Believe it or not I am not a "dirty old man", however I note that most of my ancestors prior to 1900 had children that numbered in the double digits amd even into the 1930's it was not unusal for a family to have 8-9 children. One of my ancestors thru the marriage of my sister was the father of 18 sons. Just imagine how many off-spring would appear on this family tree.

I am also aware that many farm families deliberately wanted many children in order to have the children's help on the family farm.

Can any of you ladies tell me when birth control began to be practiced on a wide scale within the United States and whether or not it was considered the duty of the lady or the gentleman to worry about pregancy prevention.

Was the lack of the use of birth control devices by men a major cause of the verneral disease that was so prevelent among the soldiers of both sides during the Civil War?