Albert Kimball Dane Family

Albert Kimball Dane appears on a number of records, but this post will deal with the 1850 Census in Lawrence, Essex, Massachusetts. Family # 1030. Ancestry.com extracted the surname as Dare but that is incorrect as proved by other records where the spelling is correct. The family is listed as follows:

Albert K Dane     43
Mary H      "         42

William H Roberts 17

Mary A    Dane     13
Lucy B        "         11
Albert P       "          7
Eliza E (Ellen)  "       3
Emma K          "       0
Joanna Knowlton    63
Margaret Kennedy  17

Everyone in the family was born in MA except Margaret who was from Ireland
Learned from other sources, Mary is daughter of  Joanna. Albert and Mary had their first recorded child in 1837, so they were likely married in 1836

Of particular interest is the child listed first with the different surname: William H Roberts. Who is he? Is he a child by Mary with unknown father from previous marriage? Since he is listed first in the family it is unlikely that he is a simply a visitor or servant as is likely with Margaret. Mary was 25 when he was born.

He is the correct age to be the same person as W H Roberts, the subject of a previous post by that name.

 Are there descendants of Albert alive you can shed light on this family? There may also be members of Knowlton family who may be familiar with the story here. I would appreciate any light that be shed on this and will be happy to share what I have learned as well.