Born out of wedlock in 1863

Since the beginning of time folks have been having sex and they all haven't waited until they were married to do it either.

My 3G-Grandmother, Margaret Vanderhoof, gave birth to my 2G-Grandmother, Alta, in about 1863, but it appears that she was unmarried at the time. I cannot locate a birth, marriage, nor death record for Alta and she appears to be buried in an unmarked grave in Newaygo County, MI. If it weren't for 3 census records and the fact that she gave birth to 8 (possibly 9) children, one may not even know that she ever existed. Her own mother's death record doesn't account for the fact that she gave birth to 4 children, though in all fairness the 1900 census does and obviously Margaret was not the informant of her own death record.

In 1870 Alta was living with her grandparents, her mother was living with her husband, Christopher H. Dennis, who may or who may not have been Alta's biological father. Margaret married Christopher in October of 1863.  By 1880 Alta was married to Jeremy Rogers and was a mother to one child, James. In 1900 Jeremy was a widower and a father to 7-8 children, including my Great-Grandmother Hazel who was born 30 August 1895. Family legend suggests that Alta passed away either giving birth to Hazel, or shortly thereafter.

I have seen records that identify Alta with the maiden name of Dennis and with Vanderhoof.

My whole life I have been told that my Grandpa was part Native American, but every branch of his family is recorded as being Caucasian. I can only assume that if there is Native American in my family tree, that it must come from Alta's biological father.

I have mixed feelings about Margaret. Why wasn't Alta living with her in 1870? Did she love her first born or did she feel shame when she looked at her? Isn't it amazing, the conclusions that can be drawn from one single document? In 1900, Alta's son John was living in the same household as Margaret, Margaret's mother Jane and brother Andrew. John is listed as 'boarder' rather than 'nephew' to the head of household Andrew. Why?