If there is significant gap between your ancestor's "last" child and the one before that, consider that the mother could have had several miscarriages, the last child could have been a "surprise" or that the last child could have actually been a grandchild.
The secret grandchild scenario is often the most plausible. Proving the true relationship by retrieving verification documents is very difficult and often impossible, if a reliable civil birth record was not produced at the time. I once managed to unearth a devastating family secret by recovering 100 year-old hospital records. The questionable "child" as an adult declared that her parents were not her biological parents, and other factors decreed that she must have been the illegitimate daughter of her eldest "brother."
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