Most of you Whaley resesarchers are going back into ancient (to me) generations, and I've still never proved the identity of my great-grandfather. 'Tain't FAIR!! I have some first cousins (I'm copying this to them) who are also interested, and some of us are interested in the DNA project in hopes it can identify which line we're from. So, pardon the long message, but every so often in my research I like to put the message out again, to see if anyone else has found something that connects. Here it is: My grandfather was Jesse Monroe Whaley, born in the fall of either 1877 or 1878, according to oral history in Searcy County, Ark. His mother was Mary J. Renfro (her name in 1880 on the census in Van Buren County, where Jesse is listed as age 2). On her deathbed about 5 years later, Mary told Jesse that he had a brother (Tom?) and that Jesse's father was a Will Whaley. There is a possibility that Jesse had those two names reversed but we are fairly certain the father was Will. I've found no record of a marriage between a Mary Renfro and Will Whaley. Later in 1880, after the census, she married W. Henfry Gordon, which we know from family lore as well as a copy of the marriage license in Van Buren County. Other counties associated with Jesse and family in Arkansas: Yell, Perry, Faulkner, White, Woodruff. There is Indian blood descending through Jesse, Cherokee we think, and (we think) through his mother Mary Renfro. In later life, Jesse and family moved to Oklahoma, 1919, and he died in 1924. He had a half brother George Gordon. You will note that Jesse's middle name was Monroe (or Jess Monrow as written on hia WW I draft registration); he included Monroe in a son's name. I only mention this because there were some Whaleys in Arkansas who used the name Monroe several times. I do have a theory about Jesse's parentage, as follows: The theory concerns the Peyton Greene Whaley family, on the 1880 census in Hempstead County, Ark., whose 25 year old son William lived nearby, single, head of household, with younger brother F. M. Whaley (Francis Marion), and another single male. As noted, Jesse had a brother named Tom, and in looking at the Hempstead census, I find there was a 4 year old (black) Thomas Parker in the Peyton Greene household. I have suspected that our Will got Mary Renfro pregnant, and that she went away to have the baby in another county. That was common even in my lifetime (I was born in 1951), since it was such a scandal for an unmarried girl to have a baby. So in my scenario, about 1877 she became pregnant and went away but already knew of a child named Tom (the Parker boy, in my scenario) by another mother. It builds a bit of a picture. Peyton Greene Whaley had several farm laborers, in addition to a housemaid, which may indicate a comfortable life, perhaps wealth. Then you have three single men ages 25, 23, and 21 living together...an ideal setup for a guy with less-than-honorable intentions toward vulnerable women. Hempstead County is in SW Arkansas, while Searcy Co is north of Little Rock--a suitable distance in that era for sending away a young girl "in disgrace" and there were Renfros in both counties. The Will Whaley in this story later morried someone else and probably was never married to Mary J. Renfro, who died before the age of 30 (about 1885). This is the closest thing I've found, and I think there's a chance that it's roughly accurate. What do you think of my scenario?? Any connections? Just curious. By the way, in my suggestion of Will Whaley fathering illegitimate children, I intend no offense to anyone related to the Peyton line; these things happen, then and now. It's just become less socially sensitive than it would have been then...and I MAY not be right! Beverly Graham, Bethany, OK