Daily AncestorMother of how many children
Mother of how many children was a census question, asked in 1890, 1900 and 1910, giving how many children a woman had borne and how many were still living.
Two columns, children born and children living, applied to women who were or had been married. Stillborn children were not counted, but children from an earlier marriage were. Living children counted wherever they lived.
The gap between the two numbers tells you how many children died, often before any other record caught them. If a woman reports 8 born and 5 living but only 4 are at home, look for the rest.
As seen in a recordColumns 11 and 12 of the 1900 census
Sowers, Martha | Wife | 43 | 8 | 5
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Mother of how many children." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/census-terms/mother-of-how-many-children. Last checked 2026-10-03.