Dick, there IS a family in the 1880 census, Vanango Township, Crawford, Pennsylvania consisting of: Michal [sic] J. Straw, age 32 Sarah Straw, age 22 Clara Straw, age 2. This little family would probably be where the story came that Michael J. Straw and Sarah were Clara's parents. There was, obviously, a Clara Straw born to Michael and Sarah. She would be 22 in 1900, and if she were the child the family you found in 1900, she would be away from home already. We never know how a person "hears" what the census taker says. If she "heard" the census taker say "How many children do you have and how many are still living AT HOME, her answer would have been accurate, and Clara might be hers. But, I feel I have probably just added to the confusion. At least you know that Michael, Sarah, and Clara were a family in 1880. Linda in Utah ----- Original Message ----- From: Dick Straw Sent: Sunday, September 08, 2002 10:38 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Crawf'rd] Clara B. (Straw) Kepler I seek information on the parents and husband of Clara B. Straw, who is shown in the records of the Venango Cemetery as born in 1878 and died 9 Jan 1972 under the name Clara B. (Straw) Kepler (received from James Acker, secretary of the cemetery association). She has been identified as a child of Michael J. Straw and Sarah (Gillis?). The records in the 1900 census for Venango Boro indicate that this couple was married about 1876 (24 years earlier), when they were 27 and 21 years old, resp. and Sarah reported in this census that she had had six children of whom four were living in 1900, their names listed as Walter J, Jenny G, Blanch E and Robert C., ages 4 to 18. On this basis it is doubted that Michael and Sarah were the parents of Clara B. Straw. It has been suggested that Clara was the wife of James Kepler, but I have found no evidence on this at this time. The issue is somewhat confused by the appearance of a Clara A. Kepler in the Erie County, PA, census records. In 1900 she is listed as a daughter of Harriet Brundage, and born March 1860, age 40. She appears again in the 1920 census at age 60. Any clues will be much appreciated. Dick ---------------------------- Richard M. Straw Talent, OR 97540 <[email protected]> ==== PACRAWFO Mailing List ==== *** Tired of this LIST? Going on vacation, a business trip? *** Send an email with one word, UNSUBSCRIBE, in the Subject and Message area to: [email protected] Digest? Replace "L" with "D". ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237