Chain migration,
3(or 4?) generation households, the maiden aunt in the back bedroom, the maiden
aunt, or sister, or cousin, who stepped in to tend the household and the
children when the wife died, the orphan children who joined the household when
their parents died.
1950-60 was all
about the nuclear family - mom, dad & 2.5 kids, and now? Propose a combination, and it will likely be
found, not just one place, but many.
Current society may not want to label it as such, but the pendulum has
swung and again, people are living in extended families - choice, economics, a
combination of the two.
OK, back to
historical genealogy.
Extended families,
the ones genealogists are tracking, the historical ones, usually were the
result of some sort of
family connection. Let your ears prick
up at the outlier in the record, whether the pointer be difference in age,
name, where born, or occupation, follow and make that picture, and you may well
find another branch or collateral relations.
Additionally, let
your imagination roam a little. People
were (and are) where they were (and are) for a reason. The reason may not be self-evident to us 21st
century people, but the reason made sense to them (time travel time
again).
My
husband's grandfather, Quill, married and moved in with family of his new wife;
now two surnames in the household. Quill
also went to work for his new father in law, James, in his linoleum store
(1930). By the 1940 census, the store
had closed and Quill was selling baskets (one up from apples?), but he &
wife were still living with the in-laws, but now the two families in a two
flat. Probable reason? Quill's couple
was now three (enter child). James'
couple was now also a three-some; James' mother-in-law, now widowed, AND the
mother-in-laws mother, had both moved in with his family. Now there were four surnames at the one
address, and no apparent connection without the back story, but with the
backstory, lots of places to look for husbands and more information.
Another ancestor of mine, Nathan Taylor, moved from eastern
New York to northern Illinois between the 1860 & 1870 census. I've not done much with that line. I know the "what happened," and my
TODO list includes developing a more specific time line, and hopes of
information that suggests reasons for the move.
Why worry about
extended families? Often it is the clue
to finding out about your direct line.
And you find some very good stories.
Till next time
Liz
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
2018
begins with an "ABC-darium," a walk through the alphabet expanding
into short comments on matters genealogical. Published on Tuesday and
some Fridays, a letter may be visited more than once before moving
on.
©
2018, SE Ross