Without a doubt, my paternal Great Grandmother. She was born in 1867, a month after her father passed away. Her mother re-married less than a year later, a widower, with 9 children, they proceeded to have 2 more children together, I wonder if it was a "love" match.
I would love to ask her, my G.grandmother, what life was like being an outsider, she had no natural siblings, just steps and halfs. Incidentally, her half sister, who was a couple of years younger than her, was deaf, that was of course something they listed on the census, alongside imbecile!!!!! I wonder what her life was like, she became quite a successful cake decorater, from what I can find out, I am sure that wasn't an easy feat in the 1880s/1890s.
I had a difficult time finding my G.grandmother, as she used her second name and was listed on the census with her step-faters surname, except when she was living with her maternal grandmother for one census, she was enumerated with her grandmothers surname!!! It took 10 years of chasing down wrong paths, I finally found her, with the help of a friend, who gave me a copy of her birth certificate as a 60th birthday present, along with a copy of her ancestors.
