Warnings in early town records often list entire families down to the hired man. This procedure apparently was routine in Vermont when the father and husband, i.e. the bread winner, died, even if he left property. In these cases frequently subsequent records show that the "warned" continued to reside in town, a circumstance suggesting that the "warning" to leave town had no reference to the desirability of the "warned" as residents but constituted a public notice that the town would not be responsible for the support of the widow and fatherless children.