>>Descendant List of Edward Payne Bray >>------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>1-Edward Payne Bray (1812-aft 1880) >>+Anna F. Messamore (1817-abt 1855) >>. . . 2-Minerva Adeline (Adeline) Bray (abt 1855-) > >>+Martha Patsy Sweet (1832-) >>. . . 2-Minerva Adeline (Adeline) Bray (abt 1855-) > >Well, I also should have said that the mother of Adeline Bray is uncertain. > >Jerry I'm very pleased when someone asks me about one of my family lines and the question forces me to re-examine a confusing situation. A bunch of Brays from Anderson County moved to Howell County, Missouri shortly after the 1880 census. The aforementioned Adeline Bray married Robert Teasley in 1884 in Howell County. However, I have never been able to find them in a Howell County census. I decided to look again. I found them in 1900 in Arkansas. I found Adaline as a widow in 1910 living back in Howell County. The 1900 census entry was most interesting. Here follows my transcription of the 1900 census entry in question, plus my research notes. I still don't know who Adeline's mother was, but I have all manner of new confusion and obfuscation to consider. Jerry Strawberry Twp, Izard County, Arkansas, 12 Jun 1900 p.375a, HN 114, FN 115 Teasley Robert F. 48 head m m16 w Jul 1852 farmer MO TN TN Adeline 44 wife f m16 w Jan 1856 TN TN TN 6 children, 4 living Mary E. 14 dau f s w May 1886 AR MO TN Roxie F. 6 dau f s w Oct 1893 AR MO TN Effie J. 5 dau f s w Oct 1894 AR MO TN Aultman Ally M. 20 Sdau f s w May 1880 AR TN TN Minerva Adeline Jane (Adeline) Bray was the daughter of my ggg grandfather Edward Payne Bray. Adeline's mother was probably Edward's second wife Martha Patsy Sweet. I am descended from Edward's first wife Anna F. Messamore. So Adeline was probably the half-brother of my gg grandfather Joseph A. (Joe) Bray. However, there is a certain amount of uncertainty concerning Adeline's mother. I have generally listed Anna F. Messamore's date of death as about 1855, although a year or two earlier seems more likely. Edward Payne Bray married Martha Patsy Sweet on 12 Mar 1855 in Anderson County, Tennessee. If Adeline's date of birth in this census entry is correct, then she was born almost exactly nine months after the marriage of Edward Payne Bray and Martha Patsy Sweet. Additional confusion arises because Adeline was not listed in the 1860 census. Rather, in 1860 there was a daughter Jane age 5 for whom there are no other records. The 1870 census lists Minerva A. age 16 and the 1880 census lists Adeline age 24. So if the age of 16 in 1870 was correct, then Adeline was probably born about Jan 1854 and was the daughter of Anna F. Messamore. In this case, Anna must have died either giving birth to Adeline or else she died sometime during the next year, and then Edward Payne Bray married his second wife in March of 1855. If the age of 24 in 1880 was correct, then Adeline was the daughter of Martha Patsy Sweet. I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that the Jane Bray who was 5 years old in 1860 was the same person as the Minerva Adeline Bray who was 16 years old in 1870 and 24 years old in 1880. It's the only thing that makes any sense. Also, it reminds me of my g grandmother Mary Mahala Jane Bray. I have never found a single record for my g grandmother that lists all her names. But I have found all of her names in at least one record, plus my mother assures me that my g grandmother really did have all those names. So if my g grandmother had all those names, why not Adeline? If Adeline was the same person as Jane Bray who was age 5 in 1860, then it has some interesting implications. The most accurate age for a person may usually be found in the earliest record. So if Adeline was 5 years old at the time of the 1860 census, then she was probably born in Jan 1855. That would suggest that Anna F. Messamore died in Jan 1855 giving birth to Adeline, and Edward Payne Bray remarried only three months later. I don't know if that's the most likely scenario, or if we should believe the 1900 census saying that Adeline was born in Jan 1856. There is some degree of mystery associated with Ally M. Aultman. There is every indication that she was Adeline's daughter. Which is to say that Ally was Robert F. Teasley's stepdaughter and Adeline was reported as having four living children. Adeline was married twice. Her first husband was Milton T. Altum, which easily could be a variant spelling of Aultman (or vice versa). The problem is that Adeline was divorced from Milton Altum in 1878 and she did not marry Robert F. Teasley until 1884. So who was Ally Aultman's father given that she was born in 1880?. We also note that Adeline's maiden name was restored by her divorce decree, so if she had an illegitimate child then the child was more likely to have been named Bray than Altum. Nevertheless, we are looking at Ally Aultman likely having been Adeline's daughter.

Hey Jerry, Thanks for the info. John __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? All your favorites on one personal page � Try My Yahoo! http://my.yahoo.com