Thank you PrueM for having a go.
As you say, it's not yet crystal clear.
But with logic, we can rule out some things:
1). IF the enumerator had written daughter and then changed it to son, daughter would be written neatly within the column, and son would have been added to the left. BUT what we are looking at is the opposite scenario. So, it's the left bit which has been added.
Next point: the candidates for the capital letter would seem to be "
L", "
S" and "
D".
The case for "L":2). IF it's "Lte", with the "te" tiny, in a high position, and underlined, and
IF the enumerator correctly filled it in, then the relationship should relate to Thomas H. Adams.
Possibilities: late wife's son/late sister's son/ even late mother's son
(she remarried)
(although with the exception of "wife", the word "late" is redundant in all these cases (eg. late sister's son>nephew/late mother's son>brother).
Which only really leaves us with "late wife's son" (as opposed to "his" son, & hence not named Adams)
Not possibilities: late brother's son/ late father's son.
3). IF it's some attempt at "Lodger's" son, then that is hardly likely since both lodgers are male and both lodgers are unmarried.
The case for "S":4). IF it's "Step", I don't think it is possible to shorten that word to an abbreviation. On the other hand, it could be written with a large "S" and then tiny "tep" just to take up less space. There would definitely seem to be a "te", so this explanation is definitely still in the running. However, my query is this "If all the letters are actually present, (as in S tep), would the tiny letters still be underlined? Or is underlining only used when some letters are missing? (eg. tiny "th" written after "Eliz"- I think in this case the "th" should be underlined). Are there any grammar specialists out there??"
And then we should note that the meaning of "Stepson" has 2 possiblities:
a). The son of a former wife of Thomas Adams
b). The son of the present wife of Thomas Adams
The case for "D":5). IF it's a "D" and tiny "te"................well it COULD NOT be an abbreviation of "Daughter's son. That's for sure.
any more suggestions? ...........................................................................................................................................................
And then if we consider why it was corrected in the first place, well we all know that men are not too fussy about such things. They've got "more important" things on their minds
So that would suggest that the objection to what was written came from Mrs Adams. I guess she did not wish to be viewed as the mother of a 12-year-old "big boy", while she was delighting in her pretty daughter, Blanche.
I bet you anything that baby Blanche was her first child!!
The proud mother of her own child, but not of another mother's child.
I place my bet on either "Late wife's son" or "Stepson", with the same meaning in both cases, "the son of Adam's previous wife" and no connection with Martha.Well, that's my theory.
The birth certificate of Blanche should shed much light on matters (or am I being overly optimisic?
)
Of course, this theory requires Thomas to have 3 wives 1871>1881, 1st, Mary Ann, then Pattie, the mother of Francis, who must have died, and then Martha
Lucky fellow
Who is he with in 1891?? Or has he died of exhaustion by then? (Which by the way, I too may be doing shortly
)
Ukgirl
PS. What was that comment Heywood made, about hysteria setting in??
