As I was putting the wraps on Thomas J. Crail's family, one daughter lacked any details beyond an estimated birth year. Polly E./Mary E. Crail was born about 1851 according to the 1860 census. She was not in the 1870 census with her parents.
As I typed the standard "She probably died between 1860 and 1870," it dawned on me that at about 19, Polly could have married already.
An investigation of Indiana marriages turned up a couple of likely candidates. Following that up with a family tree search, the candidates were narrowed to one.
On 30 Nov 1867, Mary E. Crail married Elijah C. Weddle. Mary would have been about 16. Both Mary and Elijah died in July 1878. They had three children: Charles [1870], Nancy [1872] and Sarah [1875].
The three Weddle children were living with Thomas J. and Catherine Crail in 1880 and were listed as grandchildren of the couple. Nancy's death certificate [1930] listed her parents as Elijah Weddle and Ellen Crail.
Several trees kept Elijah alive beyond 1878. He died in Oregon in 1912. The problem was that the Elijah in Oregon married and had children in the same time period that Elijah of Indiana married Mary and had Charles, Nancy and Sarah. A classic case of if he fits the profile, he must be the right guy. Square peg in the round hole.
Research lesson: When you have incomplete data, conduct a search [or searches] to fill in the blanks. You may not find them, but, then again, you may flesh out the story!
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