I had a great aunt that I had trouble finding. Finally, after some research I was able to find her.
She died very young from pregnancy complications.
But, I wanted to know about the man that she married. Who was he? What happened to him after her death? Did he remarry?
I set out to find the answers and was able to locate him on census records and through his obituary.
He went on to marry again and have children. I wondered if he ever talked about his first wife with his new family or even if they knew about her.
Then I discovered that he was buried beside my aunt, his first wife. Clearly, he had not forgotten her, even though he outlived her by more than fifty years. {For whatever reason, when his second wife died years later, she was buried in a cemetery about 30 miles away. They were married for 38 years. That’s a mystery I’d love to solve.}
When conducting genealogy research, don’t forget to research the surviving spouse. Discover what happened to him or her. That individual continued to live and have a life.
Do you research the surviving spouse?
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