A marriage license has been obtained for the marriage of Nancy Jane (nee Francis) Drain and F. M. Jones of Fannin County, Texas, on March 5, 1890.

I guess the Fannin County, Texas Recorder’s Office understood just how serious we Wilsons are about our ancestors. They surrendered the ORIGINAL 1890 marriage license.

No kidding! This one will get framed. It is 117 years old. Apparently they microfilmed the marriage records and are giving the originals to descendants. I have heard of that before.

Unfortunately the license did not give enough information to identify Mr. Jones, other than his initials and place of marriage in 1890. No probate could be located in Fannin County.

The good news … we know his initials! They have pointed to a Confederate pension application for an F. M. Jones of the same county.

After reviewing the pension application for F. M. Jones, I am convinced he is not the same F. M. Jones that married Nancy Jane Drain. This man was approximately 20 years younger than Nancy was and lived into the 1930s. Not to mention that he had a long term marriage with someone else! Maybe this soldier’s father was the one Nancy married.

The 1890 census, having burned, presents a problem in learning who F. M. Jones was.

I have located twelve sources of information for the year and place of birth of Nancy Jane Francis. Almost none of them are in agreement. The dates range from 1823 to 1833 and include the states of Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri. It seems that Nancy, or her children speaking for her, wasn't certain about where and when she was born. No primary sources have been located to accurately identify the time and place. Even though Nancy has left a noteworthy paper trail we are left to draw our own conclusion.

Most dates can be ruled out because they conflict with known facts about her parents and common sense. The 1900 census record for Nancy gives June 1833 as her birth date. If this date was correct, Nancy and Oscar Wilson were married before Nancy was thirteen years of age. This scenario is most unlikely, given that her guardian was Judge OFD Hampton.

The 1830 census for Jessamine County, Kentucky shows Levi Francis and wife only. They were both between the ages of 20 and 30. No child is listed. Therefore, Nancy was probably not born before 1830 as six sources, including her gravestone, suggest.

In my opinion the most likely scenario for Nancy's birth is between 1830 and 1831 in Crawford County, Illinois where her father, Levi, died on July 16, 1830. His death date can even be questioned because it was given by his widow in a pension application at least 60 years after his death when she was quite elderly. It is possible that Nancy's father died before she was born and not long after the 1830 census was taken in Kentucky. If his death date is accepted, and it is the only one we have, Levi died very shortly after the family's journey from Kentucky to Illinois ended.

The 1860 census gives her birth as 1831 in Illinois. This does fit her family history and in 1860 she was young enough to have a clear memory of the birth date and place that was told to her. If 1831 is accepted as her year of birth, it seems to give her a marriage age of around 14 or 15. This would probably require parental consent. I have been unable to learn the age required for marriage without consent during 1845 in Missouri. However, court records indicate that her guardian, Oscar F. D. Hampton, handled everything regarding his guardianship commitment according to law.

Court records indicate the OFD Hampton may have stopped being her guardian on March 15, 1845. Settlement with Nancy and her husband, Oscar F. D. Wilson, was not complete until 1849. Their marriage date of October 23, 1845 is not questionable.