In Mary's personal letters....

[RJNorton]

Thanks for your replies! (Actually it was the context of Mr. Tripp's book and theories in which I found this too weak as an argument) IMO four children were not (too) few - was it really few in those days? Compared to Mary's number of siblings and half-siblings perhaps, but what about the average family of those days?

Eva, according to this page:

"Average number of children born to women in antebellum America: 6-7"

"Average number of children born to women in America today: about 2"