In the entry for their son William, I have two errors regarding the census. William and wife Chloe were in Erin in 1860, not 1850, and it was 1870 when they were in Austin, Mecosta Co., Michigan. Their known children were:
I have found a death record for first wife Chloe, in "Michigan deaths, 1867-1897," on FHL Film #2363664, frame 806; now online via the FHL Library catalog record. It says she was 39 (est. birth year 1837) when she died on 20 Sept. 1876 at Aetna, Mecosta County. Her husband isn�t named but her parents were Joseph and Sarah Frederick. I didn't find a similar record for Mary C., however. Nor does a search in a similar database, "Births records, 1867-1902," yield a daughter born in October of 1882.
Further investigation into county vital records sheds more light on this case: Albert Rockwell was born on 6 December 1869 in "Iowa," to William and Lucy Rockwell of Austin. He must have been the same as "Berty Rockwell," who died on 19 May 1875, aged 6 yrs, 5 mo., 15 days. He was born in Iowa to William and Chloe Rockwell, and died at Aetna, Mecosta County. The cause: "Burned--clothes took fire from fire in the street." From this record we see that Chloe may also have been known as Lucy. [Mecosta deaths, Book A, p. 30; FHL Film #1004846]
Chloe Rockwell's death was recorded as well; she died 20 Sept. 1876, age 30 years, at Aetna. Cause: "cancer in breast." There was no space for spouse's name in these records, but her parents are listed: Joseph and Sarah Fredinburg. [Mecosta deaths, Book A, p. 30]
The Mecosta marriage records include the remaining children of William and Chloe: On 3 January 1883 at Aetna, Sarah A. Rockwell (26, native of N.Y.) married Wilbur H. Buck (33) of Aetna. Officiating was William H. Hicks, Justice of the Peace, and the witnesses were Ira B. Chadwick and Mary C. Rockwell of Aetna, surely Sarah's stepmother. And on 25 December 1884, at Morley, Francis O. Rockwell of Luther (age 26, b. NY; occupation: "shingle man") married Carrie L. Harding (20, b. Mich.) of Morley. Officiating was C. W. Smith, Minister; and witnesses were Will and Millie Tyler of Greenville, Mich. [Mecosta marriages, vol. B, p. 99 and 132; FHL Film #1004849]
No record of a death for Mary C. Rockwell is found at Mecosta County. Next I turned to Lake County, and in their death records (Book 1, p. 56; FHL #945594), I found her: she died 5 May 1901, age 51 yrs, 11 mo., 1 day, of "cancer of womb." Her parents are listed as Philo Curtis and Mary Tracy. This means that "Melvina" of the 1900 census listing really was Mary. It is also interesting to compare this to the 1880 census, when that her mother was called "Lidia" and going by her maiden name. (I had read the name of William's mother-in-law in the 1880 household as Lydia "Tyney," but I see that Ancestry.com indexes her as a "Tracy." Reviewing the script, I can see that this may be so--and the daughter's death record confirms it.) Finally, the question of Liddie of 1900 remains. Was she adopted? She could still have been a child of William and Mary/Melvina, given the evidence below that Mary had at least one living child in 1900.
Lake County also records the death of son Frank on 21 March 1929, age 69 years, 9 months, 19 days. He had been a merchant, and he died of "cerebral hem." While the parents are called "unknown," he was of Luther, which matches his and his parents' known residence. [Lake Co. deaths, 1:100]
Finally, I note that Lake County's marriage records (FHL Film #945595) show more family members:
Now, back to other children of Josiah:
Some careless wording on the grave of child 8, Everett. It's in the Old Baptist Cemetery at Breesport, near the grave of Josiah's wife Mary--not "near his parents' grave." Josiah was buried in a different cemetery, as I clearly stated in the main entry for Josiah, prior to the child list.