Confusion over Lake Children in Kerhonksen NY

The 1870 census for the Wawarsing district shows various Lake family members in the same household in Kerhonksen, but the 5 children aged 4 to 12 are not recognized as belonging to either couple seen there.

The record states that they were all born in New York State:

            John                Age 12 (1858)

            Schuyler          Age 10 (1860) as Schnyder

            Caroline          Age 8 (1862)

            Patty               Age 6 (1864)

            Nancy             Age 4 (1866)

The adults in the grouping are George and his wife Nancy (sometimes called Helen) and his brother Reuben with wife Sarah Ann. The parents of George and Reuben were Schuyler and Caroline which is what convinced me that the 2 children named above are from the family and that the boy’s name was incorrectly recorded.

Reuben and Sarah were recently married and did not yet have children.George and wife had several young children who are NOT listed here, nor have they been found with other family members (as had their son Byron). Missing are:

            Alice                Age 13 (1857)

            Orrin               Age 12 (1858)

            Ida Jane          Age  5 (1865)

            Frank              Age  2 (1868)

Since the mysterious 5 children have Lake as a surname, their father must be a Lake. Wondering if he could be the missing brother Harry born 1833. There was some suggestion that he might have moved to Michigan … but I can’t find him there either. Are they playing tricks on me and temporarily changing their names and years of birth? Not likely.

Sometimes I find it so frustrating to work with common names (Lake) -- but even when you get an unusual name to go with it (Schuyler) the problem may not be resolved.