Brian Mavrogeorge of the Stanton website asked what kind of document is it that I referred to in my original post. It is a manuscript, written between 1885 and 1890, with some additions written after 1890. It is in the format that one finds in family bibles, with separate columns for births, deaths, and marriages. The writer is Sarah Stanton Kniskern, my gggrandmother. Most of the information is such that she would have had direct knowledge herself or have had access to people who did (i.e., her parents),being her and her parents' immediate families. This is one reason to allow it some credit. There are two "facts" which don't necessarily qualify: The marriages of two of her ggrandfathers: One, of Lawrence Lawyer and Elizabeth Berg, is well documented elsewhere (and of no interest to this mailing list). The other is the surprise that I described in my original post.