Adoption of Mary Elizabeth McKEAND

[jdsbryan]

Furthermore, how can she be born and christened Elizabeth McKeand and then later be adopted by Robert Henry Brownell as Mary Elizabeth McKeand and then later be married to Joseph Rome as Elizabeth McKeand again. Having said that, three of her children all have a copy of this adoption letter and Elizabeth McKeand does disappear of the Census for 1971 and 1981. Maybe she reverted back to her original name when she got married. is that possible?

[jdsbryan]

I have discovered that Robert Henry Brownell and his wife adopted many of their children. Most of their children in the Census records do not have birth records with the surname Brownell and later Census records actually show some of their children as Adopted.
In the 1871 and 1881 Census records they have two daughters, Elizabeth and Ellen. They both have the same estimated DOB. Ellen is the only child that has a Brownell birth record. Although Mary Elizabeth was not adopted until 1874 I am wondering if she was actually living with the Brownell family in 1871 and the adoption was not made official until 1874.
The McKeand family have a Census record for 1881 and Elizabeth is the only one missing from that record, perhaps because she was already living as a Brownell with the Brownell family at that time.
I cannot find a 1871 Census record for the McKeand family to backup my hypothesis.
From my research I am almost convinced that the Elizabeth Brownell living with the Brownell family is the same Elizabeth McKeaned that was born to George and Elizabeth McKeand. I think that later when she married Joseph Rome she used her original family name. Certainly her birth sister Louisa was witness to her marriage.
There is still one thing that is still puzzling me though. Why does the adoption letter say Mary Elizabeth McKeand?

[jdsbryan]

I have now found the 1871 Census record for the McKeand family. The reason I couldn't find it before was because of a transcript error showing the family name as Heand. This record shows all the members of the McKeand family except for Elizabeth, strengthening my earlier hypothesis that Elizabeth was living with the Brownell family.