Your ancestral couple are enumerated in the 1850 US census with 13 children. Be careful drawing immediate conclusions–particularly because 1850 US census enumerations do not list the relationship of the individuals listed as living in the same household. Here are a few thoughts. Do not jump the conclusion that the children all have to be the biological children of the apparent husband and wife. Children living with a step-father during this time period may be enumerated with the step-father’s last name even if it that child never used that last name in other records. The oldest man and woman enumerated are likely husband and wife. One or both of them may have had other spouses before 1850. An age gap may suggest the probable wife was his second, […]
One of my new DNA matches turned out to be the great-grandson of a distant relative who died recently. Since many of the individuals involved are living, I won’t go into the details of the search or the specifics of the family, but there are some reminders about DNA match analysis with this match. Obituaries do not necessarily list all descendants. The great-grandmother (on the maternal side) of the match died in 2019. Her obituary indicated she had grandchildren (they are named) but does not reference great-grandchildren. It it possible that certain family members do not acknowledge the great-grandchild. To confuse the issue the paternal grandfather of the match was apparently adopted or raised by his step-father and uses that name. Until I reached that conclusion, the tree […]
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