I'm thinking that because yellow fever, malaria and other diseases took such a terrible toll, it was not unusual for a child to be orphaned and then adopted by friends or family members. Also, a spouse with children from a previous marriage who are not your own, but whom you helped raise (your stepchildren) may have been included in a will (especially if there were no other children.) In either case, I would imagine there might have been some differentiation in the will between those kids who were 'natural' and those who were not. > WHOA, HOSS!!! What in the world do you mean when you say "Today 'natural > daughter' means an illegitimate child"??? Natural child is a biological > child. Biological as opposed to adopted. NATURAL. > > If a child was illegitimate but duly acknowledged, THEN the child could > inherit from a father, but if the child was never acknowledged, then in > order to be placed in possession of any real or personal property, one had > to prove paternity.