Sometimes the information we have SWEARS that Great-Great-Aunt Calamity was married to Bill Anderson, but the only records we have are that she was married to James Topman. We search the county courthouse, but we cannot find that she was ever married because the documents are gone! What's next? Of course the census records.
Those records may show that she was married to one man in 1920 but somebody else by 1940. Next you can search military/draft records, death certificates, city newspapers, and finally even town directories which often showed which women were widows and listed the deceased husband's name.
Sometimes we just have to go on a scavenger hunt to find the information for which we are looking.
