Another aspect of frequent death more than century ago was blended families. A widow or widower usually remarried soon after the mourning period because it was

Another aspect of frequent death more than century ago was blended families. A widow or widower usually remarried soon after the mourning period because it was hard for single parents. If both parents passed together, then children were quickly adopted into other families needing labor. Shiffs book on the Salem Witch Trials has a long section on blended families. She attributed that causing some of tensions leading to witch accusations.