My interest in researching family history started when my mother's sister Clare returned from a trip to the National Archives with copies of the civil war records of two of our ancestors. One of those ancestors was Charles D. Sanders and today I looked again at the census forms that I've collected for his family.
In 1850, ten year old Charles was living in Pittston, PA with his parents Jesse and Nancy (Knapp) Sanders along with 13 year old Emaline, 12 year old William, 5 year old Franklin, 3 year old Harriet and 2 year old Phebe. The census tells me that like almost 85% of the US population, Jesse's occupation was "farmer" and that Charles, Emaline and William all attended school within the year.
The next census shows Emaline (23) helping her mother keep house; William (22), Charles (19), and Franklin (15) are listed as laborers, Charles, Franklin and Phebe now 11 years old all attended school within the year. I wonder what happened to Harriet; did she perish from illness or accident before she reached age 13?
Two years after the 1860 census, my great grandfather Charles and his old brother William enlisted with the 112th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers and spent the next 3 years involved in the Civil War. Both were mustered out at the end of the war and Charles married my grandmother Mary McNally 18 month later.
With each further piece of information that is uncovered, more of the puzzle is completed while the overall picture expands as more questions are raised.
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