While looking at the census reports for 1880, 1900, and even later, there is frequently a difference in # of births and living children. All three of the adult women listed here, have differences in births and living children.
I'm not sure when this picture was taken, what is interesting about it is that there are 7 children here. I think it was taken in Michigan, so it was probably between 1900 and 1910, (or sooner than 1910), I don't know exactly when my family moved to Colorado. To see the larger size, click on the picture. The orignal of this picture is at the bottom of this post.
Head of Household: Alexander Johnson
born: May 1866
Place of birth: Canada English
Yrs married 12 est 1888
Immigrated: 1876
Spouse Carrie
Birth Oct 1867 New York
Place of Parents birth: Germany
Mother of how many children: 6
Mother of living children: 5
Children
Mable Mar1889
Lila June 1890
Glen Aug 1893
Lee Aug 1893
John Dec. 1898
Front left: Alexander G. Johnson , Wealthy Whiting (?)
back left: Margaret Johnson (?) & Carrie Peters Johnson (?)
Also in the household
Margaret Johnson
Born: Sept. 1842 Canada (58)
Relationship to head of household: Mother
Immigrated 1876
Marital Status: Widowed
Mother of how many children: 6
Mother of how many living children: 3
Wealthy Whiting
Born 1812 New York (she was 88 years old!)
Relationship to head of household: Grandmother
Father & Mothers birthplace: Pennsylvania
Marital Status: Widowed
Mother of how many children: 9
Mother of living children: 4
Donald Johnson
Born: July 1839 Canada English
Relationship to head of household: Uncle
Father & Mothers birthplace Scotland
Marital Status: Single
Immigrated: 1882
Also found :
Marriage for Alexander & Carrie
Married June 27, 1888
His parents Hugh Johnson & Margaret Whiting
Her Parents: John Peters
I was practically jumping up and down and squealing with joy when I found the marriage listing, I didn't know Alexander's parents name before that.
It is unfortunate that the wife's maiden name isn't listed anywhere in the census - trying to track down that info is a bit tricky. I felt extremely fortunate to find his mother and grandmother listed in the census - leading me to one more maiden name! and then finding the marriage listing, just confirmed it! Which helped me narrow down the 1880 Census.
I admit some of this brought tears to my eyes - for several reasons.
There are at times different spellings of names - not sure why - maybe the person recording the info from the census.