Florence Huff or Florence Robbins, 1905-1992, Maine, Florida, Colorado

One thing that doing newspapers research has caused me to do is revisit the research for each person in my database. I'm making sure I've included every available record. I've uncovered a few mistakes and have found information added since the last time I looked, which has been a few years. Today I started looking at a person whose last name is either Huff or Robbins. I've got records that would indicate that both are possible. This puzzle started when I looked up Florence's marriage record.

Ancestry.com. New Hampshire, Marriage Records Index, 1637-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Name: Florence M Robbins
Marriage Date: 31 May 1930
Event Type: Marriage
Marriage Place: Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire
Birth Date: abt 1905
Age: 25
Gender: Female
Father's name: George Robbins
Mother's name: Harriet Lansing
Spouse Name: Frank A Anderson
Spouse Age: 27
Spouse Gender: Male
Spouse Father's Name: Joseph
Spouse Mother's Name: Julia Pierce
FHL Film Number: 2057170


Biddeford Journal, Biddeford, Maine 6 Jun 1980, Page 31

GOLDEN WEDDING - Frank and Florence Anderson of Goose Rocks Beach, Kennebunkport, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary May 31 at the home of her brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Ernestine Huff of Jenkins Road, Saco. Fifty relatives and friends attended the surprise party which was given by the honor couple's children, Joyce Anderson of Yuma, Colo., Guy Anderson of Biddeford and Judie Lenhart of Greeley, Colo., and the Huffs. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were married May 31,1930, at Portsmouth, N.H. They have lived in Biddeford and Kennebunkport ever since. Their family also includes seven grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

If you look up Florence Huff on Ancestry and check the Public Member Trees, you'll find four trees under both the names Florence Huff and Florence Robbins, with both women marrying Frank Anderson. So it would appear that I'm not the only confused person.

• Florence Huff's parents are William O Huff and Ivy M Clark.
• Florence Robbins' parents are George M Robbins and Harriet M Lansing. 

Here's the census layout.

• 1910 has a Huff entry.
  Florence is with the Huff family in Lyman, York, Maine.
  Her father William is married to Ivy in this census.
• 1920 has a Robbins entry.
  Florence is with the Robbins family in Biddeford, York, Maine.
  1920 has a Huff entry.
  Robert (Florence's brother) is still with his father William O Huff.
  William is married to Helen in this census.
• 1930 has a Robbins entry.
  Florence is there in Biddeford, York, Maine.
  1930 has a Huff entry.
  William is a boarder in Biddeford and is listed as divorced. He has no children with him.
• 1940 has no Robbins entry.
  1940 has a Huff entry. William is divorced and living with his son James. 

It would appear that based on the census entries and subsequent records that Florence started life as Florence Huff, and for some unknown reason, becomes Florence Robbins between 1910 and 1920. 

As an additional piece of information, in Florence's daughter Lillian Joyce's obituary, her mother is listed as Florence Robins. 

So what happened is a puzzlement. If you have information to contribute, please post a comment to this blog post.