Hi All. Is there any way to find out who had custody of children who were orphaned in the 1870's? There are 4 children involved, all over 10 years of age. By ancestor knowledge, one of the boys ran away from where he was placed (we know who he ran away from) in Onslow County and lived with someone in Duplin County, but don't know who with. Another boy was possibly of age when his mother died, but I'm not sure when she died, so can't be sure. The other two children who are girls, I can only guess. They were either taken in by the same family or they, also ran away and were taken in by a family and in either case, I think they would be Hewitts. Both girls had different names in the 1880 census and both of them returned to their given names later in life. By 1880 one had married using the alias name, but knew it was her because of her husbands name. The other sister, according to the 1880 census, was living with her brother and listed as being his sister, but it wasn't her given name. Since all this happened between census years, the census records are not of any direct help. Does anyone have any suggestions of where to look for information on what might have happened to this kids over a 7 year time span? Thanks! Judy