Tombstone Tuesday Revisited - Uncle Jake

Wilbur Jennings Alkire Jr 'Uncle Jake' was adopted.    I decided to see what I could find on my uncle.   I looked at the 1930 census, his parents were Wilbur J. Alkire (Alkins in the index at familysearch) and Lucretia Alkire. They are living in Oklahoma City, OK.  He has a sister, Idalle M, age 2.  According to the 1940 census, they were in OKC in 1935.  Wilbur's grandparents, Adam and Mary Alkire had a farm in Dewey County, OK.  In 1940 they are living on the farm located in Township 24 N, Range 13 E.  Uncle Jake remained on this farm the rest of his life.  He and my aunt were married in 1945.  They were unable to have children and adopted a boy and a girl.  I spent several summers at the farm and one memory I have my aunt will never forget!  The Beach Boys were popular that year and I sang "I want to go home, this is the worst trip I have ever been on."   She still laughs about this today!  Some things you just can't live down.  

I wondered about access to adoption records in Oklahoma, so I did a Google search. OMG!

Oklahoma Department of Human Services manages the Mutual Consent Voluntary Registry which aids in post adoption reunions and access to adoption records, family information and medical history. Anyone age of 18 may voluntary add information to the registry. There is also a Confidential Intermediary Search program to aid in the searching of family members. Searches cost $400 dollars to start.

Children and Family Services Division
Mutual Consent Voluntary Registry
P. O. Box 25352
Oklahoma City, OK 73125 

Do you see the cost?  If I were adopted, it would be worth that much and more.  Since I am doing genealogy research, it is not something I would pay this amount of money to research.

If you are looking to find adoption information, check out Cyndi's List. http://www.cyndislist.com/adoption
Early adoptions were not necessarily a legal contract.

In many cases, children were raised by relatives or interested families without a formal adoption taking place and no official adoption records being created.

This quote is from the familysearch wiki https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Oklahoma_Vital_Records

A possibility would be an article in the local newspaper.  The newspapers weren't politically correct and a lot of information was published back then that you dare not publish today.

How do you handle adoptions in your genealogy program?  I use PAF and add notes to say "so and so was adopted on such & such" and add the child as the child of the adopted parents.  Right or wrong, that's how I do it.