How to prove an old adoption?
I have this listing that I am unsure of.
I have a William Williamson b 1848 England, married to Mary J b 1828 New York. There are three sons, and based on their ages, only the last one is most likely a Williamson. I am descended from the middle son.
I am trying to locate a marriage record, without luck. I am trying to somehow find who Mary J was married to prior and actually may be the father of the sons. I have no idea how to do this.
I thought I found William's immigration records, but I am not sure. I found William on 1860 and 1870 New York censuses with his mother, father, and siblings, and on two 1880 census records - one with his family, one with his wife and three sons. Maybe I should dismiss the William I think it was, but I have found other relatives being double counted before, and maybe it's a matter of precisely when that year the census in that region was taken.
I have no idea where to go from here.
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Hi there, There are several men of this name who came to NY from Britain. One man named William Williamson married Mary Jane Rice from NY. They are located by census 1865 in Oneida County; 1870 at ward 3, Utica; 1875 at Spencer, Tioga; 1880 at Tioga, Tioga. Their six children include: Mary Etta or Marietta, born C1850; William James c1852; John c1856; Jewell M or Joanna c1863; Fred 1868; and Walter S 1872. The census of 1880 makes William as age 32, wife Mary J, age 52, however, the other census returns mentioned above make them always the same age, so it is possible that the 1880 census enumerator reported the age of the husband in clerical error. He was listed as age 37 in 1865, 42 in 1870, 47 in 1875, so the correct age for 1880 was probably 52. Is this the right man you are searching?
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I think you just helped significantly. A surname I saw a lot in my DNA matches (their trees) on all three sites was Rice, but never figured out why. This might explain it.
However, I am having difficulty locating the same census records you did. I am trying to go off ancestry to find them, but I did find a marriage record of Walter, their son, b 1873. Confirms the mother's name.
You're so good at this, maybe I can ask another favor? Whopping family mystery we've never solved, and in trying to do so, it gets deeper instead.
Thanks!
(And I apologize for not writing sooner. Ancestry never told me you replied. I just happened to look, just in case.)
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