If I Didn't Know Better....

Like many genealogists, I have been searching the 1940 census records for my family.  My first "find" was my paternal grandfather's family.  The Talbotts were exactly where I knew I would find them - Cluster Springs, VA.  That's outside of South Boston, VA in Halifax County.

My first thought was this record will greatly confuse Talbott family researchers in the future!

The head of household is listed as Boss H Talbott.  No problem there.  Boss (Bossy) was my great grandfather.  Crafton is listed next as Boss's son.  (That's my grandfather.) Again, no problem there.  Elma was Boss's daughter.

Would you recognize Boss's 2 year old grandson's name as Graham?  I fear his name will indexed incorrectly in the future.

Maugarite V is listed as Boss's daughter-in-law.  Since Bossy only had one son to live to adulthood, this would be Grandaddy's (Crafton's) wife.  The issue here?  Crafton's wife was Anita Carr, not Maugarite.

Who was Maugarite?  She was the teenage daughter of  Otis M Talbott, Boss's brother.  She is listed in Otis's household (correctly) and incorrectly in Boss's household in the same record.

Obviously the census taker made a mistake.  There were a lot of Talbotts in the area and I can imagine the names started to run together after a while.  Or maybe the census taker had eyes for the young Maugarite?!