Well, it took a couple of years, but I finally figured out the maiden name of Alexander A. Vestal's first wife. Sarah (Sallie) Mae Fortson b. 1847 Barbour Co. Ala. Her father was Tavner W. Fortson b. 1804 Elbert Co. Ga. mother was Elizabeth D. Tate. Sallie had a sister Elizabeth Fortson who married Christopher B. Bacon. I think both parents must have died about 1865. Sallie probably lived with her sister and Christopher Bacon. My great uncle told me he thought Sallie's maiden name was Bacon. There is a record in Rusk Co. Texas of A.A. Vester m. Sallie Fortson 01 Feb. 1867. This is really my Vestal. Sallie Mae died in 1878 probably during child birth. In a letter to his father, Alex says he went to visit the baby , she is living with one of Jeff Wilson's daughters, who married a Morris. In the 1880 Rusk Co. Tex. Census there in Jno Morris with wife Addie and her sister Cora Wilson and a niece Maud Vestal 2 years old. This has been a great mystery and hard one to crack. Andy McCloskey, Bellaire, Texas.