I'm looking for information about the adoptive or birth parents of Francis Owen Pierce, who reported to census takers over the years that he was born in Minnesota Aug. 1859 and his parents both born in New York. Francis married Belle Martindale in 1887 in Nebraska. That marriage certificate lists his (likely adoptive) parents as John Pierce and Abigal Whitlock (or Abigail Whitbeck / Whitbuck?). I'm attaching an image of the marriage certificate that I received in 2014 from the Pawnee County Courthouse in Nebraska in case it's of help.