The Case of the Missing Daughter-- Updated!

Every few weeks, I revisit our family genealogy to fill in the blanks (I am researching my family and Hubby's family). 

This weekend, I focused my energies on the  Dunston side.  

I made good progress until I reached the John S. Dunston profile. I was able to locate some new information for his first two children. But I hit a roadblock when I started working on his daughter, Mary.  

When I began her profile on October 12, 2022, I struggled to locate information about her after the 1860 census, when she was five years old and living in Grant County, Muscoda, WI.  Her mother passed away the year she was born.  

In the 1870 census, I found her father, his new wife, and five new siblings but Mary is not listed.  I checked the census records for her older sibling census records but nothing was found.  I am considering looking into her aunt's and uncle's census records from 1870 for any clues. 

I have been unable to locate any death records or connections to mental or educational institutions for her. It is as if she just vanished.  Family Search.com only includes her year of birth and the 1860 census record. 

I have reached out to family members who provided basic information back in  2022.  I am hoping they have some additional insight to continue my research.   

It is frustrating to leave this gap open. 

Any assistance, advice, or encouraging thoughts are greatly appreciated. 

**Links are included  in the highlighted names above**

1/23/2025- I found an online book and a website about cholera going through Iowa County in the 1850s where John Dunston and his family lived.  It is possible that his wife AND daughter died of that illness. That would explain why Mary Dunston (and her mother) dropped out of census records. 

There are also an indications in the mortality charts of Grant County, Wisconsin  (1850-1860) where they are living. that there were multiple cases of scarlet fever, whooping cough, dysentery, consumption, and "lung fever" taking the lives of young children.  She could have died from any of those diseases as well.  

-- History of Iowa County, Wisconsin: containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources; an extensive and minute sketch of its cities, towns and villages--their improvements, industries, manufactories, churches, schools and societies; its war record, biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers; the whole preceded by a history of Wisconsin, statistics of the state, and an abstract of its laws and constitution and of the constitution of the United States. - Written by the Western Historical Company- pages 58, 239, 501, 503 and 602. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS564