I need help figuring out where to look for some records on my grandmother's family. This area of my research has been frustrating me recently. Here's the situation. My grandmother's mother died in 1895 in Alexander Co. NC, leaving a husband and 7 children. For whatever reason, the husband was not able to continue to care for the children. The older ones were placed on farms as workers. Three of the younger ones were placed in families as "foster" children. And one was formally adopted. My grandmother lived with a "foster" family in Burke Co. (she is shown in the 1900 census as a "boarder," which sounds less like a care-giving arrangement but she always considered these people to be her second family). I just don't know what formal arrangement may have been made for her by her father. Her younger brother was officially adopted by a family in Troutman (Iredell Co.) and his last name was changed to that of the adopting family. So, here are my questions: 1. Where would adoption records on her brother be found -- Alexander Co. where the father lived or Iredell Co. where the adopting family lived? 2. Is it likely that any kind of record exists related to the children who were placed in foster families? Was this type of placement generally governed by a guardianship agreement that would be issued by a court? And again, which county would have these records -- Alexander Co. or, in my grandmother's case, Burke Co.? 3. Complicating this further is that evidence appears to indicate that the father left Alexander Co. after the children were placed and moved to Hickory (Catawba Co.) If he had ongoing financial obligations established by the courts, would there be any reason to search Catawba Co. records? Thanks so much for any help you can give me on this. I am hoping to spend some time in NC later this year and want to be able to target the right county records. Brenda Pflaum Hudson, OH