This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/RV.2ADI/289 Message Board Post: In the 1880 Jackson County, Arkansas census in Bird Township was Minnie C. Mercer an 8-year-old orphan born in Missouri. She was in the household of John M. Brown age 25, born Tennessee and wife Mary C. age 22, born Tennessee. A marriage record has been found for a John Brown age 23 of Bird Township to Miss Polly Gumble or Gamble age 22 of Jackson County who were married 6 Nov 1879, by Lewis Penix JP [Marriage Book A, p.106]. Soon after this census, Minnie was taken by horseback to a [an unknown] family in Missouri. What I do know is that she ended up in Howell County, Missouri marrying George Washington Keeler 29 Jan 1893. She used the name "Minnie Brown" when she married GW Keeler. All we have on Minnie before she married GW, are family stories. She remembered little about her origins. Her maiden name may have been Mercer or phonetically Merser, Mercy, Mersy, Mecier, etc. I would very much like to know anything about the Brown and Gamble/Gumble family and any Mercer (et al) names or families of this area and including Woodruff County. Minnie has been linked with Auguste, Woodruff County, Arkansas as well as Arkansas cities Pocahontas and Powhatan. Any suggestions for researching this mystery would be appreciated as well. Thank you.