Alexander Wampler (1812 - around 1845) and children born after his death

Had an error pop up in the family tree program I use saying I had a couple kids in the tree listed being born after the death of a parent.

So, sure enough I had this gal listed as being born 2 years after her father died. Which would be impossible - even if the mother was pregnant at the time the father passed "around 1845".

Found the gal's FindAGrave memorial page, it has her birth info being 4 Jul 1846. Which theoretically works with the father passed "around 1845" thoughts. Her FindAGrave has her name as Lee Ann - However, in other online trees and such, I've seen her more often listed as Leanna J. and listed with a birth year of 1848.

Alexander Wampler (son of Christopher Wampler and Elizabeth Kettering) was born 3 Sep 1812 in Wythe county, Virginia. He married a Matilda Brown in 1835 in Smyth county, Virginia ... I don't have her parents, yet, and she is said to been born around 1819.

In the 1850 US Census in Smyth county Matilda Wampler, per how the census taker listed the people, is recorded as to living two other women and their children. Matilda is listed with 3 children transcribed (from the handwritten census) as to being: Mary (F-6), Stephen (M-5) and Sander Wampler (M-3). Matilda is marked in one column as to being over 20 years in age and cannot read or write.

This appears to be the first census error shared for Matilda Brown Wampler and/or her children. The transcription is correct in some aspects. However, if looking at the image of the census page itself, we notice that Nancy has a " shared for her last name which means she shared the same surname as the person above her ... which we see an older male, Billingsley Roberts, is listed on the line above her, as shared in the screenshot below, who probably should been listed as the Head of the family instead:

No Lee Ann/Leanna J. Wampler listed with Matilda there. However I think Sanders may been a mistaken transcription of the handwriting, and what is thought to be an "S" is an "L" - and so maybe the census taker had written Leande(r), which could actually be Leanne and she is miss-marked as being a male child? Possible that is what happened as it has happened before. Recall that census takers did not take the large form around with them, but would take notes and then add that info from their notes to the form itself. So if he had sloppily written Leanne and just her age, then later on - when looking over the notes, he may thought he wrote Leander or something, which would been a male name.

Between the 1850 and 1860 US Census Matilda apparently remarried to a John Anderson (b. around 1804/9 time frame in Virginia) and the family is now living in Tazewell county of Virginia. Mary Wampler (the oldest daughter I have for Alexander Wampler and Matilda Brown) married Andrew J. Gillespie in Jan 1860, so she wouldn't appear in the mid-summer taken US census with her mother. Stephen is listed to being around 15 - which works with his paper trail info on him being born in 1844. No Sander Wampler listed, and he would been around 13 if he was 3 in 1850). Leanna J. Wampler is listed being around 11 (but her FindAGrave has her being born in 1846, which would had her being 13/14 years old - which would match up to the missing Sander/Leander Wampler's age and also help tilt the scale she was a daughter of Alexander Wampler, maybe born within a few months of his death if he passed in last half of 1845, with her being in the 1850 and 1860 US Census with Matilda). So I am going with the 1846 birth year for Lee Ann/Leanne J. Wampler in the family tree. although some online trees list her birth year as 1848.

The above image is a screenshot of John and Matilda Anderson's portion of the 1860 Census, but also shares census taker error number two? After Alexander's death and between 1850 and 1860, Matilda had at least three more children who are listed on the 1860 census as well: Emily (F-8), John (M-2), and America (F-under the age of 1) - all listed with the surname of Wampler. Which Alexander has been passed away for well over a decade by now - but apparently he nor Matilda Brown didn't have real good luck with census taker folks, in relation to how census takers handle recording their kids. Emily is probably a daughter of John Anderson (unless Matilda had a marriage between Alexander and him that Emily was a child of). The younger two are very likely children of John Anderson and _not_ Alexander Wampler, but .... they are being listed in family trees, by others, as Emily Wampler, John Anderson Wampler and America F. Wampler to being post-mortem children of Alexander Wampler due to a census taker in 1860 giving all the children in John Anderson's household the surname of Wampler.

In John and Matilda Anderson's 1870 US Census, taken in Tazewell county, they only have three children in the home: John A. and America F. Anderson, so that helps clear up the 1860 US Census error that had them listed with the surname of Wampler. Emily C. is still in the household, and she is listed with the same estimated birth year of 1852 and with surname of Wampler. If Alexander Wampler was her biological father, this would have his death thoughts change from "around 1845" to "around 1851/52". Emily C. never married and passed away 6 Sep 1882 in Smyth county, Virginia - on her death records she is listed as Emily C. Anderson and that her father was John Anderson. This record doesn't help explain why in 1860 and 1870 US Census she was listed both times with the surname of Wampler, even after Mary, Stephen and Leanna/Lee Ann were no longer with their mother.

With Matilda, I have seen her listed as to passing away in 1860s or 1870s, either in Wythe county or in Indiana. Appears neither of those thoughts are correct, but Matilda Anderson (nee Brown) passed away later, in 1888 in Smyth county.

Now that I got Lee Ann/Leanna J. figured out to being a child of Alexander Wampler, which started off this confirmation trek of sorts, and that the last two children (John and America) are not Wamplers but Andersons - where was Sarah Elizabeth (Jan 1841 - 1924) who is oft-listed in online trees being a child of Alexander and Matilda? She's not listed with Matilda Brown Wampler Anderson in the 1850 nor 1860 census. As images share, can't rely on online trees' info since majority of those, including the FamilySearch one world tree one, gave Alexander 3 children well after his death date thoughts ... and without the birth years of those later children raising the question, by folks' willingly sharing it, of how Alexander could have been the father. The only child, listed on paper, that is "up in the air" on being Alexander's biological child is Emily C. who is listed with an estimated birth year of 1852.