My mom's paternal grandfather William Nicholson was adopted in 1868 in Iowa. His adoption was known and passed down in the family, along with his birth name Lafferty, but no additional details. Back in 1977 I wrote the county requesting a copy of the adoption, thinking in my ignorance that surely it would be unsealed after 100 yrs! No, adoption records in that county were sealed -- but William's adoption did not go thru the court. The agreement between Mary A Lafferty, his "only surviving parent," and John Nicholson, the adoptive father, was recorded in the Book of Deeds. That was my first major genealogical coup! The story passed down in the family was that the mother was ill and couldn't care for William. Based on information discovered in the last 25 yrs or so, it seems that contact continued between Mary and the Nicholsons, at least for a time.
Years later, thru DNA and traditional research, we were able to identify Mary's maiden name and parents/siblings, and Mary's husband James. We only have more questions, now. James was still living at the time of the adoption, and in fact had remarried a few months earlier. Mary remarried about 6 months later. Did Mary and James divorce, or separate, or did one abandon the other? Was Mary really ill and recover, or perhaps did her future husband not want to raise another man's child? Perhaps someday we'll find a record of a divorce, if it happened, but likely the rest of the questions will never be answered.