Ladies and Gentleman....in the 1996-97 Payne archives there were numerous references to Susannah Payne of Lancaster VA. Dauther of William Payne, b. 1685. Was she married to John Carter or James Johnson? I am hoping that in the years since then someone has come up with new information. Two rather firm beliefs have been presented. One, that she married John Carter when she was 17 and had four children, one of whom was Merriman, as proof that she was from the William Payne, 1685/Judith Merriman marriage. Two, she married James Johnson. On this second theory, I have done some research. James Johnson died in 1787 and list in his will, his wife Susannah. Also, their daughter Judith, note the family name, married Daniel Dejarnette and named one of their daughters, Susannah Payne Dejarnette. So it appears were have two Susannah Paynes, both attributed to William and Judith Merriman Johnson. The Susannah who married John Carter, had to have died before 1749, because he is found with a second wife in Strafford Co in May of that year, and her 1710 birth fits with her parents marriage. The Susannah, married to Johnson was alive in 1787 and, had given birth to a son, Edmund, in 1761, so a 1710 birth date would be unusual if not impossible. So the first question is; is there any real proof as to when Susannah Payne was born, between 1710, when her parents were married and 1726 when her father died? The other big question, who was the other Suannah Payne, of the same time and age, connected to the same family? Any answers out there? Penny