After puzzling over the fact that there were two men with the same surname (and not a common one) of the age and the same given and middle names with one wife left behind and a new wife having children in a neighboring county, I had to conclude that he had left the first wife and moved away with the second one. Then he moved the second family several states away. The first wife stayed on in the same house in the same town as her relatives for more than 20 years. The land she was on was given to the couple on their marriage. Fortunately, the first wife did not have to provide for children.