Generation Skipping
Glen Reynolds linked this a while ago, but I was fascinated that two of President Tylers grandsons are still alive. President Tyler was born in 1790 and died before the Civil War was over. The younger of the two is profiled here. The key seems to be that his father was conceived when President Tyler was in his 60's, and he was conceived when his father was about 75.
K:
According to family records my father's father was born in 1800. Still he fought in the Civil war then fathered children for another fifteen years.
In old pictures he looks almost exactly like me in both frame and face.
Today wives outlive husbands. But two centuries ago husbands often outlived wives. A prosperous widower had no problem catching a young wife still able to bear children. And there were no contraceptives of value.
March 25, 2009, 12:15 pmGreg:
In a similar vein, I have a new sister who is 11 months old, I'm 41. Our father was 64 when she was born, his wife was 33. I am the oldest of 8 children, Dad has been a very busy man.
March 26, 2009, 11:43 ammarkm:
I don't know if it's still true, but a few years ago there was still at least one woman drawing a pension as the widow of a Union Civil War soldier. That is, sometime between 1920 and 1940 she was a young woman and married an ancient veteran with a nice pension.
March 26, 2009, 6:26 pmBill:
K: Yankee or Southerner?
March 27, 2009, 10:16 pm