One of the most confusing families I have had to sort out has been the family of Philip and Sarah Kile Smith of Mercer County, Illinois. This couple lived in Keithsburg, Mercer County, Illinois from the 1870s until the early 1900s. The problem was that Philip also had a long-standing relationship with his wife Sarah's sister. Philip also had children with this sister-in-law, Nancy Kile.
Part of locating information on this family hinged on local poor farm records from when the family was institutionalized in the 1870s. An article explaining more about our search for this family and the importance of not jumping to conclusions and not immediately performing data entry has been posted on our site.
Every genealogy should have at least one Smith line. It makes things interesting.
