In a message dated 98-07-28 11:26:00 EDT, you write: > And while we're on the subject...Christian's will names the following, > "Christiana and CHILDREN". If the Christiana named in the will is a fourth > wife, who are these children? Maggie, only speculation but whether or not Christian married for a 4th (or whatever time) when he was in his 70s I would imagine the children are exactly as we know them to be. The only correction would be that the named Christiana was most likely an additional wife. The only question I am aware of with regard to the children named in his will (as my cousin Richard pointed out) often more than one child in a family had the same name. And this is true in this instance with regard to Christinas. We know a Christina was born of the marriage of Christian and Anna Maria in 1750 and we also know there was a Maria Christina born of the later marriage of Christian and Christina (the one fell down the stairs to her death) in 1754. Only ONE daughter Christina (the wife of Michael Wyland by 1779) was named in the will, leaving us to figure out WHICH Christina was living in 1779. My assumption based on circumstantial evidence is that the first Christina died and it is the younger one who married Michael Wyland and is named in the will. I would think it likely (but so far unprovable) that the second Christina may have been named for the deceased little girl--but of course she may have been named for Christina, her mother, as well, or even for Christian, her father--too many Christinas! Joan