"singhals" <singhals@erols.com> wrote in message news:Y-KdnYWEQP5XQjTanZ2dnUVZ_u-unZ2d@rcn.net... > > I've stared at this until I've driven myself into a depression. So then I > dragged some good friends into it, and they've gone cross-eyed. > > Now I'm inviting comments from the world-at-large. (g) > > What are the odds of a man b 1833 who, except for his CW service, NEVER > lived more than 27 miles from his birthplace in VA, having married 3 > separate women with the same given names, only the middle of whom left a > death record, and only the first and 2nd left a marriage record? > > There are numerous other details, but that's the broad picture, and what > I'm after here is -- is this a common-as-dirt scenario, or it is a > one-of-a-kind, or is it neither rare nor frequent? > > Thanks. > > Cheryl I think I'd probably go with neither/nor. Certainly not common, but not impossible either. I'm not going to go through and count, but I'd guess I have 4 or 5 men in my family tree, close to that timeframe and in the VA/NC/KY area that have married two women with the same given name. Three doesn't seem that unlikely to me. And if they're Marys or Sarahs, which it sometimes seems about every 3rd female was, then your odds go up quite a bit. Just my guess....<shrug> -- Tara Larkin Remove NO SPAM to reply by email.