This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: HighwaterCowboy Surnames: Newton, McDonald Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.texas.counties.burnet/2786.1.1.1.1.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: James, Conundrum indeed! One thing I will tell you is that the death of Thomas James on May 26, 1874 would have been very traumatic for Martha Ann, whose name apears on the marriage license that way and the 1870 Bastrop census. When families wish to keep information private, we, 140 years later see the "hole" but don't know what the truth is. I suspect our Martha Ann would have gone back to her family after the death of her husband. I do not believe they had children themselves and Thomas' elder children would have cared for his younger ones. Now that 1870 census we speak of is a truly hard to understand one. We've always thought her age was 46, but the way the number 6 was written on that census by the enumerator might allow for it to be a zero, making her 40. Thomas' name is not written in, and the gender of at least one of the children is a mistake. We had a time convincing ourself that this was indeed our McDonald family due to all of the misfit information it contained. Andrew Cameron McDonald appeared on a census in two differen locations as well, and it was a similar situation as you mention, as Andrew owned two different ranches. The 1870 Bastrop census was enumerated on 24 Jun 1870. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.