Adoption, yet again.

And this is where I bang my head repeatedly on my desk. I think I spoke too soon for the Ferguson's. I'm not changing my mind about the MacVeans'. I'd like to eventually go down that path, but I found something that has might take me off the Ferguson trail as well.



Walter Clinton Ferguson Sr. had two children in the 1900 Census, but note the little 'adt' next to their relation to the head of the house.

Adopted.

And now I have no idea how to precede with this. I've read a little on adoption, and there is a slight chance that there are records accessible to me about this - like a court record or a change on their birth certificates. I think I'm lucky because the late 1800's is when they started tracking adoptions, and they didn't start sealing records until the 1930's. I might be just in that window.

There is a small chance that the situation that occurred in this family is the same as what my grandmother went through. Walter Jr and Eva could be children from another family member that they took on. And if my records are true, then there were a WHOLE LOT of Fergusons working farms in upstate New York. I haven't researched all of Walter Sr.'s siblings {I've only noticed 2 other brothers} but one of them - Silas - doesn't seem to continue past the 1880 Census. Could it have been him? Or is it from a previous marriage or from a premarital relationship? There isn't much to gain from the actual Census, but I just don't have the extra money at the moment to order birth certificates.

Maybe in the next month or two dad and I can plan a trip up to upstate. I'd definitely need more than a weekend though, considering how much history my family has up there. And if I can find who Walter Jr. and Eva's real parents are, I'd most likely go head first into that side of the family.