Paternity Mystery
My great grandmother Alcesta Morrow Payne was born in March of 1880 in Pennsylvania, though she isn’t listed on the census conducted in June of that year. Her mother Ella Mina Morrow was 12 years old and unmarried. Alcesta’s 1904 marriage certificate says George Edward Morrow is her father and Almira Goodadle is her mother; neither name is correct. (Ella’s father’s name was Edward and she had a brother George who died in April of 1879.) Ella had 3 more daughters out of wedlock before she marrying in 1899. Marriage certificates and newspaper articles* name the fathers of two of Alcesta’s sisters, but there’s zero information to indicate who Alcesta's father was or that of her next youngest sister Nora Jane Morrow. Nora was issued a delayed birth certificate in 1952 that lists a John Morrow as her father, Ella Morrow as her mother and claims they were married when she was born in 1886.
*the articles include a notice that one of the men was found guilty/liable for “fornication and bastardy” in the conception of Ella’s youngest daughter.
Is there a way to determine who Alcesta’s father was? How common was it for someone to give birth out of wedlock — multiple times — in rural Pennsylvania in that era? Would Alcesta have been removed from the Morrow household when she was born or could the Morrows have left the baby off the census of 1880?
Posted Jun 30, 2025, 3:19 AM UTC