#2. Was it common for a man to lie about his age if he intended to marry a
  widow who was 10 years older than himself ?

  Depends somewhat on what part of the country you find the people.  Here in TN/Eastern KY/Western VA/Western NC, especially in the mountains yet much affected by the Scots-Irish notion that age brings wisdom, the bias in men is upward.  I have known no small number of men who consistently stated their age from 2 to 5 years in excess of the truth.  You might take a look at D. H. Fischer, "Albion's Seed" (Oxford Press, Ny, NY, 1989) pp. 813-815, and see Index generally.

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