kBerry First of all the 1870 Census did not show the relationships between the people so you have no way of knowing if the 8 year old was unrelated. All that can be said is the people are living together. It could be a family unit or it could be brothers and sisters to the head of the family or the older women. You need to look in 1880 and see if relationships are listed. They may very well be living together. You did not give the actual entry. I am assuming it is: David Mack age unknown Annie Mack age unknown John Mack age 3 George Mack age 1 Amanda Howard age 8 Noah Howard age 5 The first thing that pops into my mind is that Amanda and Noah are Annie's children by a previous marriage if she was old enough. The next is that Annie's maiden name was Howard and she has her younger siblings living with her. But they could also be the neice and nephew or David or unrelated. Julia Coldren-Walker FamRSearch@aol.com