There were two men named Jacob Benton Cross, but they were not father and son. Rather, they were uncle and nephew. I have some new information on the two Jacob Benton Crosses, especially the younger one. William Cross the Revolutionary War drummer boy moved from Sullivan County to Knox County in 1817 and then on to Anderson County in 1818. He died in Anderson County in 1844. One of William's sons was Elijah Cross 1894 - 1870/1880. Elijah was enumerated in the Anderson County census in 1830 and 1840. Elijah was enumerated in the Morgan County census in 1850, 1860, and 1870. His wife was Mary (Polly) Winters, daughter of Moses Winters and Elizabeth Jane Charleton. Most GEDCOM's say that Elijah Cross and Polly Winters were married in 1828 in Wartbug, Morgan County. I don't know what the source of this information is. As I said, Elijah was enumerated in 1830 in Anderson County. Moses Winters was enumerated in 1830 in Roane County. So I don't know how we have a marriage in Wartburg. We have the following for Jacob Benton Cross. Elijah Cross -> Jacob Benton Cross 1831 - 1856/1860. Elijah Cross -> Franklin W. (Frank) Cross -> Jacob Benton Cross 1861 -1919. I don't have proof positive, but it would seem logical to assume that the younger Jacob Benton Cross was named for his uncle. Because of the 1830 and 1840 census entries for Elijah Cross, I assume that the elder Jacob Benton Cross was born in Anderson County. Frank Cross was enumerated in 1860 in Morgan County so I assume that the younger Jacob Benton Cross was born in Morgan County. But there's another strange piece to the story of "where they were born". The elder Jacob Benton Cross married Louisa Ann Laymance. Frank Cross married Virginia Florence Laymance. The two Laymance women were sisters, daughters of Jacob Charleton Laymance and Rutha Douglas. However, the Laymance sisters were from Georgia, having been enumerated in Murray County in 1850. 63rd Subdivision, Murray County, Georgia, 31 Oct 1850 p.237b, HN 1237, FN 1237 Lamance Jacob 52 m w farmer SC Ruth 35 f w TN Elijah 20 m w farmer TN attended school Susan 16 f w TN attended school Louisa 11 f w GA attended school Hiram 7 m w GA attended school Virginia F. 6 f w GA Sarah A. 4 f w GA John T. 2 m w GA Johnson William 22 m w laborer SC I really haven't figured out how or why the Cross and Laymance families hooked up, whether the Crosses moved to Georgia or the Laymances moved to Tennessee. And I don't know for sure if the marriages were in Georgia or in Tennessee. I think it's much more likely that the marriages were in Tennessee. In any case, we find everybody living in 1860 in Morgan County. Dist. 1, Morgan County, Tennessee, 8 Jun 1860 p.479a, HN 118, FN 120 Laymance Ruth 49 f w farm manager $500/$150 SC Cross Louisa A. 20 f w seamstress GA Auveline 5 f w GA Laymance Sarah F 4 f w TN Hiram 18 m w farm labor GA cannot R/W Sarah 13 f w GA cannot R/W Remember that the elder Jacob Benton Cross died 1856/1860, so we are looking at his widow Louisa Ann Laymance Cross and at his widowed mother-in-law Rutha Douglas Laymance. Jacob Laymance himself had died in 1852. Perhaps that had occasioned the family to move from Georgia to Tennessee. Notice that there is an error in the census entry in that the Laymance surname should have been attached to Hiram rather than to Sarah F. because Sarah F. Cross was the daughter of Jacob Benton Cross and Louisa Ann Laymance. "Auveline" is an accurate transcription, but I believe that her name is properly spelled "Avaline". Dist. 1, Morgan County, Tennessee, 8 Jun 1860 p.479b, HN 119, FN 121 Cross Franklin 21 m w farmer /$75 TN married within the year Virginia 15 f w domestic GA married within the year Notice that Frank Cross and Virginia Florence Laymance were living next door to Jacob Benton Cross and Louisa Ann Laymance. The younger Jacob Benton Cross was born in 1861, and his father Frank Cross died in 1862 in the Civil War. So there is no census entry that shows both father and son. Frank Cross died at Camp Robinson, Kentucky of typhoid fever. The younger Jacob Benton Cross ended up in Monroe County, Indiana. That's not the most common of migration patterns for folks moving "west" from East Tennessee. Here's what I know about the Indiana branch of the family. Virginia Florence Laymance married second Jonathan Branham on 19 Mar 1865 in Morgan County, Tennessee. The marriage record is Virginia Cross to Jonathan Branam or Jonathan Brunam. The marriage to Jonathan Branham was a major missing piece of the puzzle. Without knowing about Virginia Laymance's second marriage, I was not able to find the younger Jacob Benton Cross in Indiana. I don't know exactly who Jonathan Branham was, but he was almost certainly connected to Campbell County, Tennessee. There were a number of Branhams (including several Jonathan Branhams) from Campbell County that ended up in Indiana. Here is the family in the 1870 census. Washington Twp, Monroe County, Indiana, 22 Jun 1870, Bloomington PO p.470, HN 178, FN 173 Branham Jonathan 28 m w farmer /$100 TN Mary 24 f w keeping house GA Jacob B. 8 m w TN William J. 5 m w TN James N. 3 m w IN Dow 1 m w IN There is a certain amount of weirdness in this census entry. For one thing, Jacob Benton Cross is listed with his stepfather's surname rather than with his own surname. I find this to be a common mistake in census records, and it can make it really difficult to find people sometimes. Here is how I think the census record should read. Washington Twp, Monroe County, Indiana, 22 Jun 1870, Bloomington PO p.470, HN 178, FN 173 Branham Jonathan 28 m w farmer /$100 TN Mary 24 f w keeping house GA Cross Jacob B. 8 m w TN Branham William J. 5 m w TN James N. 3 m w IN Dow 1 m w IN For another thing, I don't know why Virginia Florence Laymance was listed as "Mary". Perhaps there was a mistake, or perhaps her name was Mary Virginia Florence Laymance. But I am persuaded that this is the correct family. See below for additional confirmation that this is the correct family. Notice that William was born in Tennessee, so the family must have moved to Indiana between 1865 and 1867. The family moved to Cooke County, Texas before the 1880 census. Precinct 1, Cooke County, Texas, 21 Jun 1880 p.210c, HN 278, FN 282 Branham J. 42 head m m w farmer TN TN TN V. F. 34 wife f m w keeping house GA TN GA W. F. 13 son m s w works on farm TN TN GA Jas. N. 11 son m s w IA TN GA Dow 9 son m s w IA TN GA A. F. 8 dau f s w IA TN GA H. W. 6 son m s w IA TN GA Z. O. 3 son m s w IA TN GA Mattie M. 1 son m s w IA TN GA Despite the unhelpful use of initials instead of names by the census enumerator, it is clear that this is the same family. Notice that Virginia Florence Laymance was "V.F." rather than "Mary". "W.F" was William Branham, correctly listed as having been born in Tennessee. James and Dow were correctly listed as having been born in Indiana. The fact that the names, ages, and birth places match up between this census entry and the 1870 census entry from Indiana is what persuades me that we have the correct family for 1870 despite the wife's name in 1870 having been Mary. But Jacob Benton Cross is missing from the Texas census entry! That's because he didn't move to Texas with his mother and stepfather. Rather, he stayed in Indiana. Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana, 1 Jun 1880 p.54b, HN 85, FN 85 Brannam Nancy 61 head f w w farmer IN Wales PA Ben 31 son m s w works on farm IN IN IN Cross Jacob 18 servant m s w works on farm TN TN TN I don't think Jacob Benton Cross was really a servant in the normal sense of the word. I think he was living with family members. But I haven't been able to figure out how Nancy and Ben Branham were related to Jonathan Branham. Jerry Bryan