Dena wrote: > I was wondering about changing childrens names when the mother has > been widowed and remarries around 1850's. Did they have to go thru > some legal steps, or could the mother and step father "unofficially" > change the childrens as if they were adopted by the father? From my personal experience searching those things -- There were no official steps to be taken, so no one took them. Adoption as we know it is an early 20th century construct. What actually happened rather depended on the circumstances. Generally, I'd lean toward the children all using the same surname, at least until they married. The younger the child at the time of the remarriage of the mother, the less likely that child will use the birth-father's name. Thing is, on a census, you never know what the family actually SAID or what the enumerator thought they said. HTH Cheryl singhals@erols.com