Alcina/Alcenia Riddles Baize b. 1865, Voca, Tx
According to family records and death certificates of the surviving grown children of Harvey Riddles & Polly Smith Riddles b.1831,Mo;they are:
Thomas Edward Riddles b.1855,Ark; died 1932 Brady,Tx.
Alcina Riddles Petty/Baize b.1865 Voca,Tx; died 1953 Gatesville,Tx.
Sarah Ann Riddles Petty b. 1869 Bastrop, Tx.;died 1959 Brady, Tx.
Even though the father of above named children is listed variously as Harvey/Harvie/Will, the mother is listed as unknown on all three death certificates.
On the 1860 Carroll Co.,Ark census record, Harvey & wife Polly are listed with children Thomas E. born 1855, & Mary Jane born 1857.I have been unable to locate Harvey Riddles [under any spelling] on the 1870 census which would show the living children born before the census was taken.
My question/problem is the 8 years span between the birth of Mary J.born 1857 and Alcina born 1865. This length of time between births seem unusual for families of that period unless some of their children were born & died in that 8 year span of time and their names were unrecorded.
This leads me to the conclusion/possibility that Harvey actually had two wives; Polly Smith Riddles,the mother of Thomas Edward & Mary J. and Unknown wife Riddles, mother of Alcenia & Sarah Ann.
Both mothers' deaths would have occurred while the children were too young to have established lasting memories of their mothers or their mother's names and were raised in other households where the names were not mentioned.
Would like to hear from descendants of Alcina & Sarah Ann regarding the likihood of this possibility.
Thank-you and best regards, Willie Gail Riddles-Rotzoll