This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/DNB.2ACI/390 Message Board Post: Robert L. Gipson was quite a colorful character! By his account he was born on Christmas Day in 1766, which would have made him nearly 120 when he died in 1886. He says he married Gracie Smith when he was 35 years of age, and they had 16 children. This would appear to account for most Gipsons, as he also stated that in 1884 he had 105 grandchildren, 190 great-grandchildren and 10 gg-granchildren. Including his 16 children, that was 321 descendants in 1884! Imagine how many there must be today! His autobiography can be found at http://www.rootsweb.com/~momacon/gipson1.htm While this autobiography, and others written about him make for very interesting reading, the dates just don't add up. Information shows that his wife, Gracie Smith, was born in 1794. If "Uncle Bobby" as he was known married her when he was 35, poor Gracie would have only been about 7 years of age at the time of their marriage! Information I have (from other researchers) indicates their marriage took place in 1812, with the oldest child, Stephen, born in 1813 and their youngest, a daughter, Hezekiah, born in 1841. Counting backwards from 1812, and assuming that he was 35 at the time of their marriage, this places his birth year at about 1776-77. However, researchers seem to agree that his birth date was most likely Dec. 25, 1882. His biography, as published in the "History of Macon County," written about 1884, also seems to have several irregular dates and ages of children. Is there anyone out there who has studied this information and has primary sources with which to place relatively accurate dates of births and deaths of the 16 children of this fascinating person?