Here is something I found in the 1880 census . Maybe this will help you. 1880 WV Lewis Co Freemans Creek tsp McCluster Samual 43 farming WV WV WV McCluster Mary Ann 42 wife VA VA VA Rhimer Franklin 17 adopted school teacher WV WV WV Puffenbarger S E female 6 adopted WV WV WV McCluster Franklin 75 father farming WV IRE SCOT 1900 KS Decatur Oberlin McCluster Samuel head Apr 1837 63 m 42 yrs VA VA VA " Mary A wife Feb 1835 65 m 42 yrs 0 born VA VA VA Moffet Guy adopte so Nov 1881 18 VA VA VA Since it looks like the children kept their original surnames, wouldn't their birth records be listed in the birth index for VA or WV where Sarah Elizabeth Puffenbarger was born listing her parents? Mary in CA *********** ---- Jlktrees@aol.com wrote: > Sandra, I have used about every spelling I could think of for Puffenbarger. > My husband has a great grandmother who was adopted and in her marriage > application in the 1890s said her parents were Benjamin Oates and Elizabeth > Puffenbarger and she was born in Lewis Co., WV. That is a lost cause for searching > as their adoption records are closed forever and even though there were a > lot of Puffenbargers in Pendleton Co., VA and they have their own web page they > know nothing of Sarah Elizabeth Puffenbarger. I think she might have been > born on the other side of the blanket as one man told me once about himself. > She was adopted in WV and moved to western Kansas. Her children knew very > little about their mother's past. > > Thanks for answering. > > Jerilyn > > > > ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to OHBELMON-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message