McCardell Family Questions

Was Lillian McCardell known as Sara E McCardell before her marriage? We are searching for records of Lillian's marriage to Elmer, their children's baptismal records, or any other record that connects the two names. The circumstantial evidence we have that Sara E and Lillian are the same person comes from the following:

• Lillian was born in Maryland in 1864; her father was born in Pennsylvania and her mother in Ireland.
• Lillian raised two nieces with the surname Minitor.
• The mother of the two nieces was Anastacia McCardell, who likely died during or soon after the birth of her daughter Anastasia.
• The mother, Anastacia, had a sister named Sara E who was born in Maryland in 1864; Sara's father was born in Pennsylvania and her mother in Ireland.
• Sara E McCardell disappears from records after 1882; Lillian does not appear in the records until 1882.
• Betty S Ripple recorded on a family tree that Elmer's wife was Sarah E McCardell and that her parents were Samuel E McCardell and Mary Ellison. This information would have been provided directly by Mary Catherine Ripple (my grandmother).

The McCardell name has been spelled many ways: MacCardle, McCardle, McCardel, McCardell, McCardal, and the root name McArdle. Often one person will have their surname spelled three or four different ways in succeeding census records that clearly show it to be the same family.