For clarification in the Archive: Singhals wrote: > > 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. The key phrase in that last sentence is *AS WE KNOW IT* -- that is, an adoption in the circumstances outlined in the OP, or adoption by ONE non-birth parent of the children of the spouse/birthparent. Adoption itself (by two persons unrelated to the child) can be documented well into antiquity. Cheryl singhals@erols.com