Mary B Smith was the daughter of Reuben and Louiza J Davis Smith and my great-grand aunt. I havent really been able to identify what happened to her after 1880 until today when I found a tid-bit of information.

I was searching the MPL online genealogical databases and found something for a Mary B Smith who died in Grant County in 1949 and was born late Nov 1870. It didnt identify whether or not Smith was her married or maiden name. The age of the woman puts her about right and it caused me to reexamine the information that I already possessed on Mary specifically her age on the June 1880 census which was 9. Her parents were married in Apr 1871. This would mean that Mary had to be born right away following the marriage. Given this new information, I suspect that Mary was a bastard child to Louiza and possibly Reuben or an unanmed father.

I need help in how to research whether or not Mary was a bastard child. Obviously a birth certificate would be the best bet but I dont think that Grant County issued them in the early 1870s. Is there any county court databases online?

thanks,
Brent Smith