Estranged, dysfunctional family

[Unsprung]

My wife has a wonderfully dysfunctional family in her tree. A 17 year old
gal married her 25 year old uncle in 1885 VT when she is six months
pregnant. I do not know if the child was his so he could be either a saint
or a villain. If it was his, I do not know if she was willing or it was
rape. Anyway, they lived together for 25 years. I do not know if it was a
"happy" marriage, but she had 11 more kids by him. Then, after 25 years of
marriage, she takes all the kids but the oldest boy and moves to NH where
she dies of uterine cancer 5 years later in 1915 after 2 years of illness.
The oldest son stays with the father to work the farm in VT. The husband's
obit and social security applications of the children attribute several
incorrect maiden names to the mother (in fact, her maiden name was CAREY
just like her uncle/husband). I suspect that the husband was trying to
conceal a family secret. The children my have been doing the same or maybe
no one ever told them.

Where might I go to dig up more dirt on this family? For instance, did they
have restraining orders in 1910, domestic violence reports, bankruptcy or
debt problems, and where would I look for such info? What else may be on
record for a family like thus?

Peter

[Hugh Watkins]

Unsprung wrote:

My wife has a wonderfully dysfunctional family in her tree. A 17 year old
gal married her 25 year old uncle in 1885 VT when she is six months
pregnant. I do not know if the child was his so he could be either a saint
or a villain. If it was his, I do not know if she was willing or it was
rape. Anyway, they lived together for 25 years. I do not know if it was a
"happy" marriage, but she had 11 more kids by him. Then, after 25 years of
marriage, she takes all the kids but the oldest boy and moves to NH where
she dies of uterine cancer 5 years later in 1915 after 2 years of illness.
The oldest son stays with the father to work the farm in VT. The husband's
obit and social security applications of the children attribute several
incorrect maiden names to the mother (in fact, her maiden name was CAREY
just like her uncle/husband). I suspect that the husband was trying to
conceal a family secret. The children my have been doing the same or maybe
no one ever told them.

Where might I go to dig up more dirt on this family? For instance, did they
have restraining orders in 1910, domestic violence reports, bankruptcy or
debt problems, and where would I look for such info? What else may be on
record for a family like thus?

police - and church or the courts

read the local laws

Hugh W


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[Liz_in_Calgary]

Perhaps she is not her fathers child. I would take a look
at her mother's genealogy.




On Tue, 18 Dec 2007 04:38:59 -0500, in alt.genealogy
"Unsprung" <[email protected]> wrote :

My wife has a wonderfully dysfunctional family in her tree. A 17 year old
gal married her 25 year old uncle in 1885 VT when she is six months
pregnant. I do not know if the child was his so he could be either a saint
or a villain. If it was his, I do not know if she was willing or it was
rape. Anyway, they lived together for 25 years. I do not know if it was a
"happy" marriage, but she had 11 more kids by him. Then, after 25 years of
marriage, she takes all the kids but the oldest boy and moves to NH where
she dies of uterine cancer 5 years later in 1915 after 2 years of illness.
The oldest son stays with the father to work the farm in VT. The husband's
obit and social security applications of the children attribute several
incorrect maiden names to the mother (in fact, her maiden name was CAREY
just like her uncle/husband). I suspect that the husband was trying to
conceal a family secret. The children my have been doing the same or maybe
no one ever told them.

Where might I go to dig up more dirt on this family? For instance, did they
have restraining orders in 1910, domestic violence reports, bankruptcy or
debt problems, and where would I look for such info? What else may be on
record for a family like thus?

Peter

[Gjest]

I think human nature being what it is, every generation has this kind
of stuff in it - they just took more pains to hide it all in times
past i.e. they didn't talk about it, and skeletons were kept more
firmly in the closet. Scratch the surface of most families and you
find somewhere in the history abandonment, bigamy, shotgun weddings,
apparent sibs who are actually mother and child, kids by other
fathers, you name it.

We've got some doozies in mine, going back a long way, and there are
many suspicious events we'll never know the whole truth about (such as
as my husband's 14 year old great grandmother marrying a 27 year old
back in 1850...first child born 4 months later).

M.

[Fred McKenzie]

In article
<[email protected]>,
[email protected] wrote:

I think human nature being what it is, every generation has this kind
of stuff in it - they just took more pains to hide it all in times
past i.e. they didn't talk about it, and skeletons were kept more
firmly in the closet.

Mary-

Some skeletons are kept more firmly than others.

One ancester reportedly spent time in prison, wrongly accused of murder.
There are at least three versions of that story in the family.

One distant cousin was reportedly sold at age 13 to a bachelor farmer in
his 30s. The family bible says they were married when she was 17.
After a bumpy start, they went on to have several children and a long
marriage.

The one no one talks about is the (white) uncle who reportedly married a
black woman!

Fred