there are a number of possibilities that would account for this: hihg infant morality rate; a higher rate of children dying in 1622 war; and low fertility rate among women perhaps caused by poor diet, although by 1612 or so the starving time in Va. was pretty much over, I believe. One more thought: perhaps the simpist explanation of all: the people doing the counting simply ignored young children! [log in to unmask] wrote: > In a message dated 1/2/2002 9:02:23 PM Eastern Standard Time, > [log in to unmask] writes: > > > There were 163 married couples, all of which were of childbearing > > age, but there were only 122 children. Only about half the couples had any > > children at all. It is possible some of them had been married less than a > > year, but this still seems to be a large number of childless couples. Was > > this because the infant mortality was still very high? > > > > Netti Schreiner-Yantis > > > > This is an excellent question and I will be very interested in seeing the > responses. I don't believe that I have ever seen anyone note the lack of > Virginia-born children during that time period. > > Bill Russell > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html -- Paul Finkelman Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law University of Tulsa College of Law 3120 East 4th Place Tulsa, OK 74104-3189 phone 918-631-3706 Fax 918-631-2194 e-mail: [log in to unmask] To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html