This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/IBh.2ACIB/1261.2 Message Board Post: It is possible that he married to provide a mother to his children. Perhaps the girl he married was a widow with a child on the way. It was not uncommon back then for widow or widower to marry immediately after the death of a husband or wife for practical reasons. A farmer could not work his fields and take care of children, especially a newborn and very few women were in a position to not need a husband to provide for them.