OR OR – Martin Family Ken 54, Barbara 48, Barbie 15, Columbia River Gorge, Dec 7 1958

[Austin023]

Do we know if the couple were both the parents of all the children? The age gap makes me wonder whether Donald was the child of an earlier marriage who was pushed out in favour of a second family.

For any sources I've ever consulted, Donald is their son to both Kenneth and Barbara. Donald was born in 1930, about a year after they were married. The gap otherwise is odd, but there are probably reasons they had to wait 14 years before having more children...I never found evidence of any deceased siblings in between Donald and his younger sisters, either.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

For any sources I've ever consulted, Donald is their son to both Kenneth and Barbara. Donald was born in 1930, about a year after they were married. The gap otherwise is odd, but there are probably reasons they had to wait 14 years before having more children...I never found evidence of any deceased siblings in between Donald and his younger sisters, either.

It's weird, I agree. Usually gaps in the ages of children are explained by miscarriages or children who die in infancy, but you say you've not found evidence of this in Ken and Barbara's case. It's certainly strange for a couple of have one child, followed by a long gap followed by a batch of children as in this case. Usually you see the batch of kids early on and then the classic outlier menopause baby which appears when the couple believe the mother to no longer be fertile.

Had the couple always lived in Oregon? Could one or more deceased children have been born and died while they were living in another state? Is it possible that the couple separated for some years before getting back together?

 

[Valiant]

Do we know if the couple were both the parents of all the children? The age gap makes me wonder whether Donald was the child of an earlier marriage who was pushed out in favour of a second family.

That’s a very good question. I’ve never read anything about the possibility of that but it could explain the gap.