Why did one child have a different last name? Foster child? Let's say his last name was Craft.
Found the legal notice where one daughter of Craft changed her last name to Smith. Interesting. Why did she change it?
After lots of searching I find Craft's biological mother was married to the biological father Smith when Craft was born. She deserted him and he had to go to court to get visitation for the Craft child. She gave the child her maiden name for a middle name and at some point his last name became her new husband's name of Craft. He raised the son like his own, but the child must have had some connection to the bio father as all of the children claimed him as a brother in their obits and he (Craft) claimed them, but his name was always Craft.
I wonder if the two daughters/granddaughters changed their name after finding out how the grandma treated the bio father Smith, their bio grandfather? Maybe there was no 'treatment.' Maybe this was all amicable.
There's a story or two here. I don't necessarily need to know the details. I know enough and have enough documentation to figure out the child is biologically a cousin. It took hours to untangle this That's enough for me.
By the way, the names Craft and Smith have nothing to do with this family. I made the names up because I thought having names helped clarify the issues.
