The guardianship issue is interesting. Isn't it true that when a father died that another male was usually appointed guardian of the children, even when the mother of the children was still living? I had an ancestor who was a land speculator in the 1850s and 1860s in Ohio. There is deed upon deed recorded for him in the courthouse there, and in every instance, his wife was taken aside. I wonder what would have happened if she would have said she was not acting under her own free will. Another thing that interested me was to find in one of my ancestor's wills that he had had a prenuptial agreement with his second wife in the 1860s. She didn't receive any of his property upon his death (I'm assuming she had her own, but have never checked it out). This guy's property had all been bought with money he and his first wife had received from selling land that the first wife inherited. Land records are some of the best genealogical resources you can find. If the kids aren't mentioned by name in the will, you can often selling them selling property. It seems to me that I have a copy of an 1850s PA land sale where ALL the spouses of both the sons and daughters of the deceased were mentioned. Debbie