Found one....

I guess if the marriage was common law or non-existent it would make sense for the kids to keep their mother's name and not put their father on any records. I would love to find something somewhere official that linked Melger to the family.

But - as fascinating as all this is - we haven't gotten to the original issue which was some record that linked Melger to military service. That I cannot find.
 
I guess if the marriage was common law or non-existent it would make sense for the kids to keep their mother's name and not put their father on any records. I would love to find something somewhere official that linked Melger to the family.

But - as fascinating as all this is - we haven't gotten to the original issue which was some record that linked Melger to military service. That I cannot find.
There have been cases of children's names being changed to the mother's for reasons of inheritance as well. If the parents were divorced, the mother may have needed financial support from her own family--and that support may have come with a catch.

Melger Ward is on the 1860, 1880, and 1890 (vets) in Wayne County, Missouri. He doesn't appear on the roster of the "regular" 8th MO cavalry--so his unit may have been the 8th MO state cavalry unit (partial roster available through a Family History Center: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1389671?availability=Family History Library)

Cletis Ellinghouse in Old Wayne identifies Melger McIntyre Ward as a member of the 8th MO. Of course, this is a secondary source and Mr. Ellinghouse's bibliography doesn't seem to be available online. The entire books is available as an EBook for $10 (which is money wasted if the bibliography is vague) but probably can be obtained via inter library loan. Or it might be possible to contact Mr. Ellinhouse (via Xlibris Books) to ask why he was able to make such a statement--he must have had some kind of documentation.
 
There have been cases of children's names being changed to the mother's for reasons of inheritance as well. If the parents were divorced, the mother may have needed financial support from her own family--and that support may have come with a catch.

Melger Ward is on the 1860, 1880, and 1890 (vets) in Wayne County, Missouri. He doesn't appear on the roster of the "regular" 8th MO cavalry--so his unit may have been the 8th MO state cavalry unit (partial roster available through a Family History Center: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1389671?availability=Family History Library)

Cletis Ellinghouse in Old Wayne identifies Melger McIntyre Ward as a member of the 8th MO. Of course, this is a secondary source and Mr. Ellinghouse's bibliography doesn't seem to be available online. The entire books is available as an EBook for $10 (which is money wasted if the bibliography is vague) but probably can be obtained via inter library loan. Or it might be possible to contact Mr. Ellinhouse (via Xlibris Books) to ask why he was able to make such a statement--he must have had some kind of documentation.
I agree with you that Melger would have been in the state unit - and looking at the service cards for them any number of people could have served and not had it noted. In the 1890 Veterans Census he gives 6 months as his service which is just the sort of short term we sometimes see in these local units. I see this all the time in the South where partisan ranger groups formed during Union occupation
and the men who served in them have no official record.

It's always really hard to decide what the standard should be. I put stuff in my family tree with a concrete record whenever I can. When I have anecdotal records I add those with a note to the effect. The story is always out there so I just keep hoping a better fact will turn up.
 
I agree with you that Melger would have been in the state unit - and looking at the service cards for them any number of people could have served and not had it noted. In the 1890 Veterans Census he gives 6 months as his service which is just the sort of short term we sometimes see in these local units. I see this all the time in the South where partisan ranger groups formed during Union occupation
and the men who served in them have no official record.

It's always really hard to decide what the standard should be. I put stuff in my family tree with a concrete record whenever I can. When I have anecdotal records I add those with a note to the effect. The story is always out there so I just keep hoping a better fact will turn up.
That FHS site does have partial rosters of the state milita. I did find a GenWeb/MO listing for Melger Ward--but, alas, I no longer have the notation and Ancestry has redone those RootsWeb sites. :frown: (But, if Missouri is like Maine, those GenWeb sites may now be elsewhere; I found it once so I'll keep looking).

My software system has the ability to "grade" the source: (0 for absolutely horrible to 5 for rock-solid). Unfortunately I didn't start off using this mechanism--and it is far too late to rehash it all by this point--but I have color-coded information with less solid sources. Also, I can look at a data source and pretty well judge it's reliability. It is hard to decide on a standard because even primary sources can be wrong. Genealogical standards no longer permit "overwhelming evidence" (though, to be honest, I have used it in very early cases).
 
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