Fertility, Nuptiality, and Family Limitation Among the Wends of Serbin, Texas, 1854 To 1920

The decline of American fertility on a national scale is a well-known and well- documented phenomenon, but little is known about fertility decline at the community level. Are immigrant groups really different or are they affected by the same factors and respond to them in the same manner as native-born populations? This essay investigates the fertility and nuptiality experience of the Wends of Serbin, Texas using age-specific fertility rates, total marital fertility rates, the index of family limitation, age at last birth, birth intervals and age at first marriage for both males and females. The Wends are shown to have experienced fertility decline in the same magnitude as the rest of the country though they begin and end at higher levels.