There is a tombstone in the local cemetery. I can't remember the husband's name, but he had two wives, both were named Mathilda. One can only imagine how confusing this might be for his descendants.
Usually a new wife has a different name. If I researched this individual, the age of his wife might change significantly in census records, her birth place may suddenly be different, or other pieces of information may be inconsistent. Keep in mind that if the details on a spouse are different, it might because there was a different spouse--just one with the same first name.
My Polish ancestor Stanislaw Brud had two wives,
ReplyDeleteKatarzyna Golebiowska (1815-1855) and Katarzyna Golebiowska (1837-?) Talk about confusion. I searched birth records and found he and his wife having children over 45 years! Knowing this was impossible I checked for a death and second marriage. It took years because the records had not been microfilmed. Finally I found a full set of records and discovered that the two Katarzynas were in fact half-sisters. Their father had a daughter of the same name with each of his two wives!