clifto wrote: > T.M. Sommers wrote: > >>Even if it does say "widow" the husband may have been alive, >>because "widow", in addition to its meaning today, also meant >>separated or abandoned. > > I have a couple just like that, living a few farms apart, each listed as > widowed. William Taylor b. 15 Jan 1850 and Caroline Evaline Sharp b. > 23 Dec 1852 are the ones, in the 1920 census, roll 632. I have a case where the husband said he was married, but the wife said she was widowed. I guess they couldn't agree on much of anything. The interesting thing is the implications of such cases for the question of divorce. Those who decry today's high divorce rates ignore, or are unaware of, the fact that just because divorce is difficult or impossible does not mean that families stay together; it just means that estranged spouses are forced to live alone or live in sin, as it were. -- Thomas M. Sommers -- tms@nj.net -- AB2SB