When encountering a family of parent(s) and children, always consider the possibility that the children are not full biological siblings. Some children could have been from previous relationships either parent had and others could be theirs together. Even if there were no divorces or separations, previous spouses could have either abandoned their family or died. Left with children to support, remarriage was relatively common especially if the remaining parent’s economic status made it necessary.
There’s always the possibility as well that some of those “children” were children of relatives of one of the parents or a children of a neighbor that they took in. Household membership may be more fluid than you think–especially if there was room and child was old enough to help out with chores, farm work, or similar tasks.
Never assume that what appears to be a “husband wife and their children” actually is. It may not be.
3 Responses
This is a great reminder, Michael. Another possibility is that an older daughter had a child out of wedlock and the daughter’s parents raised the child as their own. That’s suspected in one of my ancestor’s families.
I have several examples of this in census records of my Quaker ancestors. Ideas on how we can find out who these children are or where they came from.
Thanks, Michael.
Research them in later records to start with (including censuses)–following them for the duration of their lives to see if there something about them later in their life that points to additional sources or details. In the case of Quakers you might want to look for mention of them in church records–including references to possible parents.