Shelyesq:
I am such a liar whenever I say I'm finished with anything about family history.
This is a bit off track. It regards Esther's daughter May. And it's not exactly the family Bible thing that you mention, but it's pretty close. It might even be better than that.
For the last few weeks I've been in communication with one of Esther's descendants (Walt and Lucy, May's grandson and his wife). They have very direct knowledge of Esther (Lucy wore Esther's wedding band for 20 years). Lucy came up with a provocative observation: "Esther's daughter May never shows up (in my research) until May's marriage."
Her observation raises a flag. So I focused in on that and she may be on to something.
It's especially intruiging when combined with:
1: May's name is not included in Esther's 1880 census listing, when May would have been 5 years old (Ella, 11, Albert Ellsworth, 7, and Alice, 3). That's quite odd.
2: This info on May's civil marriage record: "daughter of John Oliver and Ester Treadway".
So…..
Could May have been adopted from one of Nathan's brother's or cousins?
As far as I can recall, I don't believe Nathan had a brother named John, but this certainly warrants further inquiry…
"The game is afoot!"
Will get back to you.