area where they had no family.
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